5 Tips to Improve Your Company Through Public Relations

As an entrepreneur or small business owner, you likely already have a serviceable understanding of product marketing and how good marketing can help your business. But what happens when your company begins to get defined less by your marketing efforts and more by public perception? Managing how your company is perceived is a public relations (PR) job, and a good PR strategy can go a long way to making sure your company is successful in the short and the long terms.

There are a few reasons why you might be concerned with how your business is perceived, whether that perception comes from your employees, clients, shareholders, the competition or any other stakeholders. A good PR strategy is one that is capable of both positive promotion and damage control when necessary. If your current PR strategy isn’t working, or if you’re in the process of forming a new one, here are a few tips to keep in mind.

1. Do Your Research Ahead of Time 

Like you should have done for your marketing plan, conduct market research to identify the scope of your PR campaign. Your campaign’s plan should identify the targets you are trying to engage, their location, why you’re engaging them and how you intend to do it. Answering these questions will help you establish a profile of your target audience using data such as age, income, occupation, lifestyle, etc.

In addition to your communication objectives, your PR plan should outline your campaign’s key messages, main issues, primary competition and potential barriers. For example, your research should reveal possible challenges your PR campaign might face. It should also include a detailed history of how your products, services and company policieshave been regarded by your target audience, and it should note any current publicity associated with your brand.

Finally, research publications and media sites that target your customers and prospects. This can include newspapers, websites and trade magazines, some of which may not have an online presence. And don’t forget to collect and record the contact information of reporters who cover your specific industry, as these may come in handy when sending outpress releases or handling corporate crises.

2. Develop High-Quality Content

Creating relevant and valuable content that informs rather than sells to clients will help you increase repeat traffic to your website and build credibility for your brand. According to a Roper Public Affairs study, 60% of business decision-makers report that content, not ads, helped them make better purchasing decisions.

Your PR content, which encompasses everything from press releases and blogs, to leadership announcements and speeches, will act as key tools for generating PR leads. For example, blogging can build your credibility as a subject matter expert, and it can also help your SEO efforts as well. These web visitors could be reporters or other industry bloggers looking to write a story based on one of your blog posts, or they can be trying to invite you as a guest writer on their own website. While press releases don’t necessarily improvesearch engine rankings and hits, including relevant links to company content in your press releases can help your readers contextualize your brand’s position in a favorable light.

3. Speak at Industry-Related Events 

Reporters often cover industry and community events that feature topics they think will generate media buzz. Thus, position yourself as an industry expert by speaking at eventsrelated to your expertise. You can also boost your company’s recognition if the panel features notable or well-known executives and public figures. Speaking at conferences, expos and similar events will also improve your chances of speaking with the press, which could result in an interview or a published quote in the media.

If your organization is hosting an event, plan a period of time leading up to the event during which you can promote speakers to your media contacts. Besides a direct call or email, you can post brief announcements on your website, blog and through social media channels as well. Train your PR specialists to coordinate and be present for any onsite interviews that take place, and structure the event around interactive features and unique activities to make it memorable and newsworthy.

4. Measure and Share Your Results 

Similar to many marketing functions, PR often delivers intangible results that are hard to measure. As you roll out a PR campaign, you’ll want to highlight not only how it boosted your company’s public visibility, but also try to measure how your PR activities contributed to the company’s bottom line.

To accomplish this task, develop key performance indicators (KPIs) that measure the progress and impact of your PR campaign. These KPIs should measure any changes in attitudes, opinions or company sales as a result of PR activities.

To determine whether the money and time spent on your PR campaign was successful, use software programs such as Viralheat and Topsy to track how many times your brand was mentioned on multiple networks and sites. Conduct focus groups with customers and other stakeholders to measure the effectiveness of a particular survey. Finally, be open to surveying employees about their awareness of your company’s new positioning and your delivery of that messaging in the media.

If you cannot do this in-house, it may be a good idea to reach out to PR firms. Depending on your budget and needs, you can hire a PR professional or an agency. Just make sure to do your research and understand which choice will get you the best return on investment (ROI).

5. Nurture Media Relationships 

Media personnel have their own schedules and may not follow up with you without a frequent tap on the shoulder. With this in mind, follow up with reporters to remind them about how your products or services relate to current news, trends and happenings. Media organizations typically have high employee turnover, so keep your contact list updated with the newest reporters covering your industry.

Finally, be responsive to media inquiries so you can verify facts quickly. This will help build your relationship with influential media personnel who can give positive publicity to your business and enable you to build a sustainable PR strategy.

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