The Business Bulletin
Why you need a PR strategy for your business Public Relations (PR) is all about managing the reputation of your business. It’s the process by which you build trust, educate, inform, influence opinion and ultimately create good-will between your business and your target audience. It’s so much more than simply generating media coverage, it’s the backbone of every single communication that your business makes.
Building credibility
you or accepted an article from you,
service which in turn means they’re
it’s because they think you’ve got
likely to recommend you, helping to
something that their audience wants
spread the word of mouth buzz about
to read or hear.
your business.
trustworthy. It also adds value to your
Positive image
Can help to drive sales
business. If a publication has taken
Undertaking regular PR activities
the time and trouble to write about
Think about it, if you’re seeing a
will help you to build and sustain a
particular company written about or
successful business. It can also help you
talked about by a variety of media
to develop a competitive advantage, if
sources that you trust, then you’re
your target customers are seeing your
more likely to engage with them and
brand name regularly it’s likely that
possibly even buy from them.
A PR campaign will help to build the credibility of your brand. It creates a positive public image and can help to position you as reliable and
you’ll be top of their minds the next time they need the product or service you sell. Media coverage can also help you to showcase knowledge and expertise, positioning you as an expert
Eleanor Lester Shrewd PR Eleanor Lester is a PR and Marketing Professional with over 20 years’ experience, including B2B, lifestyle, food and drink, fashion and online retail. She is a passionate believer in the value that good PR and strategic marketing can bring to small and medium sized businesses. 07764 611971 eleanor@shrewdpr.co.uk shrewdpr.co.uk
Set some goals So where do you start when it comes to putting a PR strategy together?
in your field.
The first step is to set some goals for
Builds relationships with your customers
achieve, bearing in mind that this is
When your business is seen in a
you’re to get results long term. If you’re
positive light then you and your
launching a new product or service
employees become even more
you might set yourself the goal of
invested in protecting its reputation.
securing 5 pieces of media coverage
This helps to develop good customer
promoting it. Perhaps you’re looking
relationships and you’re likely to go
to increase your client base and want
the extra mile to support that good
to use PR to generate a series of
reputation. This means that your
news articles that position you as an
customer receives excellent customer
authority in your field.
what you want your PR activity to not a quick fix, and it will take time to build and needs to be sustained if
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