Step 1.
What is PR?

Broadly speaking PR is the process of maintaining good relations between an organisation and those outside of it.

I tell my clients that everything they say or do is public relations.

It’s not spin; organisations that have good relations with their public or customer walk the talk.

Step 2.
What can PR do?

PR is a lot more versatile than advertising, and whilst you’d expect a PR consultant to say that, here’s why:

Public relations activity can influence opinion, educate, inspire and excite; it can create word of mouth and start a buzz.

It can bring people together and importantly it can differentiate your brand or organisation from the competition.

Step 3.
PR Practices

There are a number of PR disciplines that can work together or alone as required.

➢ B2B or business-to-business PR, might, for example, support a trade sales campaign.

➢ B2C or business to consumer activity, helps to support communication between a business and the general public.

➢ Crisis management, this helps to contain a crisis or issue that will affect an organisation’s reputation.

➢ Lobbying or political PR encompasses tactics that influence the opinion of those in charge of making legislation or leading a large group of people. This includes industry associations.

➢ Internal communications helps to manage the internal relationship between an organisation and its staff.

Corporate social responsibility – A company’s sense of responsibility towards the community and environment (both ecological and social) in which it operates

Step 4.
Typical PR tactics

A common misconception is that PR is just media relations, some people even think PR stands for press release… if you think that you’re missing out on a whole load of ways to reach your audience.

Here are just a few ideas to get your started on you PR plans:

➢ Events such as trade shows, customer events or business seminars can all help to get gain new customers and strengthen relationships
➢ Media relations is still a key element of any PR campaign but it’s got more complex thanks to the proliferation of websites, bloggers and vloggers
➢ Stakeholder engagement can help to ensure everyone you need to take your business forward is onside
➢ Celebrity or expert endorsement is invaluable, harnessing the influence of experts or personalities who your customers trust is a tactic that can pay big dividends
➢ Sponsorship is an excellent way to help to develop or deepen an organisation’s relationship with their clients but don’t forget to reserve budget to maximise it properly across all your media channels
➢ Stunts can not only engage with your audience directly but, when done well, may also result in column inches
➢ Networking and client entertainment – making your clients feel special and valued and getting to know them better can only be a good thing for your relationships
➢ Forming strategic partnerships with other businesses or organisations with common goals can help to create really memorable marketing campaigns that deliver real value to your audience

Plus Social media, which can be used to amplify all the tactics I’ve mentioned, and also plays a valuable role in customer service, customer feedback and developing a dialogue with your clients and other organisations.

Of course that’s not everything you need to know about PR, but you should now be able to take your PR planning to the next stage.

Why not sign up to Integrative Health Education’s course to learn more about using PR and social media to build your business? We hope to see you on 31st January!