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PR is about making connections and determining how to make the most impact in reaching your desired audiences. Whether you’re a new business getting ready to launch or simply new to PR, companies and individuals in all industries can take note of these lessons to build a recognizable and lasting brand.
1. A Compelling Narrative is Crucial to Brand Success
Effective brand messaging is critical to your company’s reputation. It increases brand recognition and helps establish how you are perceived in the market. The first step to any successful PR strategy is to create a powerful narrative that reflects your core philosophy and brand values.
In addition to the “what” and “how” of the business, it’s important to clarify the “why,” which is the part of the brand story that most strongly sets you apart from your competitors and where you can draw an emotional connection.
2. A Targeted PR Strategy is Best
When it comes to pulling in leads, it can be tempting to focus on quantity over quality. If you cast too wide a net, you could be targeting the wrong audience and wasting valuable resources in the process.
A customized and focused PR approach will help increase brand visibility among the right groups. The same concept can be applied to expectations around media results. A good PR partner will concentrate on finding opportunities that support the larger strategy, and ultimately, your business goals and outcomes. The adage that all press is good press is simply not true.
3. PR is More Than the Initial Media Win
A common misperception about public relations is that it focuses only on getting media coverage. That may have been the case years ago, but it has since evolved to become more holistic.
Media relations should work together with your other marketing efforts. While it’s an important vehicle for enhancing brand image, there should be a comprehensive strategy in place for leveraging your media wins and expanding your reach. If you rely on only one approach, you might be missing out on an opportunity to stretch your results even further.
4. A Launch is a Moment in Time
For startups launching a new business or companies introducing a new product or service, it can feel like everything is riding on the big announcement. While it’s a moment in time that calls for media buzz and excitement, it’s important to continue building that momentum long after the event so your brand doesn’t fall by the wayside.
Use the announcement to set the groundwork for future media and thought leadership opportunities. Find specialties and niche areas to continue providing expertise that will elevate your brand’s reputation and credibility.
5. You Can’t Manage What You Don’t Measure
The key to a successful PR campaign is understanding the campaign results and how they fit into the whole communications strategy. Rather than focusing on outdated metrics like ad value equivalency, focus on data that show how the news story and other PR efforts contribute to your business objectives and use those insights to help shape future campaigns.
Were you in front of the right audience? What kind of engagement did you receive on social media? Understanding the right metrics will help clarify how successful you are in reaching your goals.
Most importantly, PR is a marathon, not a sprint. Building a brand takes time and putting the right pieces in place takes strategy. With the right plan in place, you’ll be able to create a foundation for media relationship-building, brand recognition and future successful marketing and communications efforts.
It all starts with your brand message.
Related: 3 Ways to Enhance Your Brand Message