Let’s face it. When it comes to your company, product, and mission – you know best.
As each of your competitors claims to provide the best experience, solutions, and prices, every business is its own best hype man. And this encapsulates marketing as we know it today. While it’s an essential component in acquiring new business, marketing needs to be supported with some other communications to give legitimacy to its words and actions. So, the question you should ask yourself is simple:
Why should someone trust your product over another?
For your target audience, they’re not going to believe any of the noise from either you or your rivals until they see something to back it up. This, my friends, boils down to a single word – credibility.
And fortunately, gaining credibility in a world saturated with digital content is still an attainable goal. From building relationships and trust, and creating brand awareness there’s a clear path to success – through digital PR.
With that in mind, we’re going to explore how PR functions alongside marketing, and how the two can combine to give strong foundations for establishing your digital footprint.
What is the difference between PR and marketing?
In a nutshell, consider PR as what people say about you when you leave the room, and marketing as what you say about yourself. Marketing is built to promote oneself, whereas PR builds your reputation so that others may promote you.
Likewise, measuring the return of investment (ROI) is different both in marketing and PR.
Although public relations and marketing are different, they go hand in hand and share similar goals; sending your message out to your target audience, increasing visibility, and supporting sales efforts. Your company’s growth depends on both departments, and they both want to see your business thrive.
What is the role of PR in marketing?
On a daily basis, PR has a lot to do – that’s why it’s pretty hard to cover everything, so let’s focus on the main roles of PR in marketing.
Problem Solving:
Running a business comes with many challenges. Are you going to let these problems bring you down or learn and grow from them?
Whether it’s positive or negative, previous publicity is central in shaping how a company’s perceived today. That being said, using new PR campaigns reshapes this perception.
Take McDonald’s, for instance, and the backlash they received after the Supersize Me documentary aired in 2004. Combining menu changes to offer healthier food options, along with a crack “Every Step Counts” PR campaign – encouraging people to exercise through giving out free pedometers – has significantly improved the franchise’s social proof.
Building Relationships:
A successful business needs to have good relationships – internally and externally.
The digitization of communication has made connecting with people easier than ever. Public speaking events or apps like LinkedIn are great ways to build relationships with professionals. Social media channels, surveys, or simply having a chat with your customers can help you understand and engage with them better.
Furthermore, don’t forget to improve your relationships inside the company. Acknowledging your team’s achievements and special events like birthdays helps to set a pleasant work environment. Building better relationships with your employees can boost the performance at work while connecting with the right people can bring you new customers. Furthermore, maintaining current customer relationships through PR creates brand loyalty and advocacy, strengthening your public image.
Brand Awareness:
Is about recognition, what you do, what customers think when they hear your brand, how they remember you. There are 69,000 startups in the US alone, so having your voice over the noise can be tricky.
The previous steps are taken to change opinions and values. This stage of PR work is to change behaviors. Building healthy relationships and sending your valuable message out lead to this very moment; your target audience finally knows you and the experience you offer. You have a brand that customers are ready to buy. We’re aware that people don’t just buy products.
What are the benefits of public relations in marketing?
Why is PR the companion you need on your business journey to success?
There’s a brutally honest joke: ‘’The best place to hide a dead body is the second page of Google search results.’’ The key takeaway here? Backlinks are fundamental to SEO and PR can help you score them.
When links come from relevant content with high domain authority, Google understands that your company is credible. Then, it’ll increase your ranking, and you’ll get more referral traffic. One of the most incredible benefits of link building is that you earn them; you don’t pay. Plus, backlinks gained through PR would prevent your competitors from cloning your links.
We’ve already mentioned brand awareness in the role of PR. But it was just a start.
Seth Godin, the famous entrepreneur and author, explains, “If the consumer (whether it’s a business, a buyer, a voter or a donor) doesn’t pay a premium, make a selection, or spread the word, then no brand value exists for that consumer.”
You’ve successfully created a brand, beyond your name or logo. Your brand is attracting more customers. The experience you offer is getting more and more important that you start producing loyal customers and are able to charge premium prices because your experience is worth it.
Final Thought
The success of your company depends on public relations in marketing. While doing your best to grow as a business, good PR strategies can share your story with everyone. “If I was down to my last dollar, I would spend it on PR,” said Bill Gates, but you’d better not wait until you’re down to your last dollar to spend it on PR to see your company thrive.
