PR in 2020: Help or Hindrance?
Covid-19 has heralded an era of scarcity, compared to the plenty we’d become used to. Times are tough and we are all corona legacy recipients. In the majority of industries budgets have been slashed or frozen, and one in three companies has admitted to downsizing their marketing budgets. The reality though, is that we can’t stand still. We need to keep moving. Will PR be of assistance to businesses in 2020 / 2021?
Let’s zoom in on Company X. Their product was put on hold in March due to Covid, but the time has come to progress. The product has been tested and is ready to go to market. It even has significant investment behind it. Should Company X invest some of their much needed funds in PR? Will PR really help or is it all simply hype and hindrance? Some start-ups and small to medium businesses tend to view PR as ‘hot air’. So they either decide to skip it altogether or they do it themselves because it should be easy, right?
Company X has asked ‘Sarah’ in Sales & Marketing (she is actually more of a sales person but she surely can manage a bit of PR) to cobble together a press release, or what they think a press release should look like. She uses the press release to tell the story they want people to read. Management has found a media list from an online source that relates somewhat to their industry and has sent it to Sarah. However, as it was sent by management Sarah does not think she needs to review it. Neither does management. She’s ready to go. She’s copied and pasted the press release and hit send to all 1,000 contacts. And then…nothing. A few bounce backs. A few out of offices. But it seems to management that the lack of results means that PR is all hype and not worth pursuing. What happens next? Company X discards their PR efforts - because, well, they tried and failed. They now focus solely on advertising and marketing.
Sound a little familiar? If so, it may be worth delving into why this should absolutely not be considered the sum of your company’s PR efforts. Principally because of the challenging and unprecedented times we face for the foreseeable future, it is beneficial, and arguably more crucial than ever before, to treat PR as the external ‘you’. It has become fundamental to appreciate how the outside world views your business, and more importantly, to understand the significance and high value of independent third-party placements and endorsements. These could impact your company positively in a big way.
It might also be beneficial to ask the following two questions:
- Why do many of the large (and smaller) well-known brands employ PR professionals?
- What value does a PR professional bring to your business?
1) Why do many of the large well-known brands employ PR professionals?
To start, it's worth noting that PR is known to be perceived by audiences as “the most authentic form of marketing”. Past statistics have shown PR to convert up to 50 times that of advertising. This is because it is mostly made up of “earned media” - a concept I have previously discussed. Your brand has to earn its place in the publication of choice because of a new, exciting or compelling story. However, this means that it can be exceptionally challenging and time-consuming to achieve relevant content since you cannot simply pay for it. Yet this is what makes it far more valuable than any other form of media when it is achieved and it's conceivably one of the main reasons why larger or more established companies will take on PR professionals. They see the value in PR media placements and realize the time and effort it takes to get great press coverage.
Additionally there are other rationales as to why PR professionals are engaged:
- Clear ‘Brand Speak’
Prior to communicating publicly with any audience, a PR expert, alongside the marketing team, will create and then refine the brand’s messaging. This means that when the brand ‘speaks’, its messages are clear and consistent. The public will immediately understand who the company is and what they are all about. This part of communication is crucial and larger brands will not leave this to chance. Message cultivation leads to greater brand and product exposure and success.
- Telling your own story
Some companies also find that if they don’t promote their own ‘why’s’ or stories, others will fill in the gaps for them. This means that your brand or company voice is essentially lost and taken over by ‘publics’. The company’s narrative is no longer owned by the company. A PR expert will take your brand’s messages and USP (unique selling point) and transform them into stories that the public will want to hear about. They will ensure that you are in control of the conversation. If the media likes your story this will mean valued third-party endorsements for your brand.
- Building trust and awareness
A PR professional will be able to lay the foundations for your company so that you are communicating to all your audiences in the right way and are continuously responsive. This will ensure that you begin, and continue, building a level of trust and awareness on a wide scale with your audience base and beyond. For earlier stage companies, not utilizing PR may be detrimental. Your technology or service may be outstanding, but if it is not being talked about in the right way - or if it's not talked about at all - your company may risk the growth of its customer base. PR effort in building both trust and awareness is crucial in early stage start-ups, and a component that may lead to failure if there is not enough take-up.
2) What value does a PR professional bring to your business?
PR is more subtle than advertising and marketing and building media relations and gaining the right press coverage is hugely important for the right brand exposure, since earned media from trusted journalists carries a lot of weight in the eyes of your potential buyers. Additionally, it's not all about the press release - although this is the aspect of PR of which many companies have heard.
In a nutshell, here are some of the benefits with which PR will enhance your business:
- A PR strategy
PR professionals will help you create a comprehensive strategy and think beyond product or investment announcements so that you can take full advantage of positive media coverage and press stories as well as maintain a continuous external presence.
- A holistic view of PR
PR is not only about what you do and the great technology you are launching. Ultimately, that may not be what gets you coverage. It's about finding your stories and converting them into news that appeals to a wider audience. A PR professional will be able to see the bigger picture and bring to the table a blended approach to PR - from content creation and social media through to traditional PR placements or endorsements, webinars and podcasts. All potential opportunities will increase traction and reinforce your brand. This holistic view of PR will support the overall business strategy and will aim to talk about you in the right way to the right audience every time you communicate.
- Strategy implementation - in the right way
Once created the strategy can be tweaked or changed entirely but your PR person will then be on hand to help you execute the strategy correctly and professionally which is typically time-consuming.
- Bonus benefits in line with company goals
Utilizing PR appropriately could also lead to added ‘bonus’ benefits like heightening visibility with a wider audience, attracting talent, as well as the potential of increased leads and investment.
Last thoughts would be to spend at least as much time on PR as on your marketing, advertising and sales - they are all as important as each other. What people say about your brand matters, especially in the early stages of your company’s growth. PR taps into that in a major way, with far-reaching benefits.