Public relations, what does it do anyway? Well as it turns out, a lot! Public relations is a key management function that establishes and builds strong relationships between organizations, their customers and the community creating a positive public image. Even small businesses benefit from good public relations practices. While heavily integrated with marketing these days, public relations sets itself apart with its relationship building techniques and lasting impressions.
Increasing brand credibility is the number one reason public relations is important. So, you’ve got a great product and you need help getting media coverage and exposure for it? Turn to public relations techniques by building strong relationships with media outlets and influencers. You can send your product to influencers or other public figures to test it out. Encourage the influencer to write about your product. New businesses can use news releases to local media outlets to announce opening. Established businesses can use this same strategy to announce significant changes. Getting this earned media coverage helps establish that your business is seen as valuable by another party known as third party credibility.
Some may say that PR doesn’t “sell” a product, but that couldn’t be further than the truth! Through enhancing your reputation you’re more likely to attract new potential customers. By pinpointing who you’re trying to reach, public relations can find the right message to reach your audience.
Strong public relations is extremely important in times where a company is going through a crisis or negative public perception. This subset of PR; crisis management, helps companies re-establish trust and improves public opinion. It’s crucial to send the right message should a crisis occur because the right public relations moves can make a company not only survive bad news but thrive afterward. Having strong public relations prior to a crisis is key to being able to control the message if something does happen that requires crisis management implementation. If a business already has a positive public opinion, it’s more likely the public will be receptive to the messages being put out, post issue.
Looking to build your businesses credibility and gain new potential customers? Contact us to see how we can bring your business out of the dark and into the light!
