PR is a critical marketing strategy for companies in any stage of business, from start-ups to conglomerates. It is a smart way to promote your products or services to target audiences and a common denominator among all successful organizations.
Business owners who resolve to leverage the full potential of PR in 2022 will be rewarded by customers and key stakeholders alike.
Here are three important ways PR can boost your brand this year and beyond:
- Build credibility
When a reporter runs a favorable story about your company, people perceive such “earned media” as a third-party endorsement. That makes successful media outreach campaigns and their resulting placements significantly more credible than most other forms of marketing like paid advertising, which is inherently self-promotional.
Consumers are naturally skeptical of ads and more likely to believe editorial content from news outlets. So the more positive press you receive from trusted sources, the more likely potential customers will be to engage with and recommend your brand.
Any favorable mention from a reputable journalist, influencer, customer or other respectable party increases the legitimacy of your brand by strengthening your reputation, improving your image and generating community goodwill.
- Increase awareness
Like advertising, PR helps you promote your business. PR, however, is much more cost-effective since you don’t pay for the content to run like you do with advertising. That’s another reason PR is more credible.
Information shared about your brand via print, broadcast and online channels by definition boosts its visibility. If consumers don’t know about your company, they can’t patronize it. For established companies, PR can maintain brand recognition.
And, since editorial and digital content is created to capture people’s attention, it is likely to attract eyeballs and generate consumer interest. That can lead to increased web traffic and new sales leads.
- Create brand identity
PR is the conduit through which you can tell your brand’s story to the people you want to know it. Through carefully crafted key messaging – messaging that should remain consistent across all PR, social and digital communications – you communicate your brand’s essence in a way that resonates with target audiences.
This allows you to educate the market about who you are and what you do, pointing out the ways your expertise benefits would-be customers. Including this kind of information and answering “WIIFM“(“what’s in it for me?”) increases the likelihood of coverage, because it will demonstrate how your company benefits consumers.
Executed well and integrated with a strategic marketing communications strategy, PR is an incredibly effective way to establish your brand or to remain relevant. It showcases your products or services as desirable, superior and beneficial, appealing to would-be customers, motivating employees and instilling market confidence.
Over time, PR can lead to more business from consumers who trust and recognize you; increased employee engagement and retention; an improved ability to attract top talent; higher valuations; and greater investor interest.
The most successful business owners know that PR helps fill the pipeline and requires the type of specialized knowledge you can find at GYC Vegas, an award-winning PR firm that delivers brand-boosting results. We’re passionate about helping you get the most bang for your buck with PR services that take your business to the next level.
We hope to hear from you soon, and wish you peace and prosperity in 2022 and always.
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