By Katie Boyle

Perhaps your business is preparing to launch a new product, or the team has been busy behind the scenes growing, refining and expanding your offering for some time now. You might be wondering how do we show, and tell people about our good news?

PR differs from marketing and advertising activity in that its main function is to enhance the reputation and awareness of the people, and products or services being offered by an organisation. It is the ‘talkability’ factor i.e. how prominent and trusted an organisation is among its stakeholders – that includes consumers, partners, competitors and any other people relevant to your business. PR is about dialogue, engagement and two-way conversation, in contrast to marketing and advertising which can be more transactional in nature. 

 When weighing up which communication approach is best suited to your business and any upcoming activity, it is important to consider the ways in which each function can add value.  

I have outlined here 3 ways that PR can enhance and add tangible value to your brand:

Traditional PR is focussed on media relations which is editorial in its output. As this is not a paid-for placement it carries with it the credibility of the journalist and the media outlet. Regardless of whether the profile opportunity is in print, broadcast or online media, the same principles apply in relation to accurate reporting, ethics and fact-checking. This provides enhanced credibility to the finished content as there is less control on the output than a paid profile opportunity. 

Third-party endorsements provide an added level of trust for audiences – think of the online reviews you might read about a product, or hearing an expert discussing a particular specialism on radio, these contributions often carry more weight and nuance than if you were to hear the same information come directly from a brand. Edelman’s Trust Barometer 2021 found that there has been an increase in trust of local (media, peers and persons of influence), which demonstrates that within the current ‘infodemic’, people are reverting to sources that are familiar and within close proximity. Findings like these can be of relevance as it can inform which approach is best when planning a campaign.  

Profile opportunities secured with PR activity often allow for multiple messages to be shared simultaneously – think of a broadcast interview, podcast episode or long-form written interview – which weave together fragments that build a full picture for the end listener, reader or viewer. As a result, the experience is often much richer and more nuanced for the audience.

Media placements are impactful as they are hitting audiences where they are already engaged. As the conscious decision has already been made by the audience to engage with the specific publication, programme or broadcaster the likelihood increases that the content will resonate and that the audience will have the ability to recall information presented.

Taking the formative ‘rule of 7’, which posits that consumers need to be exposed to a brand and/or product a total of seven times before a conversion takes place, this emphasises the need to communicate with your key audiences in multiple formats.

PR encourages brands to get to know their audiences, understand where they get their information and strive to meet them at that point. On arrival, the priority is to meet the needs of the audience(s) and demonstrate with clarity how you can add value or solve a problem that is of relevance to them.  This strategy is then applied to each audience that a business wishes to engage with and activity is to align with the business and communications objectives. All audiences must be considered when planning activity to ensure a holistic approach to brand communications.  

Does your MD have innovative business insights to share with start-ups and entrepreneurs? Perhaps your company has focused on R&D and has a new health-focussed offering that fitness-lovers need to know about, or maybe cutting-edge environmental measures have been implemented that will positively impact your industry stakeholders – regardless of the endeavour think of who might seek this information out and why.  

Audiences are not static, and technological advancements have resulted in an everchanging media landscape, which means that for any organisation it is vital to evaluate channels and tactics on an almost continual basis. This is where we come in, and connect you to audiences in a meaningful way that provides shared value for all parties involved.