Public relations strategy is an essential component of business success.
With a sound PR strategy in place, you can get the word out about your products and services, raise awareness and drive customers to your company. Understanding the components of an effective PR strategy can help you position your business for long-term growth.
Contrary to popular belief, PR is not just about advertising. While advertising plays a role in a comprehensive PR strategy, it’s just one component of a successful PR approach.
PR is a strategic communications approach that uses various tactics to share information about your business with the public and the media. It has multiple functions, including sharing company news, promoting corporate events, building brand recognition and managing negative situations to mitigate impact.
Understanding public relations
PR is about intentionality, a way to develop mutually beneficial relationships, according to the Public Relations Society of America. It’s a way to build influence, engage audiences and position public perception about an organization.
PR moves well beyond the practices of advertising and marketing. It’s often about organically positioning an organization, its products and services and its mission without making it feel promotional.
Many people refer to PR as “spin,” but it’s really about much more than the negative inferences that can come to mind,
PR can take on many forms, including the following:
- Media Relations. Works closely with media outlets and media professionals to provide them with company news, serving as a resource or source and being accessible for commentary on relevant stories
- Internal Relations. Work done between a company and its employees, ensuring employees are engaged, comfortable with working conditions and mitigating internal issues that could become public matters
- Production Relations. Related to direct company operations, this team executes on marketing plans and often focuses on one-time issues such as a product launch, a campaign or a major product change
- Customer Relations. The bridge that connects companies to its customers, this team handles key relationships, conducts market research, addresses customer concerns and understands and conveys internally the needs and priorities of customers
- Government Relations. Work in this space connects companies to government entities related to the business. Relationships built here can influence legislation, sway lawmakers and ensure fair treatment of the company and its customers
- Investor Relations. Common in public companies, investor relations communicate the release of mandated financial information, forges relationships with shareholders and responds to investor complaints
- Community Relations. This unit focuses on relationships with the communities where the business is located or serves. It helps align the company with local values, needs and concerns
Setting PR goals
PR goals are the first step in devising a comprehensive PR strategy for your business. Goals should be set that will increase company visibility, boost communication with customers, the public or the industry, or support core business objectives.
One of those goals should focus on the business structure your business will use. A business structure is the legal operating model under which your company operates.
While there are several options to choose from for a business structure, many small businesses choose to form as a limited liability corporation (LLC).
An LLC is a popular and valuable business structure for good reason. For one, taxes are simple. An LLC is a pass-through entity, meaning the profits and expenses are passed along to the owners, who record them on their individual tax returns.
LLCs provide extensive legal liability protection. In most cases, if there is an adverse legal judgment against the business, creditors cannot come after an owner’s personal assets, such as homes, cars or savings.
You can file an LLC easily. The paperwork is minimal and an LLC can be formed in minutes.
Choosing the right state is important
LLCs in Georgia, for example, experience a low corporate tax rate of just 5.75%. You’re also taxed on single-apportionment, meaning you’re taxed at the ratio of in-state sales to total sales. That means you’re generally paying less income tax in Georgia than in other states.
Delaware is another popular state for filing an LLC. You won’t pay sales tax, state income taxes are low and there’s no annual report filing necessary, as is the case in other states.
Identifying your target audience
Finding the right audience for your PR strategy is important. It begins by determining what the goal of your PR approach is.
If you are looking to connect more deeply with customers or potential customers, you’ll want to ensure you have access to good email addresses and phone numbers for email and text campaigns.
You may want to segment your audience for various components of your PR campaign. If it’s a new-product launch, the communication you send to the trade press will likely be very different than that you use with existing customers.
Be sure to understand the demographics, needs, pain points and value propositions your audience seeks from a relationship with your company to make for more compelling communications.
Developing a PR plan
When creating your PR plan, be sure to start with the goals noted above. Then consider each of the following steps:
- Conduct Research. Understanding your audience is a core first step. In addition, you want to understand your industry and market, with a keen awareness of the issues, trends and successes. Also research your competitors to help differentiate your products or services
- Set a Timeline. Some PR work will be ongoing, with minor variances as part of a sustained effort to raise awareness. Other work will take the form of a campaign, with a limited timeframe for the messaging
- Set Objectives. Be clear about what you want to accomplish in your campaign. Those objectives will help you measure your results and impact
Choosing PR tactics
There are multiple tactics you can use as part of your PR goals and plan. Among the most common are:
- Press Releases. Announcements about new or enhanced products and services, new leadership or funding rounds all merit a press release sent to the media and posted on social media
- Interviews. Conversations with company executives position your business as a thought leader and an expert on current affairs or industry issues
- Success Stories. Let your customers tell your story through print, audio or visual narratives that frame the problem they faced and how your company solved the issue
- Awards. Industry, community and national awards give your business a chance to brag about your success, impact and value
- Articles. Industry and local publications often seek articles on key topics by experts. Bylined pieces that show your knowledge and perspective on issues can be invaluable
Measuring PR success
Determining the measures for PR success are essential. Setting concrete measures at the goal-setting stage ensures you can identify what has worked and why. These insights can be used to shape future PR efforts and investments.
Many of your success measures will be based on the type of campaign and media used. Some of the most common measures include:
- Sales increases
- Keyword ranking improvement
- Social media reach
- Media impressions
- Social media shares and likes
- Website traffic
- Backlinks added
- Brand mentions
- Ad impressions
- Leads generated
- Referral traffic
- New customers
Public relations are about far more than advertising and marketing. It’s about making a deliberate, strategic effort to shape public opinion, influence lawmakers, the public and customers, and gain value for your brand.
By creating a PR strategy, you help your business meet business goals and gain revenue and customers.
