What is PR is a time-old question since it encompasses so much of the communications mix. There should really be no “typical” answer since every brand’s goals are different.
The real answer is that the practice of public relations is constantly changing and deals with anything that addresses communications from your brand or organization internally or externally. But based on the key practice areas of PR, your campaign may include the following:
Press conferences and Company announcements
Press conferences and announcements help in developing a pipeline of news or announcements to show company movement and growth. This is specifically helpful when you are trying to establish some form of industry leadership.
Brand awareness
Brand awareness can happen in many forms. The common marketing benchmark is that a brand must be mentioned at least 7 times before a customer takes action. Our goal is to get your brand mentioned in the places where your target audience lives in the most relevant way for them to take action.
Media relations
Media relations includes a various amount of tactics and play that are focused on positioning your brand as a leader in its industry. This will be different based on if you are focusing on service expertise or product value. You can incorporate several different tactics here.
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Expert commentary – This usually refers to the experts within your organization and what they can say that differentiates your brand from competitors and what we can say that may be different or interesting. It doesn’t always have to be direct opinions and views but bringing up different perspectives may also be a way to engage a new audience or catch the attention of targets.
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Addressing trends – Addressing trends is a great way to gain mindshare of conversations that are already in progress. Inserting your commentary into existing conversations at least gets your brand as part of the conversation even if they are not leading it. You want to be in the conversations with who you perceive as your top competitors.
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Product Reviews and inclusions- When it comes to physical products, product reviews are a great way to get buy-in from experts and your customer. Make sure to diversify your reviews between official media experts and influencers that may live on alternate platforms like Youtube. Where is your audience consuming their information and how are they making their final decisions?
Thought leadership
The attention to thought leadership in communications has grown tremendously over the past few years. More and more leaders are taking control of their content and positioning themselves as subject matter experts in their fields.
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Analyst relations – This is where you introduce your business to key analysts that cover leadership in your space and position you amongst your competition in the market.
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Content creation
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Speaking
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Industry Awards
Investor relations
When managing investor relations, there are a set of communications that you want to include on a regular basis. This may mean a set of announcements to support your investors or any other content to properly communicate your status with your investors. This may also include an effort to address media outlets that can attract new investors or get existing investors excited about the growth and progress of your business.
Event/Tradeshow management
Events are another important area where most brands forget about PR. Remember that this is a place where you can reach media in your target sector proactively. Most tradeshows and events have pre-registered press lists where you can disseminate your information to the media in a direct way. If you are exhibiting at a tradeshow do not forget to acquire the press list and incorporate a plan to reach out and connect with the media in person when you are able to.
Crisis communications
In a worst-case scenario, you may have to deal with a crisis situation. The best thing to do is be prepared. As public relations professionals, we are typically trained in the art of what and how to communicate when things don’t go exactly as planned. Having a crisis plan in place doesn’t necessarily apply to everyone, but if you’re in a business where things may go wrong or if you have volatile executives it may be good to put a plan in your pocket for a rainy day.
By all means, this is not all-encompassing of the areas of your business that PR touches, and there are so many creative ways to incorporate a solid PR strategy into your business if you have any questions you can always reach out to us and schedule a quick meeting to understand what PR can do for your business.