Why PR is the best place to invest your marketing spend
The role of PR has been around for more than 100 years, but yet many people still aren’t sure what we do.
Lynsey Devon of Heaven Publicity and member of The Sussex Collaborative share’s why it is an ideal time to invest more in your PR activity.
In a nutshell (according to the Public Relations Society of America) “Public Relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organisations and their publics”.
We are storytellers, we are sounding boards (for both clients and media) and we find the unique angles and translate them into positive, fascinating stories. But, perhaps even more importantly, we can take negative news, formulate the best response, alleviate the damage and perhaps find a ray, or two, of light as well.
So why invest your marketing spend in PR over paid advertising?
PR is genuine opinion not paid for advertising and as such PR activity will always outlast and tends to be more powerful than regular advertising.
PR content does not have date limitations and is permanent, unlike advertising which is short-term and temporary. When you stop paying for an ad it goes away, but when popular media publish an article online about your company, it remains there forever and it is third party endorsement which you can’t buy!
The exciting thing about PR is it’s storytelling to engage an audience with a product or service they didn’t even know they wanted. I would stress that, unlike in advertising where big budgets can buy big space, PR is 100% dependent on real people having real experiences – which money can’t buy. And, as a result, what you get the transparent truth: the good (hopefully!) but also the bad and the ugly!
For any PR Agency the ever changing news is keeping up on our toes. Needless to say, on a weekly (sometimes daily) basis these changing dynamics impact some of our up-coming press trips and campaigns, making everyone wonder ‘what’s going to happen next?’. The answer: no one knows, but we are ready to respond !
Although we, as humans, are notoriously creatures of habit, we, as PRs, can’t be. We need to remain flexible with our methods, available to talk to at any moment and above all calm in the face of the unknown.
A few weeks ago, a well-known journalist sent us a quote by Albert Einstein that’s stayed with me. Einstein said: ‘Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving’.
To me, PR is all about maintaining that state of equilibrium for clients, journalists and very importantly, my team – especially in the face of a pandemic. But also, to keep progressing in the face of change and to see what story we can inspire people with next to gain valuable third party endorsements. Above all else we also look to create long term value for all our clients marketing spend.
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