Getting Your Head Around PR As A New Business Owner
“The management of reputation.”
Asked to sum up the meaning of PR, and these four golden words have been the traditional catch-all for what is to many a mystical area, almost impossible to quantify.
If you are a new business owner, particularly in the industry of wellness, which is subject to well-documented scrutiny, the imperative to know your craft, and the wider narrative it operates in will serve you well in the management of your reputation.
Whether or not you choose to engage external PR services, as a business owner you are the manager and designer of your brand - the story-teller, the one that wields the power to lead and shape how it is presented to the world.
So how do you go about managing the reputation of your brand through this story-telling, and stepping into your role to build it from the ground up?
In this week’s post, we break down some of the perceived barriers around PR and how when harnessed from the very top, is a core asset for your brands’ success.
PR is for anyone
The communication discipline of PR is truly for everyone, regardless of the size or stage of your business.
Every brand has a story, and how you tell and share that story will shape perceptions around your business and influence consumers about whether to engage with yours versus one of your competitors. So, without PR, it could be said that you allow that competitor to control the dialogue and define your reputation.
It may seem obvious, but it’s usually the obvious actions that are missed by new businesses; take control early on and nothing for granted.
Communicating what you and your business stand for across the channels where you find your target audience is important but isn’t enough - you must continually find ways to add value.
PR, by way of articles, blogs and podcasts - any form of knowledge sharing, builds trust between you and your target audience. What add-ons can you offer potential customers that will also build your credibility? It’s time to get creative!
Consume media
Moving any business forward in isolation of wider industry conversations and without competitor awareness and analysis is a dead cert for stagnation and being left out in the cold.
Keeping abreast of the news is invaluable to any PR professional, and this is just as applicable to you as a business owner. Having awareness of the general and economic news will give you an insight into what the public and your audience care about and what makes them tick, and importantly, in gauging the agendas being pushed by the media. It can inspire ideas for the direction of your brand, and help you to add value to those in your orbit, which is what PR is the vehicle for.
With your finger on the pulse, you will be able to form your own unique perspectives ahead of the curve that will be appreciated by your media contacts and consumers of your brand.
Research lesser known titles too as they are more likely to be covering niche stories and angles, with an emphasis on newer brands on the block. It’ll also inform you on how you can tailor your pitches and where to funnel your press releases to.
Build relationships
Connections and mutually respectful and beneficial relationships cut to the very heart of public relations and must be front and centre of any long-term business strategy.
Building and maintaining relationships at a more personalised yet still professional level supports and strengthens your brand in ways that paid marketing will not necessarily accomplish. Media contacts will develop with time if you’re going at it alone. Alternatively, consider a PR professional who will have ready-made relationships and contacts with inside knowledge and awareness of what is of interest to their contacts.
One of the more positive benefits of social media is that as a brand owner you can be accessible and within reach of your target audience. Your social platforms are your platform to show the human side of a business if used smartly, and ultimately, offer the best chance to connect directly with those along for the ride.
Building trust and credibility directly with your audience will also grow a community of support and espouse strong endorsers of your brand.
Third Party Validation
With review culture at an all time high, consumers today want and require third-party validation before buying. Trust is indeed earned not commanded and satisfied customers of your business can be your biggest marketing and PR tools. Word of mouth marketing is fully dependent on a seamless customer experience so continually assessing how you can make this optimal is an ongoing business strategy.
Enter earned media too, which we cover in this blog post here. Earned media is the ability to gain an independent perspective about your brand and its products or services. In an era of fake reviews and news, earned media will give your brand the gravitas that will inspire confidence in your target audience.
A PR professional will have firmly embedded relationships with media contacts, which are invaluable to any business starting out, so long as what your business offers is useful and unique, and more importantly packaged and presented to very high standards.