What are you doing to build your Business Reputation?
Does your marketing strategy incorporate both advertising strategies and public relations strategies?
Often-times there’s been some confusion between PR (Public Relations) and Advertising. Let’s take a look at how they differ.
The aim of public relations is to create the most favorable public image of your company. This is accomplished by relationship building through media coverage. It also diverts negative attention away from reputation management.
Advertising is used to focus attention on your products and services. Ultimately, advertising leads to sales, subscriptions, or other business transactions. This goal is accomplished through strategic placement of catchy imagery.
PR vs. Advertising: Similarities and Differences
Successful companies know to include both public relations strategies and advertising strategies as elements of their overall marketing plan. Both play a key role in your promotional efforts. However, PR and advertising differ, in terms of the target audience, the message they deliver, and the media they use to get the message across.
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Audience
Considering advertising strategy, the primary audience includes existing customers or clients and prospective buyers. In public relations, the audience is much wider and includes investors, employees and potential employees, members of the media, and various stakeholders.
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Media
An advertising strategy leans heavily on planned and paid media placement. Although organic efforts such as social media are included in many organizations’ overall marketing strategy too. Public relations seeks earned media coverage in newspapers, magazines, television, and radio news.
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Message
Ad strategy usually focuses on one product or service geared to a specific audience, for example, a toy commercial that runs during cartoons or a radio spot for fast food that plays just before lunch or during drive time. A good public relations strategy is targeted toward journalists, effectively pitching and convincing them to promote your organization through feature articles, interviews with key personnel, product spotlights, and promoting your company’s community and philanthropic activities.
Benefits of a Public Relations Strategy
There are three benefits of implementing a public relations strategy for your company.
- First, public relations is more cost-effective than using paid ads for publicity. Take the time to issue press releases, grant interviews to reporters, and participate in other media events. They are an excellent source of free publicity and promotion.
- Next, you can build a better reputation through media endorsements. Consumers subconsciously limit their response to ads because they realize that businesses are paying for the positive messaging. When consumers see media endorsements of products or services in a news segment, they’re more likely to respond to a good reputation presented by an unbiased third party.
- Finally, your company is always growing through public relations. Frequent coverage of your brand, people, products, and services shows consumers and other stakeholders that there’s always fresh ideas and activities in your company. Coverage from a variety of media outlets helps your company to appear larger and gives you more reach over a larger audience base.
- Related: Media Coverage to Increase Your Visibility – For Free
Tips to Enhance Your Business Reputation
These tips will help you further your business interests through ongoing public relations strategies.
- Be consistent. Just like using paid ads or social media, an effective public relations strategy requires consistency. Make sure that you get your message out in a timely fashion and on a regular basis. Issue press releases when you launch new products or want to highlight your employee’s community efforts. Hold press conferences whenever there’s a major change in your company.
- Develop a strong media network. Don’t focus all efforts on one publication or on a single type of media. Include a good mix of local news outlet and regional publications. Work with independent journalists and alternative media outlets whose target audiences closely align with yours.
- Become the expert that media outlets turn to. Announce industry trends to the media along with expert analysis and thought leadership. Your target audience will connect more quickly when they hear and see you at the forefront of the latest business trends.
What are you doing to build your Business Reputation? Are you focused, and adaptable? No matter the strategy, as long as you remember to stay true to your business values and goals, you’ll put yourself on the right track.
We’d love to hear from you, share with us in the comments section below.
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