Public Relations

Posted by on May 23, 2014

In today’s media-saturated culture, effective public relations and marketing is important for any business. Is your business communicating an accurate image and/or perception to the public? Image and perception has become increasingly important with social media on the rise.

Public relations, also known as PR, is the professional maintenance of a public image for a company, organization or famous person. Without the most accurate image, it is hard for a business or company to retain and attract the right clients and consumers. In the PR world, they call your clients and consumers a public. A public, is anyone who ever has or ever will form an opinion about your business or company. We will start with the basics of public relations and how to create an accurate image or perception for your public.

Key messages serve as the foundation of branding, marketing and all PR efforts. They should be used in all written and spoken communication. Do you know what you want to communicate about your business? They should also be short statements that articulate what you do, what you stand for, and how you are different from the rest. Each message should be 30 seconds or less when spoken and the message should be relevant to what you need to communicate and what your audience wants to hear. It should also be easy to understand and recall.

After you nail your key messages, it’s time to pitch these messages to the media. Understanding the media is difficult but very important. The media is an effective way to reach a big audience as well as increase visibility.

In order to make a story newsworthy, it has to be timely, significant, within proximity of the media you are trying to connect with and prominent over other stories. Pitching your story is a timely task because you have to find the reporter who will be most interested in your story. The best way to contact a reporter or editor is through email. Keep your story short and to the point, include press releases, quotes and pictures. Don’t forget to list your contact information on everything and follow up with the reporter if there is no initial response.

Last but not least, a social media presence is very important in creating an accurate image or perception of a business. With 73% of internet users spending time on social media networks, your company should use social media to its advantage. The first step is to research what is being said about your company or business online. You also need to determine the best way to target your audience. Once you have put together a plan for the most successful platforms, you must publish content on a regular basis. Try to engage with your audience on each platform as much as possible.

Once you have created a social media presence, make sure you are tracking your performance. There could be specific content that is engaging your audience more than others. Monitor each platform for customer feedback and pay special attention to negative feedback at all times.

Make sure that your key messages are being communicated in a clean and concise matter. Understand the media world and build a relationship with the local media outlets for better opportunities. Keep up with all social media platforms and engage with your followers as much as possible. By following these simple tips, your company or business will gain a loyal base of clients and consumers that have an accurate perception and in return will share that perception with others.

Tina Lavalley, LSCP Marketing Department

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