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Going
public
Public
(aka Press) Relations might seem, at first glance, to be
an area of marketing strictly reserved for large
organisations. It's often assumed that you need big plans and
a big budget before PR can play a part in your marketing. But
that is not always so ...
Is PR
the best way to communicate with your
audience?
The role
that PR can play in your marketing mix is heavily
swayed by the nature of the target customers for your
products and services. It might be that they are more
influenced by editorial coverage in certain media than by
advertising or other means of communications. This can be true
of both consumer and business audiences. In this case
diverting other spend into PR might generate better overall
results.
Also,
depending upon your business, your audience might be very
geographically focused, in which case local newspapers and magazines
can be very effective. But do remember that your story might
well get placed on the same page as coverage of jumble sales and
council meetings!
However, the audience for your particular business might be very
diffuse, in which case the cost of covering all of the influential
media might be prohibitive. Or it might be that the ideal
media for your target customers is genuinely beyond your reach, like
national newspapers, television news, and so on. Though
even these can be attainable for small businesses in some
circumstances.
It is also
worth remembering that whilst print media still carries the greatest
level of influence, the internet is increasingly seen as an
important source of factual information by many. So make sure
that you investigate online media as well before coming to any firm
decisions.
Can
the media really 'carry' your
message?
Having established
that there are convenient and affordable media vehicles for your
audience is a great start, but whether they will be effective for
your business also depends upon what you are trying to say.
The message must be 'carry-able' by the media.
It's no
good trying to convey a complex business proposition in a journal
that generally covers human interest and lifestyle stories.
The readers simply wouldn't be interested. Similarly using too
blunt a sales message in an independent and authoritative
journal might fail to impress.
In the
case of local newspapers, it is also important that any message
contains sufficient local elements to be genuinely interesting to
the readers.
You will
find that the editorial staff at the publication will have
a clear view of their readership and what kind of things will
interest them. The editors just won't publish material about
your business unless they feel that it fits the right
profile.
This is
where the services of a PR expert will come to the fore. The
expert can help you short cut the process and quickly target the
right media with the right messages ... or advise you that
PR maybe isn't the right tool after all.
How
can you get press
coverage?
Assuming
that you've decided that PR has a role to play in your marketing
mix, and which media to use with which type of messages, then you
need to find ways to get
coverage.
I've found
that there are generally four main ways of reliably getting
press
coverage.
1) Be rich
and/or famous - film stars,
politicians
2) Be a
large and influential company - Microsoft, Tesco,
BP
3) Be
associated with someone rich and/or famous or a large and
influential
company
4) Be
genuinely
interesting
For a
small business it is typically only option 4 that is
available. And unfortunately, being genuinely interesting is
much harder than it sounds. This is because the arbiter of
what is genuinely interesting, or not, is the editor of the
media acting on behalf of the
readership.
So a story
that you think is really interesting from your company's viewpoint
might not be interesting to your target readers. And be
aware that editors are very well versed at detecting (and rejecting)
uninteresting stories that are 'dressed up' as
interesting.
Still help
is at hand. Once again, a PR expert can help you find aspects
of your business, your customers or your future plans that can be
offered to media editors in a way that they will see as truly
interesting to their
readers.
I worked
with one expert recently who managed to get coverage in the
Financial Times for a very small company in High Wycombe. He
was successful because he understood what the editor was looking for
and the story he was 'selling' was genuinely interesting to the
readers.
Memorable
marketing
Thinking
and working pragmatically like this will help you to make
your marketing work better for you in a more memorable way.
This means that your target customers will be able to differentiate
your products and services from those of your competitors and
clearly see the value in buying from you.
If you would like some advice on memorable
marketing techniques for your own business, or you know someone
at another business who might need help, then please contact us. The sooner you start, the sooner you will benefit. |
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Public
Relations
Download this handy guide which explains
how best to approach Public Relations in order to improve
business effectiveness.
Written by
the Chartered Institute of Marketing as part of
their Directors' Briefing series, this document makes easy
reading for business people of all experience
levels.
Marketing
Effectiveness Assessment
A
free service to small businesses in the Buckinghamshire, Berkshire
and Oxfordshire area, the Marketing Effectiveness Assessment
delivers a professional audit of how a business is using the tools
of marketing to communicate to existing and potential customers. It
also includes a series of simple and cost-effective marketing
activities that the business can implement immediately and at low
cost.
Download the factsheet now.
Useful
Links ...
Adduce Marketing
Chartered Institute of Marketing
Marketing UK (information portal)
Marketing Profs (free articles)
Back
Issues ...
Marketing
Memorabilia |
