The Power of PR

Last week I gave an overview of what public relations is and why it is important to maintain communication between an organisation and its public's. I touched on how important it is to use PR to manage reputation and to build good relationships with your stakeholders. So, where do you start as a business owner?

There’s no point writing a fantastic press release and sending it out to the media if you don’t know what you are trying to achieve and who you want to speak to. First of all, you need to take some time out to prepare a PR plan. 

For franchisors, you might want to use PR to support a larger marketing campaign to launch a new product for your brand, release general good news throughout the year about the success of the franchise and raise awareness around key events. 

For a franchisee, you may wish to generate a buzz around your business launch, employment opportunities or set yourself as the expert adviser for your local community.

Just from my examples above, you can start to see that you are not always going to be talking to the same people. Prospective customers and their influencers, existing customers, shareholders, employees, franchisees, business affiliates, the list goes on. So decide who you want to speak to through your PR and choose the media that they engage with.

Think about the next 12 months and what you should be communicating, to whom and through what methods. Look at your marketing plan for that same period – how could PR support those activities?

And don’t be afraid to put a planned PR activity aside if an opportunity arises where you can hook onto a high-profile news story, give your reaction and raise awareness of your brand.

Look out for our blog next week where we will look at identifying the right media for your PR efforts.