Is your industry booming, but your business is not?
Do you feel like your brand is invisible or, worse, getting too much negative attention?
These are sure signs you need to add public relations (PR) to your marketing kit. PR is a cost-effective brand management tool that uses free media coverage, cross-promotional partnerships, speaker engagements and events to talk to your target audience, raising awareness of your brand and controlling how it is perceived.
So, when is the right time to start a PR campaign?
Here are five key indicators that it is time to launch:
1. You are establishing a new business: let people know who you are
When you start from the ground up, it is hard to get noticed among established businesses similar to yours. If you have an innovative product or service, you need to differentiate it from competitors and promote that difference broadly to gain traction. If you are selling your product or service state-wide or nationally, a PR campaign can use an extensive, far-reaching range of methods to build awareness of your brand and manage the image you put out into the world from the start.
Here are a few tips to help run an effective PR campaign from HubSpot.
2. Your competitors ramp up publicity: don’t let your brand disappear
You switch on the morning news or open the latest industry magazine and there they are again: your competitors. They have boosted their marketing and suddenly their adverts, experts and brand stories are everywhere. When competitors saturate the market or new competitors burst onto the scene, you must act to prevent your company from disappearing in the flooded market. That is why The Ideas Suite monitors its clients’ competitor activities and plans a schedule of multi-media pitches, blogs and posts that keeps its clients visible.
3. The market is healthy, but your business is not: focus on your image
While PR is not a sales tool, sales can be a byproduct of it. PR moulds and manages your image and spreads the word across your target audience. When a consumer needs a service or product such as the one you offer, you want your reputable company to come to mind. When a media outlet needs an expert for an industry-related discussion, you want them to think of your people first, giving your company the airtime that could potentially lead to more sales.
Read our blog ‘What are the Benefits of Partnering with a PR Agency?’
4. You are launching something new: use a holistic approach
Whether you are launching an innovative new project, service or division, PR should be part of the marketing mix. While marketing focuses on selling the new product or service, PR manages the overall company image in relation to what you are launching. It will identify and promote stories that position your brand as evolving and solution focused, and that differentiate it from competitors. So, if there is something exciting happening in your company, make it a priority to get PR on the ground.
5. Your reputation has taken a hit: take back control
It happens to the best of us: a handful of customers complain, and word quickly spreads; your company is targeted in a cyber-attack; private company information is leaked. PR manages crisis like this, ensuring that media coverage is balanced, accurate, that your company has a say and that the story is wrapped up quickly.
Helping your brand get back in full swing with the power of PR
Public relations is key to helping your brand truly thrive. Whether your business is falling under the radar, your reputation has gone astray, or your brand simply needs a shake up, PR can make a world of difference to how your brand is put across to your audience.
At The Ideas Suite, we can help you improve your brand’s standing at the right place and at the right time.
Offering a range of PR services from social media management, media relations, to content development, we’ve got every tool in the shed to get the ground up and running.
Discover our PR services for further information on how we can help build your brand back up.
Contact us today to get started.
