Power Brand Media - Is PR Still Relevant?

The biggest advantage to media exposure is its ability to reach a broad audience. A business without reach is hidden in the digital forest among taller and more recognizable competition. To support your brand with a strong media campaign, you must have an active public relations section for your business. What public relations can do for your business allows you more access to potential clients than ever before.

Relationship Building- Public relations, or PR, is essentially building relationships. It’s even in the name: relating to the public. To communicate your message, you need to know how it will appeal to your audience. Ask yourself some questions, like what do you offer?  How does this benefit someone? What can you do to make their lives better?  Knowing these questions (and being able to answer them affirmatively) is a critical foundation to successful PR. Also, having a solid crisis communication plan can help alleviate the stress of any possible bad press you might encounter. Your PR strategy will absorb the hit and throw a spin on it that can either discredit the press or accept it and say “we can do better and we will.”

Be Creative- You don’t have to be bland with public relations. It should be ingenious or fun. That’s an excellent way to get someone’s attention. Being at (or hosting) special events or designing unique promotions can elevate your brand by making you stand out; being memorable goes a long way. Staying relevant can also prove you are with the times; you’re keeping up with trends. Writing consistent and newsworthy press releases, building and maintaining media relationships, and embracing social networking are substantial activities that prove you belong with everyone else. Anyone who doesn’t do these things, especially now, is, unfortunately, a dinosaur, so to speak. The world is digital now; the media landscape has changed, so you must adapt, even if you’re uncomfortable or never done it before. If it means keeping your brand relevant and successful, it’s almost a requisite.

There are many benefits to having solid PR, but the biggest thing to remember is that PR is still very much relevant now as it was years ago. Times are changing, and the online push is aggressive and constant, so maintaining a relationship with your audience is still a priority. As you build your brand and perfect it, you will find that to keep your credibility; it’s necessary to have PR as an essential marketing tool.