What Are The Next Best PR Steps

Last year when the pandemic started, many companies around the world decided to put their PR and marketing plans on pause, or even to bring them to a complete standstill. With the first lockdown introduced in March, some companies decided to put a stop to their promotional efforts, while others took the completely different approach of accelerating their PR efforts.

Plenty of companies at the start of the pandemic  decided to take a protective approach by holding back on promotional and marketing efforts. This represented  an attempt on behalf of these companies to reduce their expenses. The goal of the companies was to conserve their resources during a difficult time, and to wait for the storm to pass so they could rebuild their strategies when things went back to normal.

On the other hand  there were those companies that decided to double down and take more risks during the early pandemic  period. Such companies decided to work harder , to try and grow their businesses, and to shift strategies during a time when competitors were taking a break and were waiting to see how the next few months would pan out.

Although both of these strategies were solid in their own way– with different advantages and disadvantages– it’s easy for either one of them to go wrong. This was a time when the decision came down to how comfortable different companies were with different levels of risk.

However, it’s been over a year since the pandemic first started, and plenty of companies are still waiting for the situation to go back to normal.  But even now the goal of PR strategies is for companies to realize and take advantage of new opportunities which can bring them plenty of success.

Long Term Plans And Short Term Benefits

One great example of a set of companies that, at the start of the pandemic, were worried about a decrease in revenue, were insurance companies that had offices all over the country. Many insurance companies were worried that the number of home sales would decline, given that they’re a large investment and many people were losing their jobs.

However, instead of continuing to live in fear, several companies started to expand into other markets instead of focusing on a single one. These companies also put more effort into portraying themselves as industry leaders by appearing in interviews and podcasts, which would solidify   any company’s position in the market. In just a few short months, these companies took advantage of a bad situation and took the opportunity to promote their newfound success with mainstream outlets. Meanwhile, their competitors were still waiting for the pandemic storm to pass.

The number of companies – both old and new ones – that managed to pivot their PR efforts during the pandemic is large. It’s all because these companies recognized where the world was heading and decided to pivot to the future to be able to participate in it.

Although it’s difficult to predict what’s going to happen next with the world, it’s safe to assume that at some point in the next few months we’ll all be living in a post-pandemic world.

Companies that decide to pause their efforts should be making plans now on how to restart their PR campaigns. And those companies that never stopped working on PR should be looking for new opportunities to fill existing gaps, and to retain their business success.