The Benefits of Effective PR
Public relations is about reputation. It is the result of what you do, what you say and what others say about you. It's about the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organization and its audience, whether these are potential clients, investors or recruits.
All organizations big or small, local or international, private or public can benefit from good public relations.
An economical way to reach your target audience
By comparing the monetary value of editorial coverage with direct advertising it can be seen that the cost of a full page spread may run to thousands of pounds where carefully targeted PR will cost the time taken in building up relationships, research and persistence.
Stimulates awareness of, and the demand for your company's products or services
Effective public relations creates good publicity, building your reputation and increasing confidence with customers and others whose opinion matters to your business.
Strengthens your company's image and perception
Although a single mention may have an impact, the perception and profile of a company is maintained through regular media exposure and community relations.
Creates more credibility than traditional advertising
There is the added value of editorial as "third party endorsement". Favourable coverage is more credible than the same assertions made in an advert. Recent studies suggest that positive editorial coverage generates up to seven times more visibility than paid advertising.
Paints the picture of a company that is active and innovative
It provides an advantage over competitors who do not use PR effectively. The media always needs stories so if you can produce interesting and newsworthy press releases – and target them to the right journalist and publication – there's a good chance they will be used.
Public relations should not be thought of as "we will do it if we have the time and resources". A sustained initiative can build your organization's profile with both the media and with key stakeholders.
While traditional PR dealt primarily with media relations, there are many areas that can be covered by a PR agency or consultant:- Brand Awareness
- Copy-writing
- Corporate Identity
- Evaluation
- Event & Conference Management
- Marketing (of products, services and issues)
- Media/Presentation Training
- Online PR
- Research
- Sponsorship
- Strategic Planning
So you think you need PR support. What do you need to do now?
Plan
Decide what your objectives are – what would you like to achieve? Be realistic but list all requirements so you can give your chosen PR agency a full briefing. Information they are likely to need are a brief history of your organization, the markets you operate in or would like to, your historical and current communications strategy, your current audience and the potential audiences you would like to reach.
Choose an agency with relevant experience and contacts
Most agencies have a client list on their website. See if there are any organizations similar to yours but be wary of any likely conflicts of interest. Reputable PR agencies are happy to sign confidentiality agreements to avoid this.
Contact them
Initial discussions are usually free and should cover enough ground for both parties to decide whether to continue discussions, either by the agency sending the potential client an outline proposal or more likely by both parties meeting face to face.
Once you've chosen your PR agency and agreed the PR strategy, fees and the time to be spent on your account, it's important that you both work at managing your relationship. You need to trust each other and work together. Ensure that any of your staff they need to work with are fully briefed, co-operative and know the goals to be achieved. Conduct regular and honest reviews of progress but remember that PR usually brings long-term benefits so be patient.