If done correctly PR can generate a lot of media interest without you having to invest in the high costs associated with advertising. However, it is not ‘free’.
You have taken the leap of faith and ventured out to start your own business; you know that your product is great and priced just right – however apart from you and those closest to you, it’s the best kept secret, no-one else knows about it. Next step is to get the word out there so that the sales can roll in. So you think to yourself that you need some free publicity and turn to a public relations (PR) consultant.
If done correctly PR can generate a lot of media interest without you having to invest in the high costs associated with advertising. However, it is not ‘free’. You will still need to invest in the expertise of a PR professional to guide you through the media liaison process.
There’s a lot more to it than just ‘quickly writing a media release and sending it out’. You are investing in someone’s expertise who knows how best to speak to your audience using different media angles and channels, as well as their extensive database of journalist contacts; something which they have taken years to build and foster.
It is however important to know that PR cannot be used as a direct marketing tool. Media generated through PR is to generate awareness of your business and to build credibility in the long run. PR is not necessarily going to lead to direct sales. Journalists will sniff out a self-promotional media release a mile away and quickly discard it. For a direct return on investment you will need to invest in advertising.
What’s the difference? Surely media is media?
With advertising it’s paid for space that is yours, you can choose how that space looks and what it says, you have total control over the message. With a media release, it is up to the journalist what information they choose to use from it, if any.
There is no control over what part of the release gets used or not. It is a lot trickier to get unpaid for media coverage. That is why it is regarded so much more credible than paid for media. You therefore need to position the media release in such a way that it is newsworthy and/or an interesting read without blatantly advertising your product or service.
Something which is really important to know when you do venture into the PR space, is that very often the first introductory media release, the release about the launch, will most likely receive the most hype and media attention. When investing in PR, it is important to realise that it is a long-term relationship that you are building with your PR company and the related media. It can’t just be a once-off exercise.
You need to keep the momentum going by feeding the media with interesting, different stories and angles. Yes, it is up to the PR company to come up with interesting angles, however you do need to provide the content which they will package accordingly for the appropriate media. After all you are the expert in the field; you work in your specialisation on a full time basis, and your PR partner will want to support you all the way.
How else can you market yourself?
My advice is to first make sure that the building blocks inside your business are in place; it does not help if you go on a huge communication drive and the business flows in, but you don’t have the capacity to deliver.PR forms part of an important building block, however before thinking that PR is an easy and ‘cheap’ way to create awareness, first invest in your website. This is still the first port of call for many people to get information about companies. Also consider social media, pending who your target audience is, they are also more than likely to look you up on Facebook; however do keep in mind that you need to keep the momentum going there as well.
When things start getting busier and you don’t have a dedicated person (not an intern) to manage social media and the website for you, you stand a good chance of losing credibility with an outdated page that was last updated in 2011.
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