Public relations (PR) is a term that everyone seems to know, but not everyone understands what it means. While many organizations recognize the value of public relations in improving their marketing strategy and online reputation, few understand what it requires.

PR is the process of communicating the appropriate information to the relevant audience in a bid to build and maintain your brand’s reputation. Most public relations firms partner with businesses to help them develop a positive image within their industry and beyond.

When properly applied, public relations can transform any company and give it the tools to overcome almost any challenge: from sabotage to unhappy customers leaving bad reviews on social media. This article will explore how exactly PR can help your business, and the top technologies to help you with it.

How public relations help your business

• Helps manage reputation

Public relations helps with reputation management because you will face frightening cases such as false advertising or dissatisfied customers venting on social media about how bad your product is. In these events, a simple well-crafted press release can help you mitigate the risks to your reputation. Remember, the customer is always right.

• Promote brand values

In every industry, trust plays a vital role in deciding whether a company will succeed or fail. Hiring a public relations professional can improve an organization’s reputation through influencer connections, thought leadership, and other strategies. Good PR helps you send favorable messages that match your brand image to your target audience.

• Bolsters relations

Public relations can help you strengthen the relationship between your company and its community. You can bolster ties to the community by joining groups, volunteering, or supporting local causes. Being involved in your community also establishes trustworthiness. Excellent PR involves maintaining relationships with key influencers and knowing how to position your company as a valuable authority in your niche.

You can use professional email marketing software to manage your emails and communicate with multiple people at once. Moreover, consider promotional and referral email marketing strategies to boost your brand more. 

• Public relations is opportunistic

It is not essential that all your PR communications with influencers be about your company. You can give influencers access to your customers to see how they resolve problems with your company’s services and products.

While any influencer understands that they’ll not advertise an unhappy customer, they’ll still need your assistance. Besides, they’ll speak with customers about your competitors and learn about their activities outside of your business.

• Enhances your online presence

Given that everyone connects via the internet, public relations helps businesses in making the most of their online presence. PR firms help clients achieve their goals and overcome roadblocks to success through social media and outsourcing promotional content.

Such firms monitor the interests of customers, partners, and employees through PR activity. They identify threats and help management to resolve conflicts. PR influences can influence your online marketing as a whole, so collaborating with an innovative PR agency is good for better opportunities and outcomes. 

Top effective PR technologies for your business

Today’s market is competitive, demanding high levels of professionalism and creativity from businesses. And given that many business owners try to differentiate their products from hundreds of others, they need PR tech. Modern PR solutions foster a strong connection between a product (company) and a consumer, highlighting the product’s best features and the company’s unique selling points.

Here are some PR technologies that can help build a solid brand image and boost brand visibility:

• Video Marketing: Videos greatly impact audiences in terms of brand awareness and positioning. Making impactful videos can be expensive, but it can help you attract and retain a large audience. For example, Sumsub.com’s YouTube channel is a gift that keeps pushing the company to the top of its industry.
• Cross marketing: a joint promotion that often involves several companies whose products complement one another. This PR strategy helps reduce advertising costs, fosters long-term relationships, and expands the participating company’s consumer market. For example, BMW introduced the i8 in 2014 and partnered with Louis Vuitton to promote this car. The fashion label created a four-piece set of suitcases and bags for the new car. This helped both brands grow in popularity, added new customers from each other’s customer base.
• Event management: This PR technique involves planning specialized events to attract a target audience and familiarize them with the product or service. Event management in your marketing strategy can directly influence your target audience and create favorable conditions for the consumer.

PR firms also recommend taking different approaches and combining them. You can create a PR calendar that reflects your public relations activities to see which of your strategy works best.

How to make your PR strategy work

Here’s a model of a successful public relations strategy by Samuel Adams that is still used in business today. 

• Use emotional symbols and slogans.
• Use memes and stay relevant with the latest pop culture trends.
• Stay ahead of your competition in preparing for major events and coordinating timely actions that impact your audience emotionally.
• Constantly influence public opinion via contact channels (employ Key opinion leaders (KOLs) in your niche).
• Ensure customers benefit from your product or service.

Customer feedback allows you to gather detailed information about your target audience and select the best channels for communicating with them. Of course, public relations and advertising have some similarities. However, there are still clear distinctions between the two concepts. Public relations activities do not include selling a product; they create favorable conditions for business development and customer discovery. This process is unique in that it practically reduces the media’s direct costs. 

Conclusion

PR is a promising field with unique technologies and qualities. A well-planned PR strategy builds a positive image and ensures long-term business success. Although an effective strategy takes time to plan and prepare, you can succeed by focusing on your target customers, their interests and needs, and employing effective communication channels.