If you’ve already started on PR for your small business and have a strategy in place, it can be really helpful to understand the tips and tricks that big businesses use to ensure their success. We’ve put together a list of 10 of the best PR tactics from successful businesses which are really easy to learn from and implement for yourself:
The 10 Best PR Tactics That Successful Businesses Use (and You Should Be Using Too)
1. They Are Always Available to Connect with Journalists
Whether journalists are looking for products for a gift guide or an expert that they can interview for an upcoming article, businesses need to be ready to jump in and respond. This doesn’t mean replying to every single request in an industry, but if your products and brands are relevant, you should be able to quickly take advantage of this.
Following journalists and reporters on social media platforms like Twitter and checking hashtags like #journorequest is useful, while platforms that allow brands and journalists to connect with each other are made for this.
2. They Work to Defined Goals
Before investing in PR for your business or embarking on a new PR campaign, you need to know what your goals are. This will not only inform the choices that you make for materials such as press releases, but you’ll also have a much clearer idea of whether your strategies are working. This is one of the top PR tactics that successful businesses use because they are always able to refer back to their goals when looking at achievements and statistics relating to their PR efforts – this helps them decide whether they are on track to reaching their goals and how they should push forward.
Your goals could include creating a buzz around a new launch, increasing website traffic or generating more sales. Whatever your goals, you should try to make them measurable as this will aid you in ensuring that your PR strategies are working.
3. They Use Social Media to Incite Participation
Engagement is great, but using an influencer to help tell your story is even better and creating a synergy between a brand and the social media skills of an influencer is a great PR tactic. Think of social media take-overs to showcase your products or a special event – the huge following of the influencer will help get your brand in front of more eyes, while it will be great content to engage your own fan base and encourage their participation.
4. They Take Advantage of News and Trends
Whether a big trend within an industry or a fun local news story, ideas that are already gaining momentum are perfect for helping to improve brand awareness and successful businesses know this. Piggybacking on local news can help boost your brand image – you can look to help or improve the situation rather than looking at the situation simply as a way to push your products.
5. If Their Story Isn’t Working, They Change It
Telling a story is a huge part of PR – customers and potential customers need a way in which they can connect with the ideas of a brand. If a story isn’t inspiring customers, the best businesses change it up to create something more relatable. This doesn’t mean changing your brand identity or ethos, it just means evolving and adapting. An inspiring story is a sure-fire way to get interest from journalists because if your brand is boring, journalists will get bored too!
6. They Create Solid Relationships
Creating good relationships with journalists, reporters and others in your industry takes some time. It also means give and take – talking about a brand or trying to push products all the time will turn the other person off. Instead, the most successful small businesses create professional friendships by engaging with them on social media, sharing things that might be of interest and commenting on their previous work. They’re not being underhanded, just friendly.
Creating relationships like this is playing the long game – you can’t expect fast press coverage. But if something relevant comes up in the future, you’ll be the person or brand they think of first!
7. They Work on Being a Great Resource for their Industry
The best businesses work to become a source of information within their industry. This a great PR tactic, because it means that journalists and reporters come to them for opinions and trust that they know what they’re talking about.
In interviews make sure to prove that you know your stuff about your products and your industry as a whole – do you have any stories, facts or stats that you can reference?
8. They Use the Voices and Influence of Their Customers
If a brand has great reviews or feedback on their products, they use this to their advantage in their PR strategy. Putting these on your homepage is helpful, but you can think up new and inventive ways to use the voices of your customers to tell your stories. Case studies and reviews could be used on social media to highlight your core values, or you could even work with a customer who loves your products to solve problems or improve their space.
9. They Keep Tabs on Conversations About Their Brand
Seeing press coverage about your brand or products is amazing and finding positive reviews on social media is great, but successful businesses keep track of all conversations about their brand – whether good or bad. This could be on Twitter, Facebook, forums or blogs in order to seek out any negative reactions or recurring problems that are being posted about.
By monitoring these conversations you’ll be able to answer any recurring questions, act on any problems and avert any potential issues that could escalate as a result of online posts.
10. They Remember that Coverage isn’t Guaranteed
Successful businesses remember that even though they may have worked hard to create relationships with journalists and bloggers, the coverage they hoped for is never guaranteed. The piece might have been dropped by an editor or something more important might have come up so, in these situations, carry on doing your best and don’t take it personally!
Navigating the world of PR can feel complicated, but following these tips and tactics is a brilliant way to ensure you’re top of your game and can get some real results! Do you have any PR tips to share with other businesses?
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