Public Relations Planning: What Can a PR Plan Do for a Company?
Like spring cleaning, coming up with a PR plan is something everyone understands is important to do, but it’s one of those things you rarely have the motivation to actually roll-up your sleeves and do. It’s understandable, there are a million and one things a business needs right now, a PR plan can wait.
And wait. And wait… like any other deadline that can be pushed. Of course, that’s would be a mistake. A PR plan isn’t a deadline that should be pushed, because the benefits to a business are wide-spread. While they aren’t always obvious, the benefits of a solid PR plan can actually solve multiple problems that might otherwise require more costly solutions.
It Increases The Value Of A Company
A company’s valuation has many points of contact, such as shareholders, would-be investors, and potential strategic partners. Anyone watching the markets understands that some bad press can cause a dip in trust in the company, so protecting a brand’s credibility is paramount for any company that values their investors and business relationships.
Likewise, the opposite is true. If a company’s credibility is as solid as granite, investors and strategic alliance come to them. Savvy business owner’s take advantage of their company’s reputation in negotiations, pointing out the increased revenue that will result from associating with them.
It Increases Profits
At the end of the day, the only important measure of success is profit – the life-blood of every business. Without profit, nobody gets paid. So while things like ROI are important metrics, what really matters is how much of the money that’s getting deposited the company gets to keep. A solid PR Plan incorporates this simple fact in several ways.
First, a solid PR Plan lowers customer service costs by eliminating problems right out the gate. Any PR plan worth doing doesn’t sweep problems under the rug as they appear. Instead every PR plan acts like a Terminator, identifying problems and eliminating them, leaving clients and media like with nothing to complain about. A solid PR Plan will also increase sales, either by acquiring new customers or reengaging existing customers. New customers or reengaged existing customers translates into more money coming in, and more profits mean more problems can be more easily solved.
Eliminates problems
Money can’t solve every problem, which is why creating a PR Plan is also about eliminating problems before they begin. As anyone involved with Public Relations will tell you, the best time to start doing reputation management is before it starts raining. Good PR creates more good PR, in an ever increasing cycle. This is also true of bad PR, which is why its important to establish a GOOD reputation before a bad day occurs. While a good reputation can be recover from even a really bad week, when a PR crisis hits, you don’t want that to be the only thing people have to say about your company.
