So your brand has begun a fruitful campaign sure to bring a lot of attention and recognition. Unfortunately, things do not always turn out as planned. With today’s fast-paced digital environment, your brand’s publicity and reputation needs to remain in tip-top shape, and this is why you need good public relations.

First of all, let’s define public relations (a.k.a. “PR”) as the field of study that deals with the processes and techniques used by businesses, organizations, and/or individuals to create and maintain a favorable public image, positive relationships with other entities, and serve as an influence to public opinion through various communication outlets.

Simply put, PR is the art of communicating with the public to maintain or create a public image that remains in good standing.

“What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.” – Abraham Lincoln

The Public Relations Society of America takes this definition one step further, including the “[building of] mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics” (PRSA).

So what is involved in public relations? A LOT. Here’s what you need in order to get your PR initiatives lined up for success.

1. A Plan.

Public relations initiatives are dynamic and are composed of a lot of moving parts. That being said, the whole process needs to be highly organized and intricately designed. To make sure things run smoothly, you should have a development plan that contains a thorough assessment of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis). The results of this report will allow you to formulate an effective public relations plan which will create an image for your business that will inspire the public’s approval.

All that being said, before you embark on your adventure into public relations, there are many things to take into consideration, such as aligning your PR plan with the rest of your business goals and objectives. Remember, public relations is just one way to promote your brand and get it out there, so it should be done strategically and in accordance with your business model. A good place to start is to look at your mission statement and figure out what your desired outcome is. Focus on the message you would like your brand/company to portray, and then proceed with developing a strategy that aligns with this desired outcome.

After creating an executive plan of action for your PR, you should look next at who you want to speak to and the message you want the public to receive. Then think about what voice your brand should have, how you should address people, how you should explain and frame your message in terms of what the public wants, what they are concerned with, etc. If this sounds a lot like your marketing plan, you’re on the right page. A good PR plan should take all departments of your brand into consideration, especially your marketing department!

2. Teamwork

It is important to have a diverse team of thinkers when it comes to good PR. When you are working on a campaign, you have a team of people who work together to make the project successful. Meet with them to discuss the message, who your target audience is, and how you want to frame your message. Ask for their input on how they see the campaign evolving and how they see the public responding to it. Sometimes it helps to get different perspectives on things like having an external PR team. Often this is a best-case scenario because it offers a third-party lens at looking at problems and their possible solutions.

So your brand has begun a fruitful campaign sure to bring a lot of attention and recognition. Unfortunately, things do not always turn out as planned. With today’s fast-paced digital environment, your brand’s publicity and reputation needs to remain in tip-top shape, and this is why you need good public relations.

First of all, let’s define public relations (a.k.a. “PR”) as the field of study that deals with the processes and techniques used by businesses, organizations, and/or individuals to create and maintain a favorable public image, positive relationships with other entities, and serve as an influence to public opinion through various communication outlets.

Simply put, PR is the art of communicating with the public to maintain or create a public image that remains in good standing.

“What kills a skunk is the publicity it gives itself.” – Abraham Lincoln

The Public Relations Society of America takes this definition one step further, including the “[building of] mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics” (PRSA).

So what is involved in public relations? A LOT. Here’s what you need in order to get your PR initiatives lined up for success.

1. A Plan.

Public relations initiatives are dynamic and are composed of a lot of moving parts. That being said, the whole process needs to be highly organized and intricately designed. To make sure things run smoothly, you should have a development plan that contains a thorough assessment of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis). The results of this report will allow you to formulate an effective public relations plan which will create an image for your business that will inspire the public’s approval.

All that being said, before you embark on your adventure into public relations, there are many things to take into consideration, such as aligning your PR plan with the rest of your business goals and objectives. Remember, public relations is just one way to promote your brand and get it out there, so it should be done strategically and in accordance with your business model. A good place to start is to look at your mission statement and figure out what your desired outcome is. Focus on the message you would like your brand/company to portray, and then proceed with developing a strategy that aligns with this desired outcome.

After creating an executive plan of action for your PR, you should look next at who you want to speak to and the message you want the public to receive. Then think about what voice your brand should have, how you should address people, how you should explain and frame your message in terms of what the public wants, what they are concerned with, etc. If this sounds a lot like your marketing plan, you’re on the right page. A good PR plan should take all departments of your brand into consideration, especially your marketing department!

2. Teamwork

It is important to have a diverse team of thinkers when it comes to good PR. When you are working on a campaign, you have a team of people who work together to make the project successful. Meet with them to discuss the message, who your target audience is, and how you want to frame your message. Ask for their input on how they see the campaign evolving and how they see the public responding to it. Sometimes it helps to get different perspectives on things like having an external PR team. Often this is a best-case scenario because it offers a third-party lens at looking at problems and their possible solutions.

3. Hire PR Professionals

You may be wondering if you should be hiring a PR professional or a team of professionals. What do they do? How can they benefit your brand? Are they worth the investment?

When you hire a PR agency or team, you are bringing in a set of trained professionals with decades of experience in the field. They will work directly with you and your brand to guide your campaign, creating a strong message that will resonate with people and lead to success. A great PR agency will be able to answer all of these questions for you and guide you through the entire process. Additionally, they will keep a constant vigilance of how your brand is being seen in the public’s eye, and they will also set forth contingency plans for all possible scenarios.

Working with a PR team is one of the best investments you can make as an entrepreneur. Not only do PR professionals have extensive experience in creating campaigns that resonate with the public, but they also have insight into what works and what doesn’t when it comes to getting your brand recognized and building your fanbase.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is good public relations.

Public relations isn’t just watching the news and trends; it requires an outbound approach to investing in unpaid or earned media. PR professionals are constantly reaching out to the press, writing press releases and statements, and getting the brand’s name out there. It is this kind of outbound approach that will help you develop the foundation for a better word-of-mouth endorsement.

PR professionals are experts at arranging strategic and informative media arrangements with journalists, television producers, radio personalities, and bloggers. They can also be very convincing in their presentations to the various media outlets they pitch your brand to. They understand how each journalist works and what they enjoy reading or seeing; they know how to craft a message that is enticing and promising to readers, viewers, or listeners.

Here’s an example of good public relations:

Your pizzeria just won the “Best Pizzeria in Los Angeles” award! You have framed it, and it is hanging above your cash register for all of your customers, employees, and stakeholders to see. The problem here is that your award is only being seen by your current audience. A public relations professional would find other ways to get that award spotlighted for ALL of the public to see. They could reach out to your local news or radio station with a press release and pitch for a story. With this good publicity, your pizzeria will ideally gain a much larger potential audience!

What is Public Relations and What Does it Entail? Infographic

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4. Bad Publicity

Another area of public relations that a good PR firm will handle is crisis communications or “damage control”. This can be very difficult for an entrepreneur because they may not know how to fix the problem or they may not want to deal with it at first. In this type of case, you might need a PR professional to help your business deal with adversity and come out stronger than ever. This can also be very helpful if you have an upcoming day of press where a bad news article or negative press is going to be published about you. Your PR team will be able to discuss the problem with you, prepare you for the issue, and then help you find a solution to make it look like there was never a problem in the first place.

Social media is the perfect example of how a little bad publicity that is not handled properly can turn into a very big crisis. Should something negative be said about your business on social media, your PR professional will be able to pull up data and determine the best way to handle this situation. They can tell you how other brands have handled it in similar situations, what worked for them, what didn’t work for them.

Some Tips

“If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything.” – Mark Twain

Always Tell the Truth

You must be honest. It may take a lot of convincing for the public to believe in your message and support your brand, and it is difficult to do so if you are dishonest. By creating a strong relationship with the public, they will become more accepting of what your brand has to offer, as well as more willing to support it and help create an image that is in line with what you desire.

It is important to remember that while PR is still vital to engaging the public, you should think of it as a form of ongoing marketing. Just like with your paid campaigns, it requires strategic planning, tapping into the right teams, and putting those teams to work for you. It all starts with creating a plan and sticking to it.

It’s About the Storytelling

One key difference between marketing and public relations is that when publishing ads or social media posts, the marketer gets to create them. In public relations, it is up to the press to talk or write about your brand. With that being said, it is imperative that your PR strategy is telling your brand’s story in the best way possible so that it is acknowledged with trust and credibility. From there, it is up to the press to decide how to describe your company.

Create a Good Website

This will help your brand be found on search engines. That sounds like an obvious statement, right? But think about it; if you have just released a press release talking about your new and incredible one-of-a-kind product, the next thing that people will do is search about it! Should they search for your brand (or perhaps the name of your product), and your company’s website does not appear first, this can be a huge red flag to potential stakeholders and the press. Make sure that your digital presence is in good standing first before making any big press releases.

Ready to put your business in the spotlight? Put your best foot forward with Hudson Digital Group’s team of PR experts. To learn more about our public relations services, click the button below!

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