Battleplan Creative

Communications with Purpose

Public Relations

What is PR?

Public Relations or PR is an ongoing dialogue with your existing and desired customers, conducted through a third party (print media, online news feeds, social media). The fact that a third party publishes a story gives it an implied endorsement and bestows it with a credibility not easily gained through any other marketing activity.

The Link With Social

Social media has transformed the face of public relations, enabling real-time conversations and making it ever more possible to have direct contact with your customers/clients. In our 24/7 society people expect an immediate response, and are always more likely to take to social media to voice grievances than praise. Not being there or available doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen – it just means that you’re not managing it…

Getting it right…

Good PR starts with looking outwards. Examining and interpreting how the market perceives you, then working hard to maintain or improve this perception. If you find out that it’s not what you want or expect then you’ll begin the additional challenge of attempting to change perceptions.

Plan ahead

There will always be times where rapid response is needed, but ongoing PR should be part of a well planned strategy. Don’t limit yourself to the ‘big stories’. Consider all aspects of your business and what you want to achieve from your communications and drip feed throughout the course of the year. This provides a regular source of information about your company and will keep your own website dynamic, offering a variety of benefits including:-

  • A constant presence online and in the press helps to build awareness and maintain your brand
  • Trust – being present creates an aura of trust that benefits and grows your customer relationships
  • Traffic building – SEO is all about getting the RIGHT people to your site. Reaching the first page of search engine listings is an ongoing process optimised through the creation of ongoing, authentic dynamic content
  • PR aids the job of selling, through the power of implied endorsement
  • Keeping your content fresh – there is not much worse than looking at the ‘recent news’ section of a company’s website and seeing that the last time it published anything to it was in 2008

Good PR should be intrinsically linked to your marketing plan, core values and positioning statement.  If you’d like to hear more about how PR from Battleplan can benefit your ongoing strategy, feel free to get in touch here.

Let’s talk!