When Is The Right Time To Start Thinking About PR?

.Many businesses are surprised to know that PR can be one of the most effective tools in attracting new audiences, generating more sales and gaining the upper hand on your competition.

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The importance of communicating your value to the marketplace cannot be underestimated.

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But when is the right time to start?

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It’s true that when the budget – and time – is tight it’s easy to push PR to the back-burner and focus on the immediate jobs to hand. In truth, whether you plan to start by managing your own PR, or if you’re looking to engage an agency to take care of it for you, the time to start is NOW!

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“Publicity is absolutely critical. A good PR story is infinitely more effective than a front page ad.” – Richard Branson 

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PR for business is so much more than creating social media profiles and hoping the masses come to you – PR is an art that requires strategy, patience and most importantly, consistency.

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The time to start is NOW! Here’s how:

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1. Identify your Target Audience
   Who is your ideal customer – who do you most want to reach? Try to be as specific as possible: if you say, “I want to reach everyone” then your message will be too broad and won’t grab the attention of any one group. Identifying your target audience takes time and research, and may need fine tuning as your business evolves, but it is an absolute essential to a successful PR presence.
2. Think like your Target Audience
   Once you know your ideal customer, you can begin to think like them and plan to ‘show up’ in the areas that are already grabbing their attention. Here, we’re talking about identifying the types of newspapers they read, websites they visit and magazines they buy. Then, by compiling a list of target news sources you know where you’re aiming towards in terms of spreading your message to the people who will really benefit from hearing it.
3. Build relationships
   Now that you’ve identified where you want to be seen, do your research and build relationships with these media outlets (newspapers, magazines, websites, etc) to improve your chances of being published. It’s never guaranteed that you will be successful having your story covered, but the more research you’ve done and the better relationships you’ve formed with the editors, the better your chances will be.
4. Be Consistent
   PR is a long game, and while there will definitely be ‘quick wins’ along the way, you will achieve better results in the long term when you are consistently putting out newsworthy stories and working to keep your business name at the forefront of people’s minds. Don’t be disheartened if your first pitch doesn’t go as well as you’d hoped – tweak your message and keep trying.

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 “Nobody counts the number of ads you run; they just remember the impression you make.” – Bill Bernbach

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So if there’s any one area in business that plays a significant role in gaining market share, it is in the area of public relations. If you have the time, patience and commitment to handle it yourself we’d love to hear how you do it via the comments below.

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If you would like to talk to us directly about PR, Marketing and Social Media for your business then contact us at any time on 01305 783222 or email us at [email protected].