Reworking a Business’ PR Plan
Even when a business has a successful PR plan in place, it’s never a bad thing to review and think of ways to improve or even switch it all around. Sooner or later, people stop hearing and seeing something they’ve encountered many times before.
Appearance
Sometimes what works on a local or regional level doesn’t have enough pull to work on a larger scale and will need to be reviewed and revamped. A strong brand strategy becomes imperative when confronting a national market. One of the first steps is making certain your copy is not filled with typos, dull text, or even fonts and colors that don’t grab attention. Photography too should be shifted to a professional level with well-planned objectives for each step being taken. Does the business logo and website reflect the current status of the business, or beyond? Are they outdated or too generic?
Audience
Identifying your target audience is also vital to building a better PR strategy. Who are the ideal clients, and will someone else be involved in the decision-making process? What are they receiving already from the marketplace, what do they want that they aren’t getting, and how does your business fill that or other needs that are not currently met? What add-ons might prove useful … guideline books, tests for self-assessment, easy how-to flyers might all fit the bill.
Budget and Measuring
Establish an initial budget. It might change at some point, once new business is rolling in, but for the initial work, start low and use social media and other resources that allow for easy measurement of what you get for the money you invest. Tweak the process until you are getting great results, then increase to a larger audience. Start the tweaking process all over again. If you bring in a PR firm, make sure you’ve checked them out thoroughly with other clients and that you have a good idea of how well they know your industry.
Use Social Media Platforms
Especially the ones that are still relatively new and maybe don’t have a way to sell or advertise yet. Find out how they work, build a following, and when the rules change to allow for selling, jumping in will be easy since you’ve already got everything ready for using the platform immediately. In the meantime, build the brand, give value to followers, and treat them like valued associates. They’ll feel like they are part of the family and then transition easily to becoming customers when the opportunity arises.
Endorsements and Recommendations
As soon as you can, start getting customer reviews and recommendations. If you have customers whose names are well known, especially in your industry, treat those like the precious gift they are. Use them as often as you can. If the product is a book about writing fiction, getting endorsements from Patterson, Grisham, King, etc. would be stellar. One leadership writer, Joshua Spodek, said: PR isn’t just about getting my message out. It’s also about listening to the market. It’s a discipline that clarifies my thinking and communication. It forces me to distill my message down to its essence and cut out the fat. Working with professionals makes the process faster and more efficient.”
