- 27 Jan 2017
- 0 comment
- Posted by entrepr
- Other helpful stuff
If a man walked into a bar (no, this is not the start of a bad joke!), approached a woman and said -“I am the nicest guy you will ever meet, we should go out. You won’t be disappointed –believe me”, I think we all know what the response would be. The contents of the woman’s drink would probably be immediately attracted to the man’s head.
Now consider this scenario. The man walks into a bar. The bartender says to the woman –“I know that guy, he’s a great guy, I think you would get along really well with him”. A few minutes later one of the woman’s friends enters the bar and says, “See that guy over there?–I’ve heard great things about him. He drives a Porsche, has an apartment in the city, volunteers at the local dog shelter and is good to his mother. You should get together with him some time as I think you two would really get along”. The result: the woman walks over to the man and introduces herself.
This is Public Relations. Somehow, you create a good story and send it out to the masses, and it’s heard and retold by other people. PR is all about CREDIBILITY–the credibility that comes from other people telling a story on your behalf. It’s about getting space in the media that is not paid advertising –like news articles, feature stories, profile interviews and business reviews.
The goal of PR is whatever you want it to be –the campaign should be structured to tie in with broader business requirements and support your other marketing and advertising campaigns. But when it comes down to the basics, PR is all about lead generation. Every business is essentially marching to the same, underlying tune: PR helps generate leads and can give you an edge over your competitors. If you’re being seen and heard in the media, you are:
- Being seen and heard by current and potential customers
- You are being talked about by readers, listeners and viewers
- Your brand name, services and Unique Selling Points are being promoted in a highly credible way
- You are seen as an industry leader, which makes people feel good about doing business with you
- You can encourage people towards a certain action that will help you achieve your business goals–whether it be visit a website, phone a number, sign a petition, show up at a certain place at a certain time.
EVERY business should be engaged in a PR strategy. Those who don’t include PR in their overall promotional strategy are inviting journalists to speak with their competitors instead, and miss out on an opportunity to promote their business in a way that paid advertising cannot.
