How To Make PR Pay Off In 2018

PR teams are popular in times of crisis and when there's cause for celebration. Big oil spill? Celebrities using your product? Signed that million-dollar deal? Call someone from public relations to either kill the story or spread the word! But what happens in the time in-between?

Just like a good marriage or friendship, to build good relationships with potential customers, current clients and investors, you need to keep communicating. Here's some ideas to get you started.

Potential customers
Regardless of where they are in the buying cycle, potential clients need to be made aware of your brand and the benefits of choosing you rather than your competitors.

• Write regular blogs with strong SEO to make sure that you rank well for important key-words. You'll be surprised how many business deals start with a Google search.

• Join and contribute to industry forums and discussions on platforms like LinkedIn. By providing useful information and advice you build trust and establish your reputation as a leader in the industry.

• Regularly interact with journalists and influencers in your market to increase the chances of your product being featured in their next piece. Send them relevant news about your products and ideas for articles and respond quickly if they get in touch.

• Be social – this means not only broadcasting news and content on your social pages, but interacting with clients', partners' and peers' posts.

Current clients
It's easier to keep a client than to get new business. Your PR activity can encourage customer loyalty and turn happy clients into brand ambassadors. The good news is that it's really easy to communicate with this group because you know exactly who they are and how to reach them.

• Create case studies around successful projects and share these through the press, social media and on your website and blog. Seeing how other successful companies are using your product validates your clients' buying decision and opens their eyes to different ways they could use your product or service.

• Provide support content like how-to's and FAQ's to make it easy for new clients to learn the ropes and existing clients to get the most out of your product.

• Make them feel special by offering special deals, hosting client events and sharing regular newsletters.

Investors
Investing your money is the ultimate demonstration of faith in an organisation and PR can help convince backers that their investment is sound. While all the activities described above are good for investor relations, it pays to have some specific campaigns for this audience.

• Create an investor newsletter that celebrates recent successes and shares upcoming plans.

• Invite investors to company events where they will be able to see their investment at work and act as brand advocates.

Don't be a good-time-buddy or only get in touch in times of need – the key is to consistently communicate and build your brand reputation to maintain a strong market presence that can weather the storms and capitalise on the good news.

Happy New Year!

Article by Candice Cowan, Little Cricket PR.

www.littlecricketpr.co.uk

This article also features in the January edition of Broadcast Film & Video.

(JP/LM)