WHY IS PR SO IMPORTANT?
“Reputation is the biggest company asset. PR is a powerful tool to maintain positive public image, build trust and credibility and increase sales revenue.” – Nia Thomas
PR is important to brands and personal profiling for so many reasons, and it is all about ‘association.’ PR builds confidence and credibility in a brand. It enhances reputation;
being seen in a publication such as The Times, Vogue or Tatler will instantly elevate your brand, and make consumers, investors, and your employees not only excited but more trusting of the brand. PR reassures the consumer that the brand is ‘real’ and credible. Being associated with well-known publications and journalists adds value to your brand.
An example is LLIO, a brand of bath and body oils. This beauty brand has been featured in five different Vogue publications worldwide, reaching new audiences and countries. As well, LLIO can use the Vogue coverage and endorsements from various journalists for social media stories, newsletters and presentations to retailers.
Storytelling – PR is a way to tell the story of a brand or a person – communicating the key messages, brand ethos, products and values. PR shapes the image of a brand and its founder. It generates positive publicity and keeps the public informed of activities. PR constantly tells the brand story and can keep media informed with new stories on a con- stant basis, such as new product launches, a new CEO appointment or an award win. As a company founder, you can present yourself as a ‘thought leader’ within your industry and differentiate yourself from competitors.
Start-up ventures – if you are starting up a new brand, PR is one of the most important and effective activities to help your launch. PR announces to the world you are here, gives the brand a voice, and tells an audience the start-up exists.
Reaching new audiences – PR can be used to strategically tell the news to the right au- dience. Or you may want to reach new audiences through publications that are less ob- vious to your brand. You could be introducing a new product or promoting news on a major collaboration or investment.
EXAMPLES:
▪ Fashion brand – a brand featured in leading magazines such as Red, Elle or Grazia is likely to attract more customers and retailers, as well as collaborations with other brands.
▪ Funding raised by an organisation – a story placed in the business pages of The Times, The Telegraph, or the Financial Times will reach more potential investors and more funding opportunities.
▪ Interior designer who designed a beautiful home – featuring a gorgeous finished home in property and interior magazines will attract people who are looking for interior designers, as well as suppliers who want to work with you to provide stunning pieces for properties.
It is worth noting that all press can lead to more press – newspapers and magazines all read each other. So perhaps one journalist will read about you in the Daily Mail and then publish a story about you in The Sunday Times Style Magazine. This is a prime ex- ample of the snowball effect – once you get into one publication then more follow!
Relationship building – PR is a great way to generate a long-term relationship between a brand and a journalist. You can build an address book of journalists who are ‘fans.’ If the journalist moves to another magazine, they may also look to publish you there. With PR, you are building longstanding relationships with journalists, and, once a relationship has been built, every time an organisation has a new story to tell the media, you can approach the journalist and hope they cover the new angle.
Generating sales – PR can jump-start sales. If a consumer sees a service or product in the media, it can lead to direct sales. Beyond this, if someone discovers your brand but isn’t sure about it, they may be more encouraged to buy if they find a positive article via a Google search. Press articles build trust in a brand.
I do always like to make companies aware that PR is one part of the jigsaw puzzle. When it comes to sales, companies need PR, but they can’t purely rely on it to generate sales. As well as direct sales, you need to be focused on events and social media activity.
Builds momentum – PR generates momentum, building brands and personal profiles
faster. I’ve personally witnessed two designer shoe companies start in the same year. One company invested in PR, the other company did not. The company that invested in PR grew four times faster in terms of revenue, units of shoes sold, and general awareness. PR is like sprinkling invisible magic dust over a brand; it builds awareness and excite- ment with consumers and also internally with employees. On a personal profiling level, if you were considering using two separate business coaches, both priced the same, if one business coach had been featured in Forbes, and the other had no media presence, I can bet a dollar you will go for the business coach featured in FORBES, as she has ele- vated herself as a thought leader.
Celebrate – I love to think of PR as a present to a brand or you as the founder. You’ve worked so hard to build a brand, or to be an entrepreneur. Seeing yourself, or the brand, featured in a magazine or an online article can be truly rewarding and make it feel like it’s all been worth it. PR builds excitement in a brand and helps you celebrate your achievements. Whenever your fan base of consumers sees the brand featured in the press or on social media, it will raise a smile. Even at the smallest grass-roots level, if friends and family see your brand featured and chat about this achievement to their connections, that’s more people chatting about and being aware of your brand.
PR is NOT advertising – This may seem obvious, but I just want to make it clear that there is a big difference between advertising and PR. Advertising is PAID for and PR is earned media. PR is used to persuade journalists to write about you in articles and edit- orials, rather than content which is an obvious ad or labelled as an “Advertorial,” or “paid media.” PR is MORE credible than advertising. PR means a journalist – a third party outside of your brand – has given it credit without being paid by you.
“Advertising is what you pay for, publicity is what you pray for.”