Important Public Relations Tips for Small Business Owners
In the minds of many small business owners, marketing and
public relations go hand in hand and often sit next to each other on the
backburner. While marketing and public relations are related in some ways,
public relations is the key to representing and maintaining the values that the
business has been built upon within its overall branding image. Without
properly managing public relations for a small business, it can often suffer
from brand confusion and loss of respect from the market and consumers.
Be a Good Writer
Part of a good public relations plan often includes sending
out press releases, social media postings, blog entries, and other announcements
to keep the market and consumers up to date on what the business is doing.
Since these messages are going out into the public it is important to make sure
they have been edited multiple times and are of pristine quality – no consumer
or potential business partner will take a company seriously when they have
grammatical and spelling mistakes all throughout their written work.
Be Friends with the Media
It is no secret that a business’s relationship with the
media can make or break their public relations image. While newspaper writers,
TV anchors, radio DJs, and bloggers can be a great asset to the branding and
image of your business, they can also become your worst enemy when they
broadcast bad publicity.
Although some business professionals say, "All publicity,
good or bad, is good publicity," this is not really the case in today's
viral atmosphere. Whereas a single bad review would previously barely dent a
business, today, millions of potential clients can see it, truly hurting the
appeal of the business. Getting on the wrong side of just one person that is
media-savvy can do irreparable damage to the business.
Make Use of Available Search Tools
With more consumers getting on the Internet to find out
everything they need to know about local businesses, it is very important to
make sure your company has a presence on these sites. Sites such as Bing Local,
Google Place, Yelp, and Yahoo Local are all places where consumers search for
products or services they need, so it is very important to make sure your
business is listed on your area’s popular search sites. Additionally, you can
help boost your business’s SEO, or search engine optimization, by making sure
all the company’s relevant contact and location information is listed
correctly.
Alert Consumers to Important Stories
Staying on top of public relations is beneficial when it
comes to spreading the word about your business or alerting the market to a new
product or service you are offering. Local news outlets, TV, print, and radio
are always looking for good, local stories to share with their audience. When a
local story is needed, it is a great opportunity to get beneficial media
coverage and exposure for the business.
It is always important to send out well written press
releases to local media outlets for events such as store grand openings, launch
parties, new products or services releases, charity events
or community service efforts, awards that have been won and much, much more –
if a reporter needs a story, you want to make sure you are the one that they
cover. Having a good relationship with the media, as mentioned early, is
important to making sure these stories reach your target market in a big way.
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*Photo Courtesy of PRNewswireGlobal via Creative Commons License
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