Communications – A beginners guide to HR

A Beginners Guide to PR

Public Relations (PR) is a commonly discussed but underdefined practice. By Rebecca Smith – That Comms Co.

PR the process of maintaining an ganisation’s positive reputation. And it involves the deliberate and planned release of communications by an organisation to favourably influence public perception and build beneficial relationships. It’s often described as the business of persuasion.

Unlike advertising, which tries to create a favourable impression through paid messages, public relations instead relies on persuading an organisation’s target audience via unpaid or earned methods. Whether it’s through traditional media, social media or self-produced communications, PR communicates through trusted, not paid, sources. So, while PR and advertising often go hand in hand and work really well in conjunction, they are two completely different things.

PR is not only effective in building awareness, credibility and sales for an organisation but also has an important role to play when disaster strikes. At such a time, PR can be used to help contain and manage an issue in an effort to mitigate against it having a negative impact on the business. For example, your site might be affected by extreme weather damage or a fire and it’s PR that will help you to effectively communicate how you are supporting affected customers and managing the situation responsibly.

If you’re intending to use PR to tell your facility’s story, here are some boxes to tick in doing so.

Survey the landscape

Take a good look at what others in the local community and in the self storage industry are doing, as this will provide you with a lot of insight into how you should and shouldn’t position your brand within the marketplace.

Know your audience

Who are you hoping to reach and influence? Is it local residents, other businesses in your community, or current and future customers? How well you know your target audience will be a critical factor in determining the success of your PR campaign.

Craft your story

After you’ve established the ‘who’ – comes the ‘what.’ What story are you going to tell? What can you say that will be most effective in communicating with your target audience to get the outcome you want? What will resonate? You may have a sudden recruitment drive, be the sponsor of a local sports team, or be using your site to hold a fundraiser for charity. And these activities may present you with a compelling, positive story to share with your local community. In determining whether your story will be interesting to media, consider the following: Is it new? It is unusual? Is there a humaninterest angle? A journalist will want to know why their reader should care and why their reader should care now. If you think it has media potential, a quick search online or a call to the relevant publication will help you determine the best person to send your story to. Just remember, that in PR, a journalist will make the final decision on whether the story is right and may not choose to run it.

PR specialises in the art and science of building a brand’s credibility and longevity with its key audiences. It should work to create relationships for your facility with customers and the wider community and these audiences will be more likely to choose the service of a company they have read about, they know is respected and have a good opinion of, over the alternative. l

“Once you know your audience and the story you’d like to tell, it’s important to understand how best to reach them. What do they read, watch and listen to?

Tell your story

Once you know your audience and the story you’d like to tell, it’s important to understand how best to reach them. What do they read, watch and listen to? Think about the places your target audience go to find their information. It could be your website, your social media channels (blog posts, tweets, photos, videos, etc.), or even the local newspaper. And it’s likely going to make sense to tell your story in multiple places. Rebecca is Founder and Managing Director of That Comms Co. She has extensive experience in advising executives and boards in Australia and in Europe with their communication needs, and has worked across a range of different businesses and sectors.

Need more help with your customer communications? That Comms Co. is the SSAA’s preferred public relations and crisis communications service for its members and is able to be engaged to prepare holding statements and customer communications as required.

For more information. Free call 1800 067 313 (Australia); 0800 444 356 (New Zealand); or email admin@selfstorage.com.au.

Mark, Peter and Jonathan Layton family.

Every great brand is built on trust

We’ve built many things in four decades, but the one thing we’re most proud of is our name - Storco.

Established in 1980 by Peter Layton, Storco was the first of its kind, building the first self storage facility located west of the Blue Mountains. Today, Peter’s sons Mark and Jonathan lead the Storco team. Having lived and breathed the industry alongside their father, the cumulative knowledge gathered over the years has enabled Mark and Jonathan to offer customers two very different skillsets. Mark heads up the worldclass manufacturing facility and the operations department. Jonathan has become a specialist in the design of self storage facilities and leads the business development department.

For four decades, they have been creating innovative solutions for their customers. When people need a quality storage solution, theirs is the one name to turn to. They understand the self storage industry more than any other manufacturing company in Australasia

To this day, Storco remains Australasia’s only family owned, locally based, and operated business committed to delivering storage and non storage solutions that are strong and secure, look fantastic and last a lifetime.

Storco is built on a promise that they will consistently deliver the quality that customers have come to expect.

“To this day, Storco remains Australasia’s only family owned, locally based, and operated business committed to delivering storage and non storage solutions that are strong and secure, look fantastic and last a lifetime.

They know their stuff

Storco have always been their own entity and are never comfortable with the status quo. Throughout their years in business, they have responded to industry trends with innovative products and materials to deliver world-class self storage solutions for clients manufactured in Orange, New South Wales.

Since its inception, they have evolved from a commercial building company specialising in self storage buildings to the market leader in designing, manufacturing, and installing self storage fitout systems, residential fitout systems, self storage buildings, and fencing systems in Australia and New Zealand.

“We have reinvented our brand to what we feel more accurately reflects what Storco represents today. Just like our systems, our new branding is innovative, clean and attractive - once again leading the self storage in adapting with the changes around us and moving towards the future.”

Storco – The best there is and has been.