Member Article

5 top tips for introducing PR to your business

Public relations isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity. Even if you’re a small business, and may not have the budget to use the traditional PR routes, there are always ways you can communicate to your target market and help your business grow.

PR (self or otherwise) can be used to drive interest, recognition and sales to your business.

Here, Suzanne Johns, managing director of Approach PR shares her five top tips for introducing PR to your business.

1. Establish your target market

Knowing exactly who you want to reach, and how, will make developing your PR strategy easier. Communicating the correct key message to the wrong audience can be a pitfall for businesses who have not considered the basics of PR.

2.Understand your business objectives and how they connect to your PR objectives.

Do you want an article to demonstrate a recent success in order to win new business? Knowing this from the offset will ensure your PR activity is on message and directly correlates to your business needs.

3. What is your unique selling point?

USP is a term we often consider when starting up a business, but it’s important to always have this in mind when communicating your key business message to your audience.

4. Consider CSR

Corporate social responsibility is sometimes overlooked by companies who haven’t contemplated the PR benefits. As well as taking part in something to help a charity or the local community, this can link back to your original business objectives such as widening your reach and having new information to contact the media with.

5. Don’t overlook the power of social media.

You may think social media isn’t relevant for your business but consider the options available. If you’re B2B, LinkedIn could be a key part of your overall approach in securing more business or clients. Draw up a strategic plan of platforms you may join as a business and how they will support all other elements of your PR campaign.

If you are considering how PR could benefit your business but are unsure how to get started, Approach PR’s Introduction to PR training course provides an overview of public relations.

From the first step of defining your audiences through to securing credible regional, trade or consumer news, the Approachability team will deliver a comprehensive introduction to PR for businesses.

The upcoming dates for the PR course are Thursday 23 January and Thursday 13 March, for more information visit www.approachpr.com/events.php.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .