Using Public Relations for Customer Retention

In the simplest terms, public relations is whatever a company does that can affect how it’s going to be perceived by the target audience, investors, employees, as well as the general public. Public relations is all about a company’s reputation, which results from what the company does, says, along with what others say about the business. At its core, PR is all about a planned and sustained effort to both establish as well as maintain a positive image, and mutual understanding between a company and its audience.

Aside from maintaining a strong and positive reputation, public relations can be used for customer retention purposes, because, research has shown time and time again, that it’s a lot more cost-effective for companies to retain consumers, instead of going out of their way to find brand new ones. That’s also why having a strong customer retention campaign is so important to a company’s success.

Getting brand new customers, and then not retaining them is one of the fastest ways for companies to lose out on loyal buyers. Most of the time, consumers have a lot of high expectations from companies, and if they feel that their needs aren’t being met by the company, they can easily switch to a competitor. That’s why companies have to utilize multiple strategies, including public relations efforts, to retain the consumers they already have, and to keep them interested and coming back for more over a long period of time. 

Media Coverage

One of the ways that companies can retain customers is through media coverage. Whenever a customer sees the company being talked about or covered in positive news stories, they’re going to become more secure about their buying decisions when making a purchase from the business. This type of media coverage is essentially, third-party validation, and can be about the company itself, its executives, or the solutions the company provides its consumers.

Consumer Needs

Plenty of times, consumers are vocal about what they want or need, either in reviews or on social media platforms. The company should do its best to meet those wants or needs, and employ social listening strategies in the process. This way, the business can learn more about what the audience wants, and then cater to those needs. Meanwhile, the consumers are going to feel heard by the company, especially if they see changes being implemented quickly to meet their demands.

Education

Finally, sometimes, what consumers are really looking for, is to learn more about the company’s products or services, to become loyal customers. Companies can easily achieve this by providing educational content for the audience through videos, blog posts, and even whitepapers, success stories, and media coverage. This way, the consumers can quickly learn how choosing to buy the company’s solutions can ease their lives, meet their needs or was, and overall improve their situation, especially in ways they hadn’t considered before.