The power of PR

When we are approached by companies, they know they need to get out there but they don’t necessarily know how or even the positive effect PR can have.

We love to write stories and part of our job is shouting about what our clients do which helps to create awareness, build reputations, establish trust and manage crisis. However, you may be wondering why these factors are so important?

In this blog, I discuss three key aspects of PR and why they are essential in helping your business succeed.

Creating awareness

Getting your company known to your intended audience is one of the main aims of any PR campaign and before trust and reputation is built, awareness must be created. After all, if your customers don’t know you exist, how can they buy from you?

PR agencies will research your industry and organisation so they become experts on what makes newsworthy headlines. This is then communicated to the world via events, PR stunts, press releases, features and blogs (to name but a few), making sure they reach the most appropriate media. Social media is also a fantastic way to increase awareness and provides the opportunity to show your personality (stay tuned for a blog on this very soon). Twitter also allows you to search for people and/or companies by specific topics so is great for personalised targeting.Building trust and reputation

After awareness has been created, a large part of PR involves building a credible reputation and creating trust amongst those who come into contact with your brand.

The power of trust should never be underestimated and it can do wonders for a company.

Think about it. When you go to buy something, do you go for a company you know and trust or do you go for a company you’ve never heard of? I’m pretty sure most of you will choose a company you know and one whose values you believe and support.

Branding is also important in this decision as it helps to form part of your personality, portraying what you stand for.

PR uses your messages and values and communicates these to the media and current and potential customers.Crisis management

While trust can take months, even years to build, it can be ruined in a matter of seconds, just look at the Gerald Ratner case. He was making a joke about his jewellery saying it was of poor quality and as a result from this, people did not trust him or his products. After months of trying to repair the damaged reputation, he was eventually fired from his own company.

But do not despair; trust can be rebuilt as Gerald found out after setting up online jewellery company, Gerald Online which today is turning over £25m.

Sometimes it can be hard to stop a crisis happening, but how you manage it will either make or break you. And if managed well, trust can be retained.

PR agencies help companies by creating a crisis management and contingency plan, providing information and acting as a point of contact or offering training to spokespeople to ensure reputation is sustained. I hope this demonstrates the power of PR and puts it on your radar as an essential element to the marketing mix.