Recently I had the luxury of delivering a presentation about the value of PR to the Entrepreneurs Round Table in Ipswich. As a freelance communications and PR specialist, this was something I was excited to get stuck into!
Shaping reputations through strategic PR by Amy DawsonWhat struck me during the course of the afternoon was that there is still a lot of misconception amongst small businesses about what PR is, and how it can help business growth.
Unfortunately, too many businesses in Ipswich think that PR is only applicable for big brands with big budgets.
They are failing to realise that PR is about your reputation – it’s what your audience think and say about you.
If I asked them outright, “do you invest in PR” – the immediate response would be an emphatic no. They wouldn’t have the budget for such things. But from further discussion, that turned out to be untrue.
Many of the participants were already actively participating in PR activities – they just hadn’t realised that they were!
Some were involved in award schemes; all were using social media outreach, they knew the importance of blogging and were keen to learn how to get stuck into thought leadership. But because they hadn’t considered that all of those tactics were collectively considered part of “PR”, they hadn’t taken a strategic approach to examine if it was really making a difference to their business growth.
What do you mean by strategic PR?
One of the reasons why SME’s tend to steer away from formal PR activities is because it can quickly become bogged down by jargon and unclear measurement.
Put simply – PR is about shaping your reputation.
It’s about getting your customers to think about you in the way you want them to.
You want to have that brand recognition that when they are ready to buy your services, they know to come to you straight away – without hesitation.
This is where your strategy comes in.
It’s about understanding what your customers want and demonstrating what you can offer that meet those needs.
When I’m working with clients to deliver freelance communications and PR support, I often challenge them to think of it as a giant Venn diagram.
Along the way, you can use a wide range of tactics and activities, but if you align everything with what your customers are looking for and how you can meet their needs, you’ll be suitably positioned for strong business growth.
Who are you trying to reach?
One of the reasons why PR campaigns fail is because they haven’t uniquely identified the exact audience you are trying to reach.
There could be many different audience groups – and the more specific you can be in your messaging and communications, the more likely they will respond.
To get you started, why not break down your audience groups into three broad categories –
- Current and previous customers. They may be aware of who you are. They’ll know your products and services and you might want to approach them to turn them into repeat customers. You want to learn how they think about you – whether they would recommend you to others, engage with your social media posts or talk about you positively.
Your tactics for this group may focus on email marketing, blogs, social media, media outreach, sponsorship, awards, brand partnerships etc
- Local or regional stakeholders. What do people in your local area think about you? Do they know who you are and what you do? What are your relationships like with your community? These audiences might not need your services yet – but they want to know that you are an advocate for your community. When they feel you are supporting the local area, they’ll be more likely to turn to you.
Your tactics for this group may focus on community outreach, volunteering, sponsorship, local awards, social media, education etc,
- Wider industry or media stakeholders. Are you trying to expand your reputation in your sector? What do you have to say about topics that matter to your industry? Award wins, thought leadership and sharing details of business growth, contract wins, promotions etc. will help to position you within your sector.
Your tactics for this group may focus on media briefings, thought leadership, research reports and white papers, industry awards and building journalist relationships
Within all of these groups, the demographics can be drilled down much further. However these categories provide a starting point for how you can tailor different types of messages and PR activity to reach very different audience groups.
Talk to me about how my freelance communications and PR support services can help you to drill down your audience demographics.
How do I know if my PR is working?
Evaluation and measurement is an ongoing cause for conversation. Ultimately, you want to know if your expenditure on PR activity is generating a positive return on your investment.
We get it.
As an SME, every penny counts, so you need to know that there will be a direct result from your budget.
Unfortunately, PR isn’t quite that straight forward.
Here’s why.
If you participate in media outreach, but someone comes to you from your website – you might assume that the person found you from your SEO activity because they found you in the search engines.
However – what if your business link was 5th or 6th in the rankings? That person may have chosen to click on your link because they’d heard about your brand from previous media activity. Or they may be aware of your community links and wanted to work with a local organisation.
SMART objectives are essential for any PR activity.
If you want to get started on PR and reputation building, you must begin by being really clear about what you want to achieve and why.
As you know, for a long time we’ve spoken about the three questions you should be asking before starting any marketing activity – What, Why and How.
When you’re clear on that, you can set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) objectives to help you to benchmark progress.
Here are some examples of potential SMART PR objectives.
- To increase sales of xx product by 20% over 12 month
- Position CEO as a thought leader by securing 3 feature articles in tier 1 publications discussing xxx service within 6-12 months
- Win 1 industry award in 12 months tailored to business growthTo boost web traffic by 30% in Q1 along with a relevant increase in conversions
- To improve engagement on social media by measuring likes/shares/comments each quarter
As you can see – with careful tracking and measurement, you can be a lot clearer on your PR strategy and know if you are achieving what you set out to do. And by aligning all your activity to the specific wants and needs of your customers, you’ll start to build a stronger reputation.
Is freelance communications and PR support worth it for small businesses?
Absolutely it is.
The one thing every business has – small, medium or large, is its reputation.
You can’t afford NOT to make the most of PR. Your business relies on you shaping and managing how your potential customers think about you.
Of course, this just gives a little taste in how your business can get started with a basic PR strategy. Ideally, when we work with clients like you, we like to create a strong plan of action that really focuses on your customer demographics and your business priorities.
If you need help to figure this out, please feel free to book a call to discuss how I can help you. I’m based in Capel St Mary, on the outskirts of Ipswich and Colchester, but I work with clients across the UK, helping them to improve their reputations.
With fixed monthly prices available, you can benefit from long-term freelance communications and PR support at affordable prices.
In the meantime, why not see for yourself how you can shape the reputation of your business through targeted PR activity.
Shaping reputations through strategic PR by Amy Dawson