Three Fresh Tips for Leveraging PR to Grow

Indeed, recent world events have put the kibosh on traditional dining, networking, and events which play a significant role in a company’s business development strategy. Yet, in a crisis like this, there’s one critical thing that should not be forgotten: public relations. 

Why public relations, you ask? Because public relations lets the public know that you are open for business and are active in your market sectors. Third party endorsements, like those from earned media, keep your name prominent during a recession or time of change. Additionally, contributing to your social media, blogs, and industry groups allows you to further build and develop relationships. 

As a PR agency founder, I help companies increase their exposure, find new offerings, and ultimately help companies win work. Here are three ways to make the most of your public relations efforts during the recession and pique people’s interest:

Know Your Audience

Identifying your key audience is an important part of your strategic plan. This is a good time to revisit your lists of industry leaders and identify what news they like to consume. This is also a great time to discover what they are searching for. For instance, what topics are trending, what are the social media conversations, and what is the latest news coverage about your target audience and industry. Knowing your key audience will help you tailor your public relations efforts for them. Remember, your audience is constantly evolving so be sure to keep up with topics that resonate with them.

Build Trust

Trust demonstrates a long-term commitment to your existing and potential clients. One of the things you can do to build trust is provide value. To do this, you can educate, inspire, and evoke emotions. While the world is in a bit of a holding pattern presently, this may be the best time to start sharing your story, showcase your solutions, and weigh in on trending topics or challenges that the industry is facing. This is also a good time to offer free industry-related content that is useful to your readers. This not only positions you in a positive light, but also generates new business leads and reinforces your brand loyalty.  

Bolster Your Digital Presence

There is tremendous opportunity to provide insights into trending topics and speak about situations and challenges you have faced during the past several months. This helps build trust and you get a chance to support others that are facing similar challenges while building your online presence. According to the September 2020 Yelp Economic Impact Report, 163,735 total U.S. businesses have closed since the pandemic began. That’s a staggering number but if you are still in business, you must be doing some things right. So, offer a message of hope and let others learn from you and build your online network by talking about these things.

Another strategy is to connect with your audience and engage with them. This is the perfect opportunity to ask thought-provoking questions or elicit opinions. The truth is, we will come out of this pandemic. And when we do, companies will have a real opportunity to be at the top of the search engines.  But that path begins with the work you do now.

Keep these public relations tips in mind to help put you at a greater advantage to deliver a successful message and stay in front of your clients. Stay positive and have fun developing a lasting brand.