Public Relations is an essential part of the marketing plan for any and all businesses. Here at activ Strategic Marketing , we know that the benefits of weaving PR into a strategic marketing plan are huge and hope that after this five minute read you will also see that PR could be the add on that your business needs for its growth.
PR is essentially disseminating a companies key messages through engaging story-telling. When executed correctly, strategic PR campaigns have the power to benefit a business in a number of ways, here are some examples:
1- Increase Brand Awareness– By writing engaging copy about topical stories from within the business with interesting content and imagery, you will get the attention of media platforms who will the pass on this intriguing story to it’s readers (those you have targeted) and create or increase your brands awareness.
2- Create New Business Leads- Your PR plan will include call-to-actions just like your marketing plan. From these calls to action you will start to see new leads from the specific people you targeted in your plan. As your businesses brand awareness increases, so will your reach and leads will be generated in the short-term but importantly also in the long-term. PR can be a long game, but consistency will see a return on investment.
3- Increase Brand Credibility- As your brand awareness increases, that carefully curated PR copy will see the brands credibility also increase. The benefit of writing specific targeted stories means you can be selective with your messaging and careful to educate your public with the correct information you intend to be heard.
4- Control Reputation- Once you have a dialogue with your public/stakeholders/clients you have created a vehicle to ensure all messaging is true and in accordance with your brands values. In the instance of a crisis, you have already established the trust and you are able to manage the reputation of the business in a direct and efficient manner, thwarting any mis-representation.
5- Educate and Inform– PR allows you to decide how and when you inform stakeholders and potential stakeholders about your company values and beliefs and specific campaign information. Educating and informing from the ‘horse’s mouth’ holds the most credibility and PR allows you to do this through text and attributed quotes.
6- Build Positive Brand Image- Activate all of the above and you will continue to build on a positive image for your brand. An authentic and informative brand will always build trust and loyalty with its key stakeholders.
Here at activ Strategic Marketing we view PR as that extra armoury to your business that ensures you stay one step ahead, but more than that, it is all the more important in 2023 to present the people behind the business/brand/product and we believe PR is the vehicle to do just that.
As discussed above, a successful PR Strategy will continue to grow your business or that of your clients in the form of increased revenue, brand awareness, new stakeholders and retention of existing stakeholders. Generating new and engaging positive media coverage will attract new customers and potential leads.
The overall benefits of public relations are discovered when you have a long-term strategic communications strategy in place, alongside you marketing plan, as the results of PR efforts become more notable over time.
If you need professional assistance to create your perfect PR strategy alongside a thorough marketing strategy please Get in Touch https://www.activmarketing.co.uk/contact-us/
