May 4 2022
Every organization, business and brand relies heavily on its public reputation for success. Publicity gives brands the power to reach a large audience and share their stories with the world. By leveraging the art of public relations (PR), brands gain access to a powerful tool that can help them reach their goals—from building greater brand awareness and enhancing their brand image, to tapping into public interest to promote new products or services.
With the seemingly constant emergence of new social media platforms and enormous emphasis on digital campaigns, some often forget the ever-present importance of PR in a successful marketing program.
Public relations is a critical tool when it comes to communicating key messages that resonate with your target audience and shaping the public perception of your business. New or emerging brands can leverage PR to build industry presence, while more established brands may employ it to expand their reach or reinforce awareness for a new product or service.
Regardless of the industry, the main objective of any business is ultimately to sell a product or service to its target audience. Utilizing a PR strategy is an effective way to indirectly impact your sales revenue by increasing brand awareness, credibility, trust and customer loyalty.
There are a variety of ways that brands can leverage the power of PR to help them sell their products and/or services to an engaged, receptive audience. A few of these tactics include:
One of the most powerful things that PR can do for brands is to help them develop a powerful brand identity. Without a brand identity in place, it is very difficult to effectively maintain relationships with your target audiences. After all, people trust established and recognizable brands. By using PR tactics such as media relations and social media marketing, brands will form a consistent brand identity that goes beyond the product or service they are selling—almost taking on a persona of its own. This allows your audience to feel more authentically connected to your brand.
If one of your objectives is to generate greater public interest among your brand’s target audience, then you will want to invest in a solid PR strategy. Not only does PR build brand awareness, but it has the power to significantly impact the bottom line by driving sales. Brands can use tactics such as earned media placements, blog content, videos and more to keep consumers up to date and invested in their business.
When investing in a brand, investors want to know they are putting their money into credible brands with positive reputations. On the brand’s side, it is crucial to consistently engage with investors, showcase their values and communicate where the brand is projected to go. Using PR can help with this by displaying a brand’s track record, interest and popularity among key stakeholders. The ability to demonstrate consumer trust for a brand can play a major role during investment stages.
Consumer trust and loyalty are some of the most important aspects when it comes to a business or brand. The bottom line is that if consumers do not trust you, they are not going to purchase from you. Good PR helps build greater brand recognition, trust and credibility. For example, when a brand showcases its positive impacts through a news article, consumers can start to form a relationship of trust with that brand.
As brands are increasingly mentioned online and across multiple websites, consumers are more likely to be driven to their websites. With a number of relevant sites linking back to a brand’s website, SEO will also improve over the long run—in turn boosting the search ranking of your brand. PR can expose your brand to new audiences, therefore driving more people to your site.
Brands always have something to offer consumers—but unless consumers know who you are, what you offer and where they can find you, it doesn’t really matter. This is where PR can play a role in helping brands to effectively sell their products or services. By keeping both your target audience and the media informed on a regular basis, PR will help your brand build valuable relationships with key audiences and, ultimately, boost your sales revenue.
However, PR can be a big undertaking for many brands and businesses. Luckily, PR agencies are able to step in and provide expertise and guidance along the way.
