Public relations or the more commonly... just PR is the way organisations, companies and individuals communicate with the general public and media. A PR professional has the ability to connect with a targeted audience, through various ways (press, tv, social media etc) - this maybe done directly or through another avenue. The aim is to create a clearcut plan and build a strong relationship with your potential audience.  

Connection is the key factor along with repetition, by simply just being out there.

The trend to social media today is a major builder in the current market trends.

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PR people in general are opposed to spending huge amounts on advertising. They promote with editorials. Social media plays a BIG part of the coverage.  It's commonly known as free media, that is ... stories appearing on websites, in newspapers, magazines and TV programs, as compared to paying media outlets the BIG Bucks.

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PR and advertising people share the same ambitions, promoting clients and making them reputable by looking sincere,  at the top of their field and exciting to purchase from or just to be around. Doing all this and creating awareness can be very interesting.  Most people understand what advertising is. It can prove expensive with little or no return if not handled correctly. Quality magazine articles or television coverage adds amazing credibility to you and your business. Third party marketing is also a GREAT way to increase interest in your business, although you will need to have a tie-in (a reason to shop with you) to help bring them to the door.  This needs to be handled correctly or it will lead to disappointing results.

 

A LESSON IN PR/MARKETING

First find your USP (Unique Selling Proposition)

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You will never keep all of your potential customers if you try to get everybody, and that's a lot of unnecessary work anyway...  you just end up pleasing nobody. Your goal will be to connect more strongly with the right people, and not so much with the wrong people. This is what you want because when you connect strongly with a smaller audience, your influence can spread much more quickly.

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Below is from an amazing book by Michael Port: called "Book Yourself Solid"-  I think you might get the picture when read it - I LOVE Mike's simplistic explanation.

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An old man, a boy and a donkey were going to town. The boy rode on the donkey and the old man walked. As they went along they passed some people who remarked it was a shame the old man was walking and the boy was riding. The man and boy thought maybe the critics were right, so they changed positions.

 

Later, they passed some people that remarked: “What a shame, he makes that little boy walk.” They then decided they both would walk!

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Soon they passed some more people who thought they were stupid to walk when they had a decent donkey to ride. So, they both rode the donkey.

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Now they passed some people that shamed them by saying how awful to put such a load on a poor donkey.

 

The boy and man said they were probably right, so they decided to carry the donkey.

 

As they crossed the bridge, they lost their grip on the animal and he fell into the river and drowned.

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The moral of the story? In Marketing, if you try to please everyone, you might as well… Kiss your ass good-bye.

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A cost effective PR/Marketing campaign today could start off by using social media, getting some good stories going, posting video, pictures and some fun, interesting stuff. Although there are many ways to do this, there are also many traps for people to fall into.

 

Often business owners say "That didn't work". The main causes are bad planning, poorly written copy, and a myriad of other variables that echo a badly put together marketing/PR campaign or allowing the wrong person/s to promote you or your business. Some business people are just natural PR folk whilst others should steer right away from the subject.