By Jorge Martinez | March 30 2020
“No one’s ever heard of us.” “People know us for the wrong reasons.” “I want it all.” Having represented hundreds of companies over the course of our almost 30 years in business, we have heard these exasperations all too many times.
There are five specific themes that repeat themselves when it comes to public relations, marketing and social media. No one is immune to a crisis – as is so visible today – but there are five situations you can avoid or mitigate if you work with the right public relations and marketing agency.
Here are the top five nightmares we’ve come across in decades on the job:
1. “Our company is the Best Kept Secret”
It’s amazing how many times we hear companies say this. In today’s 24/7 media-cycle world, it takes 9-10 touch points for a consumer to hear your message. Whether it’s through a press release, blog, social media post, online ad, social media ad, radio spot, billboard, media interview, or word of mouth, people are overwhelmed by media. If you are not keeping up and staying in the conversation, you will be ignored or worse, forgotten. Now more than ever – out of sight truly equals out of mind.
2. Your Product Isn’t as Good as its Marketing
You can take a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. We can create integrated public relations, marketing and social media campaigns around a product, service or organization. If the product does not match or exceed what advertising, PR, social media and marketing are saying, your campaign will fail. Your product must be as good as you say it is and does what you say it does.
3. People Know Us for the Wrong Reason
Crises happen. Whether it’s an accident, disgruntled employee, financial issue or other regrettable situation, it’s the thing that comes up first in a Google search of your company. The best antidote for bad publicity is good publicity. Driving down bad stories is just one-way people will know you for the right reasons.
4. Social Media faux paus
Consider that all posts on social media are forever. With the ever-presence of “screen shots,” any post, no matter how short it lived on social media, can live on in infamy. It’s hard, if not impossible, to take things back on social media. Well thought-out social media calendars provide the planning and flexibility to be relevant and remain timely.
5. “Champagne Taste on a Beer Budget”
Don’t complain when your three-month social media campaign done by a part time consultant for a fraction of what a public relations agency would charge does not work. Integrated public relations, marketing and social media campaigns are momentum building entities that need time and the right guidance to blossom. One-off projects and on again off again campaigns simply don’t work. Commit to an ongoing campaign to gauge results.
Whether your business is new or well-established, integrated communications campaigns can help eliminate or at least mitigate these common issues.
