Public Relations Firms

Public Relations, know to most simply as PR, is becoming more and more popular. Technology has advanced with new methods of communication creating numerous avenues for organizations and individuals to interact with the public. If you or your business is new to the whole PR concept, let us help you explore the basis.

What is Public Relations?

Public Relations is defined as “an activity aimed at increasing communication and understanding between an organization or individual and the public.” It is a means to help an organization and the public adapt mutually to each other.

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Public Relations has many benefits over traditional advertising. The biggest reason people don’t use Public Relations more in their businesses is that they don’t understand what it is, how it works or how to do it. It’s easy just to throw money at advertising and measure your response rate but put a bit of effort into PR and the rewards per dollar can be far greater, although harder to track.

Here are 5 great reasons to use PR to promote your business:

1. Lower Cost – Writing a press release can take 10 minutes (if you know what you’re doing!). If it’s good it can be syndicated across a broad range of media and earn you far more in exposure than a large advertising campaign.
2. More Trusted – People aren’t reading your ad, they’re reading news – and usually news that they consider is coming from a trusted source (their newspaper/ magazine etc). Essentially everyone that reads your news is being referred to you by a “friend”.
3. More Effective – All websites and magazines have areas dedicated to advertising and areas dedicated to copy. Studies have shown that people are so used to looking at adverts that their brains can actively censor out the ads, so what are they left looking at? Your press release of course!
4. Redistributed – How many times have your ads been picked up from one magazine and published in another, or on a website somewhere? Never! It happens all the time with press releases, just like articles they are your own personal ambassadors constantly working on your behalf and generating interest and leads.
5. Crosses media – A good press release can be sent out to radio, print publications and websites, garnering cross-media exposure, working on multiple levels and with multiple audiences. Compare that to a Google pay-per-click campaign!

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Don’t be afraid to admit it, but for many people PR means “press release.” However, what it really means is public relations (PR) which sometimes is a misunderstood marketing concept. PR activities differ based on the branding and image you want for your company. Large corporations usually employ public relations professionals and/or secure external PR firms. Small to mid-sized business might not be doing any public relations activities – but should they really go without?

It turns out developing a strong public relations strategy is a critical part of the marketing mix and can be essential to the success of many small to mid-sized businesses. There are The 3 P’s that I recommend:

1. Promote news via press releases and a proactive approach to the press
2. Participate in trade shows and conferences
3. Pursue editorial opportunities in relevant publications

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There are many types of PR firms out there, from large operations, such as Edelmen Public Relations or Ketchum PR, to one person home-based businesses. Most of the big firms handle PR as if “a product is a product” – selling your widget is the same as selling someone’s service, in that they both require news to be made and distributed. In today’s market, it’s vital that you find the right company to suit both your needs and your budget, and that is where boutique public relations comes in.

“Boutique” means simply that it is a smaller, more specialized company, and usually the idea behind this type of firm is that it will offer specialized expertise in only one or two industries. Whereas a large firm might have a few tech clients, some clothing product lines, a manufacturer of toys, and service providers across multiple industries, a boutique PR firm would only take on clients in their field.

For example, they might specialize in the travel and hotel industries, which are two overlapping arenas. Their PR list would then boast all of the updated travel and hospitality press, and a boutique public relations company would seek out and maintain strong relationships with the journalists in their area of expertise.

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