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Public Relations

Create Your Own Public Relations Campaigns

Create Your Own Public Relations Campaigns

Public relations aims to raise awareness about your company and its products and services, but why stop there? Smart businesses work hard at their public relations efforts, especially when the cost of an effective campaign can be significantly lower than traditional advertising. You likely have several public relations needs and opportunities, regardless of your business size and genre.

Publicity and public relations can mean different things. In general terms, you may get publicity if you donate goods or services to a local charity. The publicity you receive may generate positive public relations. 

Publicity is short-term and is based on a specific event or activity. Public relations refers to ongoing activities and strategies to promote and publicize your company. The goal of public relations is to generate long-term, positive brand awareness.

The key to creating your public relations campaign is to start with a plan that establishes goals based on your goals. Whether you aim to raise awareness for a new company or build a better public image, a plan will help you work smarter.

Step One: Determine Your Goals.

First, determine how broad or narrow your goals are. Deciding what you want to accomplish will help you determine what steps to take. Keep in mind one goal may accomplish more than one thing. For example, if you spread the word about a new product, overall awareness of your company should naturally increase as well.

Step Two: Create Measurable Outcomes.

"Greater brand awareness" is a beneficial goal, but how will you know if you are successful? Create specific targets you can measure using key performance indicators (KPIs).

You may hope to increase traffic to your website by a certain number or get 10 bloggers to review your products on their sites. You must know what you want to achieve and how you’ll know when you’ve reached that goal. Establishing KPIs will help you determine the direction and speed of your progress.

Step Three: Define Your Audience.

Establish who you hope to reach. From current customers to a new audience or established influencers, determining who you want to reach will help you decide how to reach them. Landing a story in your local newspaper will help you reach local potential customers, but it won’t help you reach an influential blogger in your industry.

Applying your goals to demographics and a specific audience will determine the best channels and actions to reach them.

Step Four: Determine Your Methods.

Creating good public relations is based on effective communication. The methods of communication you choose will depend on your audience and goals.

To raise general awareness, focus on creating press releases and engaging traditional media. If you want to reach bloggers, send emails and leave comments on their blogs. To reach a specific audience, try seminars and speaking engagements, run promotions or contests, sponsor an event, or consider charitable activities geared to that audience.

You may choose a combination of efforts – you are only limited by the resources you are willing to commit to your public relations efforts.

Step Five: Coordinate Your Efforts.

Public relations and traditional marketing and advertising should complement each other. Running a sale in conjunction with an effective general public relations campaign could help new customers decide to try your products. Print advertisements that appear in the same newspaper as a feature article on your company could multiply your exposure and brand awareness.

If you sponsor a charitable event, mention it in your advertisements. Not only will you publicize the event, but you will spread the word about how your company gives back to the community. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) motivates 87% of consumers to purchase a product associated with a familiar cause. CSRs help associate your small business with a cause and build your business identity.

Step Six: Track Your Results. If you run a print advertisement, you probably evaluate its effectiveness in terms of sales or leads. Public relations campaigns should be tracked similarly – even though your measurements may differ.

For example, you may measure brand awareness by increased website or blog traffic or the number of mentions your company gets in the media. You could determine the quantity of promotional literature distributed at a recent event. Look at what you hoped to accomplish and determine if you were successful. If not, modify your plan to address your goals more directly.

A note of caution: Public relations allows less "message control" than traditional advertising. With a television ad, for example, you can say precisely what you want to say. Public relations presents more variables since you cannot control how the local television station delivers your message.

Carefully consider what you want to say and how you want to say it. Next, determine your tools and strategies to get that message across. Then, find the right outlets for your message, track the results, and adjust your strategy accordingly.

References:

https://prlab.co/blog/csr-and-public-relations/

https://www.geektonight.com/public-relations/

https://mailchimp.com/resources/pr-for-small-businesses/#:~:text=You%20can%20use%20PR%20for,you%20know%20best%E2%80%94your%20business.

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