Business – PR Strategies and Tips From The Pros

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Ten Tips to Boost Your Public Relations Campaign

September 18, 2019

Your public relations campaign will never achieve the results it wishes to achieve if you do not have proper preparation. Planning and preparation is the key for a successful PR campaign. Otherwise, people will not notice the product or business you are planning to introduce. As always, choosing the right words to say in your press release is the key.

Experts have provided tips and strategies for an effective PR campaign so read on and learn before starting your elaborate plan.

1 – Create an informative press release: You may have written the best piece of press release, but if does not effectively provide the right information regarding your business, it will be an effort gone to waste.

No self-respecting publisher will publish a press release material that is all hype but lacking the vital information.

2 – Write to inform: Not all readers or audience know every nook and cranny of a certain city. As customers could come from anywhere, your press release must be specific about your business location. Do not assume that they know where a certain street is, and in what city it is located. Heck, there are multiple street names that are used in different cities so tell them of the specific geographical location.

3 – Your headline is everything: Headlines are what makes people stop to read – whether they’re scrolling in social media or going through news articles in a newspaper or magazine. Make your headlines witty, catchy, or funny.

4 – Use a photo that catches attention: Believe the saying that: “A picture is worth a thousand words,” so attach an image to your press release that is relevant to the information you are providing. Choose the best photo to represent it. Do not crowd it with so many photos because they would render your release worthless.

5 – Limit your words: People nowadays have very short attention span – they do not have the patience to read long articles or even watch long videos. Keep your words to a minimum. Experts recommend using 300 to 400 words.

6 – Personalize your introduction: Don’t you just hate it when people do not address you properly or if they misspell your name? The same goes for letter of introduction that are addressed to those in-charge of publication.

7 – Provide links: Readers would always want to know more so make sure you provide links to your business website. You would also need to provide contact information like the name of a contact person, a phone number, and a working email. Most customers get turned off if they are unable to reach anyone for their questions.

8 – Emphasize the right details: No, people do not want to know what similarities your product has with those already in the market. The purpose it to make it stand out! Tell people what’s new and different about it, what makes it unique!

9 – Precision counts: It may seem that knowing what to say and what to show about your business is as easy as 1-2-3, but it’s not. Do not be overconfident. Check everything first before sending your press release.

10 – Make your PR firm focus on results: It’s not a numbers game. More press release sent doesn’t mean your PR agency is doing its best. Analyze the results and check if your press release has reached its target audience.

In Blog

PR Strategies and Tactics from the Experts

September 18, 2019

Any business, whether big or small, will need to have a public relations strategy as long as it operates. It cannot survive without any form of public relations. The simple act of introducing your new restaurant to your neighbors is already a form of public relations. If your neighbors hate you, they will not visit your place.

You see, public relations is not just about your product or brand, it’s also about you because you are part of the brand. So, if you’re planning to start a business, start with yourself first. Be sure you are marketable. The same goes for a PR business. You must establish your trustworthiness and ability first before companies start entrusting you with promoting their brand.

So how do you do that? Read on to know more…

Public Relations and Marketing Must Work Side by Side

Public relations affect sales goals but it does not directly impact sales targets. Public relations work to enhance a company’s brand or image, make it look good. On the other hand, marketing drives revenues and profits.

These two are correlated because sales could go up if consumers who were impressed by the PR branding information goes out of their way to patronize the brand or product. So you can say, PR converts readers into customers.

Experts agree that if public relations and marketing combine, there will be a significant increase in revenue.

Attend Business Events

Product expos are huge opportunities to introduce a product or brand, or create a better awareness of it. If you can be one of the resource speakers, the better. A business event like this is a good way to meet your customers face to face. It also brings them closer to the company because you are able to put a human face to the brand/product they buy. Human relations is important.

Interact with the Community

Just like a good neighbor, it is important to go out and get to know those who are around you. Create a good relationship with your local community. Cooperating with community concerns by way of corporate social responsibility will also hugely impact your business in a positive way.

If you cannot contribute money, at least contribute manpower to simple community projects like a clean-up drive. This will give people a good perception about your company.

Efficiently Manage Negative Issues

They say bad publicity is still publicity. This is true, but what business would want bad publicity? Social media can hugely affect a business – whether positive or negative. It is a great tool to promote a brand or client, to communicate new promotions, and obtain massive exposure through followers.

On the other hand, it is also a tool that could destroy it because negative reviews and comments could spread like wildfire through social media channels.

Public relations managers should regularly monitor the company’s social media accounts for bad publicity. It should immediately address any negative comments and perceptions of the business. Get to the bottom of the issue and resolve it at the soonest possible time.

Never Ignore Internal Public Relations

Public relations is important, and so does employee relations. The company should never neglect the welfare of its employees because they make the company operations function to its maximum. A good management team should have regular communication with its employees, provide them with perks and benefits, allow them to unwind through fun employee activities, etc.

In Blog

Ways to Improve Your Media Relationships

September 5, 2019

It is becoming increasingly difficult to get published in mainstream media. With all the big issues that are coming out, big news outfits can’t seem to provide space for public relations content. But don’t lose hope. It’s not the end of the world. There are still strategies that work for you to get your press release published.

It is important to present yourself as a worthy news source, not just a mere public relations firm that provides press releases for the interest of its client alone, and not to really provide helpful information to the reading public. This must be a top priority among public relations managers because the distribution of press releases, or the information dissemination part, is at the heart of its operation when launching effective campaigns.

Establish Your Legitimacy

Write your press release as if it is a legitimate news item. It should be accurate and factual like any other news article. This way, the publication will not have second thoughts, and see your press release as a serious information dissemination campaign, not pure publicity.

Remember that media companies have editors that filter through news items and press releases to check which ones are truly newsworthy. They have trained eyes and know-how as to which ones are legitimate and which ones are mere self-serving articles that uplift a product or business.

Know Your Audience

Before writing your press release, make sure you know who your target audience is. Most importantly, you also have to know the audience of the media firm that will receive your PR.

You cannot send a PR document on real estate development to a media company that publishes medical news. Nope, it will not be appropriate. So be mindful of what you send. You cannot create a general press release for distribution because media outfits have different editorial scopes, as well as audience.

If you keep sending them releases that are not relevant, your PRs could end up being tagged as spam. Your succeeding PRs will either be deleted as spam or be thrown to the waste bin.

Sound Authentic and Professional

Be truthful when talking about the client or the product you are promoting. Provide honest information as much as you can. If the media see you as a legitimate news source, you will have no problem in requesting them to write about your client/product, or to squeeze in your article in their publication.

You must also avoid using jargons or terms that people of a particular trade can only understand. Do not be too technical when providing descriptions. Use simple, conversational words.

Be Patient and Courteous

Timing is everything when approaching representatives of the media. Know when to approach and talk to them. As mentioned earlier, they have a lot on their minds, and have tons of work to attend to. And most of all, they have deadlines to meet on a daily basis so you cannot just barge in and bombard them with your press release.

When you see an opening, talk to them courteously. Once they accept your PR, give them a call to gently remind them about it after two or three days. And do not call them constantly all through the day. That will only annoy them, and your press release could lose its chance to get published.

In Blog

2019 Public Relations Trends

September 4, 2019

A successful public relations firm must always evolve with the times and keep up with the trends. It cannot afford to be left behind while every competition is gunning for the latest technologies and strategies. It must always be on the lookout for new things affecting its trade.

But over and above this goal, it must not forget why it exists in the first place. Like all public relations company, it exists to inform the “public”. It is in charge of coming up with the latest information about the newest products, businesses, resource persons, hotels, etc.

PR firms are the ones which make life exciting because they give customers a breath of fresh air with every new information on the latest technology, new places to go to, and more. It keeps boredom away. To keep up with being a reliable source of information, PR firms must checkout the list below on ways to be better at its job this 2019:

Provide Information with the Help of Content Marketing – Content marketing has been the trend for years now, and it continues to be a powerful tool in information dissemination. Gone are the days when PR firms glorify its clients at the expense of readers and customers. Not many will continue to fall for this trick.

With the help of content marketing, public relations has now been geared towards content that offer value to its audience. The purpose is now focused not only on engaging consumers, but also to educate them.

Create a Personal Brand – The public now looks at a company as a whole, not just what it offers. Therefore, a good company image is important. This means those who manage and work for the company must be people the public can look up to. A management that looks good in the eyes of the public builds trust and will help boost sales.

And talking of sales, this only means the company’s marketing arm must also work hand in hand with the public relations firm.

This is also the reason why large corporations create a social responsibility department because it’s their way of connecting with people. It’s important that people perceive your company as one run by real human beings.

Backlinks are Becoming Outdated – Press releases that backlink to your client’s website used to be the norm. Now, times are changing. Search engines are becoming more intelligent and are now putting weight on quality content rather than just website links when ranking sites and giving out search results.

Trends also indicate that the context of the message is now getting priority, and that content need not contain links to the company website. PR firms should be very aware of this trend.

Public Relations and Technology Must Work Together – Some public relations company are skeptical when it comes to the use of technology in building connections and relationships. It is important to know that the introduction of technology could actually make PR work better and efficient. Imagine being able to predict a possible public relations disaster before it happens. That would really be awesome.

There are now various PR tools available for PR professionals. All you need is to know which tools or technology would fit your company best.

In Blog

Four Effective PR Campaigns

September 1, 2019

Are you launching a new product, service or business? If you want to create a buzz and make customers notice your new product, service or business, you need to create a hype before the actual launch date. Introducing your product prior to its launch and actual introduction should be your priority.

To achieve a successful and talked about opening or launching, you need to plan. Your best bet would be a PR strategy. Public relations is very important in attracting possible customers. It could make or break a business. Follow the simple PR strategies below to achieve the results you want:

Create and grow your social media following.

Social media has become the most powerful tools of the trade. Your business will never be complete without it, so create accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. Join social media groups where you could obtain followers for your product or business. Follow similar interests, and have them follow you back.

Join forums that speak of businesses similar to yours, and provide simple hints about your business as you reply to forum topics. Say something like, “I’ve also been a believer of this product so I actually tried it for myself and found this product [product name] to be effective as well.”

Set reasonable goals for your PR campaign.

You cannot reach a million people overnight so be specific with your expectations and strategy. Start reaching out to local groups in your area first because they are the closest to your location. After this, plan which other groups or sectors you want to introduce your product to.

Use creative and convincing language when introducing your business. Remember that a poorly written PR campaign or introduction will never get you the exposure you desire. Choose your words wisely. Use words that would make customers want to know more. Make them excited and anticipate the very day of your business opening or product launching.

Create a press release and send them to the right people.

A press release can do wonders for your business. Feed them information about your product or business. Introduce it to as many news media as possible.

When writing a press release, write about the most important information first, followed by the second most important info, and down to the least important.

Get in touch with the right news agencies in the print and broadcast industries. Do your research and make a list of the people in-charge of publishing press releases. If you’re promoting a clothing line, you should get in touch with a magazine or newspapers lifestyle editor, not the opinion section editor. Get their contact information like email addresses and phone numbers in case you need to make a follow up.

Hire experts.

If all else fails, entrust your PR campaign to the experts! They know the business better than you do. Talk to a trusted PR manager or firm. Talk to them and let them know what you want out of the campaign, and they will do the rest for you.

This is your best option to create a hassle-free and stress-free campaign. It’s like putting everything in auto pilot!