When the market is already saturated with paid advertisements, what can you do to make your business stand out?
Public Relations (PR) is sending the right messages to the right place and the right people, which results in a more reliable brand reputation. Traditionally, business owners use all their resources to directly and aggressively sell or promote their products or services to a customer. With PR, you need to go through the journey with your customers first, build rapport, and then eventually convert to leads or sales. Effective public relations is about creating experiences, telling stories, and building relationships.
Here are 3 ways why PR should be part of your Marketing Plan:
1. Trust
Customers tend to listen or seek out people or media they trust for recommendations rather than marketing materials that are paid for by businesses and brands. Consumer trust is an essential element for the purchasing process and is more likely to ensure the long-term success of a business.
Earned media with a trusted news outlet is worth the work. It will earn you deep credibility in your industry and with your customers, which is what you need to make your business successful. Whatever the industry, trust plays a monumental role when it comes to determining the success of a business. Without trust, a business leaves potential sales on the table.
2. Perception
You have the power to control, to some degree, how people perceive your products, services, and team. Your brand reputation serves as the base and the beacon for your business. When consumers purchase, they aren’t just buying a product or service; they’re buying what your brand stands for.
You may craft these materials yourself or better yet, hire someone who can do it for you. Professionals in the field of public relations are storytellers and image shapers who create a positive narrative for their clients by working closely with journalists and other media. This allows them to manage and generate positive publicity for their clients to enhance their reputations.
3. Increase Profits and Sales
Public Relations and Marketing work hand in hand to build a trusted and much-loved reputation for your brand. Although investments in PR may take longer to reap their fruits than advertising, the upside is that a carefully crafted PR strategy can produce a larger revenue gain compared to the latter.
A successful PR strategy will affect your sales success indirectly through brand awareness & recall and building up your credibility.
By keeping the public informed about your brand, services, and products through earned media, PR can help raise your company’s authority, build relationships with key audiences and customers, and ultimately boost sales.
Nowadays, Public Relations agencies take time to strategically design and plan how brands and businesses build relationships with media outlets and earn some promotion organically. Modern PR has gone a long way from simple press release pitching. Have you already considered integrating PR in your marketing plan?