PR Nashville
External PR Agency Vs. In-house PR Manager? Our Pick
Research has shown that the global public relations (PR) market will be worth approximately $133 billion in 2023, with a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.7% yearly. As more businesses adopt PR, choosing between an in-house PR manager or outsourcing to an external PR agency can be tricky. While many experts suggest hiring an external RR agency, others recommend going for an in-house PR manager. Regardless of your choice, you must consider certain factors before making a decision. In this article, we break down everything you need to know about external PR versus hiring an in-house PR manager and also provide our expert verdict.
The Role of an In-house PR Manager
An in-house public relations manager is an individual that oversees all PR activities in an organization. They are typically part of the marketing or communications team creating content, tracking PR campaign performance, and leading brand reputation management strategies.
The Role of an External PR Agency
In contrast, a PR agency is a firm that works with different organizations as an independent body. They help build a relationship between your brand and the public through developing, distributing, and monitoring PR campaigns and crisis management plans.
What to Consider When Choosing a PR Agency or In-House PR
Whether to hire an external PR agency or an in-house manager isn’t absolute. Rather, there are different factors to consider which will guide your final decision.
1. Cost / Budget
The cost of hiring an in-house PR manager encompasses three main areas: recruitment, monthly salary and benefits, and training.
The average yearly salary of a PR manager in the United States ranges from $66,000 to $99,000, which equals approximately $5,500 to $8,000 monthly. This amount doesn't include recruitment and training costs, which might amount to another $4,000 & $1,252, respectively.
In contrast, the average cost of hiring a PR agency with competencies like SEO, copywriting, PR tools, outreach, and reporting is between $1,500 and $10,000 monthly, typically. At first glance, it seems to cost less to hire an in-house team. However, considering the lack of full-service expertise, you might have to employ other employees to support the PR manager. This will increase the total cost making it more expensive than outsourcing your PR to an external agency.
2. Continuity and Consistency
Many sectors have experienced a significant increase in employee resignations, causing a loss of skilled professionals and hindering productivity. Employing a public relations manager can expose your organization to potential workforce transition challenges. In case of a resignation, you must initiate a recruitment process, onboard a replacement, train them, and allow time to acclimate to the company culture. This inconsistency can make maintaining effective PR strategies difficult.
In contrast, an external PR agency has a team of experts including publicists, project managers, copywriters, link-building experts, and more. When you hire a full-service agency, you don't have to worry about resignation or other employee issues. Even if a team member resigns, another member will be assigned to your account immediately, which supports continuity and consistency.
3. Accessibility and Control
An external PR agency works with many clients making it harder to jump on a quick call or quickly run quickly get something published by tomorrow. This limitation creates an opportunity gap because taking advantage of certain information quickly can be challenging at times. However, working with an in-house manager gives you more access and control over PR activities. You can walk down to the hall and share your big idea or adjust a campaign based on new information without waiting in line.
4. Access to an Extensive Library of PR Tools
In-house PR teams may not have access to all the tools available to deliver effective results. This might be due to budget constraints or limited expertise. In contrast, an external PR agency will have a full suite of PR tools like analytics, tracking, outreach, and reporting to facilitate data-driven strategy implementation. When creating a winning strategy, you don't want to leave any stones unturned; an agency armed with the right tools ensures that all areas are covered for maximum results.
5. Access to PR Opportunities
Since most PR agencies work with clients in different industries, they have access to possible partners or collaborators. This cuts the time invested in outreach and other activities. For example, you need to implement an influencer marketing strategy, and your PR agency happens to manage an influencer on your list. That connection can save you time and costs on research, outreach, and meetings and just enable you to get in the door, to begin with. On the other hand, an individual PR manager may have more limited access and connections.
6. Expertise and Experience
PR agencies work with many companies in different industries, which gives them a broad spectrum of experience. Also, agencies understand that the stakes are high; therefore, they invest in hiring the best talent, most of whom are experts in the industry. With their unique skills and experience, they can create solutions and collaborate to solve complex issues. In contrast, a PR manager working alone might only have limited experience with certain tools and strategies from one industry.
In-house PR Manager vs. External PR Agency: Our Pick
We believe hiring an external PR agency is the best option for most situations. These include when you need expertise, want to generate fast and effective results, require more creative strategies, and lots more. In contrast, if you want someone more fully invested in company culture, to have total control over PR activities, and cannot afford an agency, it might be best to invest in an in-house PR manager.
Regardless of what you decide, you always have the option to engage a PR agency for specialized projects beyond your team's primary area of expertise or creativity level. At RPR Firm, we have over a decade of experience managing PR campaigns for businesses in different industries. Schedule a free consultation with us today to see how our professional PR services can help you improve your brand's growth.
What Are Good Examples Of Customer-Centric PR Campaigns?
Customer-centricity is more than a buzzword; it's when you put customers at the heart of decision-making for your business. We explain what this means in today's market and show examples of brands that have leveraged customer-centric PR campaigns to drive the right result.
What is Customer Centricity?
Customer centricity means putting your customers at the center of everything, including your products, services, website, and store. In other words, you center your business and PR campaigns around your customers' needs. The core of every customer-centric PR campaign is rooted in building valuable relationships with your customers so they are at the forefront of your business.
Why is it Important to be Customer Centric?
Customers today don't just stay for your excellent products or services but also for their experience with your brand. Consequently, people are more likely to stick with companies that deliver positive experiences consistently. According to a study by Deloitte, customer-centric companies are 60% more profitable than companies that don't prioritize the customer experience. Therefore, being customer-centric will increase your customer base, customer loyalty, and revenue.
Customer-Centric Marketing Examples
Many companies have invested in customer-centricity in their marketing and PR campaigns. Some examples of these companies include the following.
1. L'Oréal Perso App PR Campaign
L'Oréal revolutionized how makeup works when they unveiled the Perso app in 2020. As a makeup brand, L'Oréal realized that its products look different on everyone. To improve the customer shopping experience, the brand built an app, L'Oréal Perso, that uses AI to identify the best custom lipstick, foundation, and skincare for customers.
The app collects data about the user's skin type, concerns, and lifestyle. Next, it uses the information to recommend a personalized skincare routine, including products from L'Oréal's portfolio of brands. The AI-powered app can also track the user's skincare progress over time and adjust the routine as needed. The L'Oréal Perso app is designed to make skincare easier and more personalized, helping users to achieve their best possible skin.
This customer-centric PR campaign has further boosted L’Oréal's brand reputation, and it's no surprise they recorded a 23.4% increase in sales compared to the previous year (2019).
2. Starbucks Rewards Loyalty Program
One of the most famous PR campaigns to date is Starbucks Rewards. This program improves customer experience by offering perks such as free drinks for customers on their birthdays, free refills, and the opportunity to order and pay before arriving at the store.
While many brands use similar loyalty programs, Starbucks Rewards personalizes the customer experience and tailors offers and rewards based on each customer's individual purchasing habits, making it a good example of a customer-centric PR campaign. According to Forbes, beneficiaries of the loyalty program are 5.6 times more likely to visit Starbucks daily.
3. Amazon Prime Day
Amazon is one of the world's most customer-centric companies, with many outstanding PR campaigns. However, one that stands out is Amazon Prime Day. It's an annual shopping event in July and offers exclusive deals and discounts to Prime members. The event was first introduced in 2015 and has since become one of the largest online shopping events and PR campaigns of the year, attracting millions of customers globally. The campaign smashed records in 2021 with a whopping $11.19 billion in sales worldwide, an increase of 7.6% from the previous year. These impressive figures are a testament to Prime Day's massive popularity and continued success as a shopping event.
During Amazon Prime Day, members get discounts and exclusive deals on a wide range of products for a limited time. The Amazon Prime Day PR campaign attracts customers looking to save money and get the most out of their Prime membership. Customers also benefit from early access to select deals, the ability to schedule delivery later, and free shipping on eligible items. The campaigns are highly successful, as it drives sales and helps to build customer loyalty.
4. Dove Selfie Talk
Dove once launched the Selfie Talk campaign aimed at helping customers become more confident. The skincare company encouraged people to share their pictures online without retouching or editing them with the hashtag #NoDigitalDistortion. Unlike most examples of customer-centric campaigns, Dove’s selfie talk didn’t directly push sales of its products. Instead, it addressed a significant problem many customers face, which should be central to a customer-centric PR campaign.
5. Share a Coke by Coca-Cola
One of the most powerful customer-centric PR campaigns is the Share a Coke campaign by Coca-Cola. The bottling company improved customer experience by personalizing Coke bottles. They replaced the logo on the bottle design with customers’ names, making people feel like the bottle was specially customized for them. In the summer of 2013, when the campaign was launched, Coca-Cola sold an astonishing 250 million personalized bottles and cans in Australia, a country with just under 23 million population. This impressive feat showcases Coke's widespread popularity and ability to connect with consumers on a personal level.
Tips for Creating Great Customer-Centric PR Campaigns
Now that you know some of the best customer-centric examples, let’s go through some tips to create yours.
1. Learn About Your Customers
One thing customer-centric examples have in common is that the PR campaign strategy emanates from customers' perspectives and understanding of what people need. To create a successful customer-centric PR campaign, you must have in-depth knowledge of what your customers value without assumptions. You can conduct surveys, practice social listening, and monitor what people say about your brand.
2. Put Relationship First
Your customers are not just numbers; they are real people, and being customer-centric means showing you care about them. It’s essential to establish a mutually beneficial relationship with your customers. One of the best ways to form meaningful relationships with customers is by engaging and communicating with them.
3. Create Value At Every Customer Interaction
A good PR strategy focuses on improving the customer experience at every stage of their journey with your company. Whether they are scrolling through your website, downloading your free templates, or purchasing your products, every part of your buyer’s journey should be customer-centric.
4. Measure and Adjust
One of the final steps in every customer-centric PR campaign is measurement and analysis. Keep track of what's working for your brand and what's not, and find new ways to adjust your campaigns accordingly.
Work with a PR Expert
Do you want to get close to your customer through customer-centric campaigns? We’ve got you! At RPR Firm, we help clients develop custom-centric campaigns that enhance their customers' lives and impact your business. We have 11 years of experience helping brands create campaigns that improve customer experience and increase business performance.
Schedule a free consultation with us today, and discuss customer-centric PR campaigns that will work for your brand.
The Impact of Press Release in 2023
Companies have used press releases as a tool to deliver updates about product launches, mergers, and other news for decades. However, in today's digital media landscape, press releases serve a far more critical purpose. Including press releases in your public relations (PR) strategy can help you build brand awareness and credibility and manage the narrative in times of crisis. So how does a press release impact business in 2023, and why is it still relevant? Read on to find out.
Why is a Press Release Important in PR Strategy Today?
In today’s competitive marketplace, you need more than a great product to succeed. A press release offers an effective way to communicate with your customers, build credibility, and help to control the narrative on controversial information. Here’s how press releases can impact your brand.
1. Build Brand Awareness
Today, one of the most important currencies in business is attention. The number of customers you can reach determines the sales you generate and how fast you build a formidable company. However, many competitors are also vying for your target audience's attention. Research from Cision has shown that 68% of businesses experienced improved visibility from publishing press releases, making it a good strategy for building visibility.
A press release is typically written by a company and distributed to journalists and news outlets with a good reputation and coverage in your industry. When this content is published, you can reach a wider audience than your regular followers on social media or website visitors. Occasionally, your news can go viral, which creates a bigger buzz for your launch, merger, or announcement of groundbreaking technology.
In addition, if your press release integrates the best SEO strategies, you will show up on search engine results for specific keywords, contributing to visibility and awareness for your brand. This is very important for small business owners and startups competing against more prominent brands as it helps them to gain more attention with a cost-effective approach.
2. Build Brand Credibility
Trust plays a vital role in how consumers interact with businesses today. A recent Edelman report shows that 81% of consumers will only buy from a brand they trust. With a press release, you can communicate your brand's value and good works and if it shows up in a reputable publication, you will gain even more trust. Why? Your consumers trust these publications to deliver verified news and credible brands. This is good for startups who want to gain market authority for their new product.
3. Establish Brands Authority
Press releases also help you to establish your brand as a thought leader. According to Cision's State of Press Release report, 36% of business owners who used press releases said it reinforced their market position as a thought leader. Edelman also reports that 48% of decision-makers say thought leadership can influence purchasing decisions. For startups and small businesses, establishing yourself as an expert helps to build authority in your industry. It’s also another way to gain customers' trust as they believe you can solve their problems and deliver on your promise.
4. Control the Narrative
Recently, deep fake technology has become a major driver for misleading information. It uses artificial intelligence to create videos that mimic the voice and faces of celebrities in an almost undetectable way. Besides the typical controversies a business might find itself in, deep fake technology increases the need for good reputation management. That's where the press release comes into the picture as a tool to control the narrative. For example, a deep fake video surfacing online with a top company executive making unsubstantiated claims can tank your stocks or business. You can quickly get ahead of this by publishing a press release to address the issue, take control, and leverage the publicity to promote your brand. This approach will prevent your business from losing partners and customers.
Getting Started Making Impact with Your Press Releases
Today, press releases for businesses do so much more than share news. They impact your brand’s visibility, credibility, authority, and overall reputation. If you aren't adopting this cost-effective public relations tool, you are missing out on the opportunity for growth.
To get started, you need a professional team with a proven track record of delivering effective press releases as part of a PR strategy for businesses. At RPR Firm, press releases are a cornerstone of the public relations strategies we create for our clients and include SEO and link-building to make them even more effective. Schedule a free consultation with us today to see how we can help you grow your business.
Can PR Improve Organizational Reputation?
Building a positive organizational reputation is not done in a day; it takes years of effort, patience, and investment in effective strategies. On the other hand, it may only take one mistake for years of good reputation to crumble. Public relations (PR) is the key to a reputation management strategy to help you maintain a good relationship with the public.
At its core, PR helps to shape how people perceive your brand, which results in better sales performance and helps to build a community of loyal customers. In this article, we discuss organizational reputation and the PR tactics to improve yours.
What is Organizational Reputation?
Organizational reputation describes how consumers, employees, and investors perceive your brand. If you have done something questionable or associated with unethical practices, people will become reluctant to do business with you. A good reputation builds consumers' trust, and the stronger your brand reputation, the more people will want to do business with you.
How Does PR Improve Brand Reputation?
PR involves planned efforts and strategies to establish and maintain a positive relationship between an organization and its audience. PR can help improve brand reputation in the following ways:
1. Build a Solid Brand Identity
In business, brand identity focuses on the selling proposition and key characteristics of your company. A good PR strategy can help develop a compelling brand identity for your business, and this will improve your reputation. When you maintain a solid brand identity through PR activities, your audience will associate positive things with your brand.
2. Generate Public Interest
Adopting PR as part of your content marketing strategy helps build brand awareness and a positive company reputation. Whether through press releases, social media content, blog posts, or executive bylines, PR can help generate great buzz for your company.
3. Build Customers’ Trust
A significant part of reputation management is getting the trust of your customers, and there is no better way to do that than PR. Implementing PR tactics like thought leadership helps you capture the audience’s attention, build a good relationship with them, and give them reasons to trust your brand.
6 PR Tactics to Improve Organizational Reputation
Whether you are in the middle of a PR crisis or want to earn the support of the public, these PR tips can improve your brand reputation:
1. Monitor Your Reputation
You can't improve a reputation if you don’t know what the public thinks of your brand. An excellent PR tactic is to monitor what people say about you. Is there a lot of positive feedback? Do you have negative reviews? Learn from your feedback to enhance your company’s services. You can monitor what people say through social media and PR tools like Google Alerts and Mentions.
2. Publicly Address Negative Reviews
A study by Reviewtracker revealed that 45% of consumers are more likely to visit a business if it responds to negative reviews. This shows you care about your customers’ satisfaction and offers an opportunity to build interaction. When responding to negative reviews, you must empathize with the customer, accept fault, suggest possible solutions, and inform them of steps you are taking to fix the problem. Following this process will help you show other prospects that you are a reliable business and boost your brand reputation.
3. Be Loud About Your Achievements
Sharing news about milestones, achievements, endorsements, certifications, or customer success stories creates a ripple effect. For starters, consumers like to associate with the best brands as it assures them of quality service delivery. For example, if a reputable local magazine mentions your brand as the ‘best company of the year,’ it will reduce customers' objections during their research process. Therefore, sharing information about your achievements helps to build your reputation organically.
4. Have Responsive Customer Service
According to Microsoft, 58% of customers will stay away from a brand with poor service. Also, research by Zippia found that 72% of customers who had a good customer experience will share that with six or more people, which is good for brand reputation. A good customer service experience will help you build an emotional connection with customers turning them into brand ambassadors. This is profitable for startups looking to drive word-of-mouth marketing to reach a wider audience and generate more sales.
5. Invest in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a PR tactic that involves making a social impact by participating in socially responsible activities for the greater good of the public. A good social impact strategy helps to humanize your brand and shows that you care about issues that affect your customers. These initiatives will also get media coverage which will help to create awareness and build a positive reputation among your target audience.
6. Have an Efficient Communication Team
In case of a PR crisis, one of the best ways to deal with it is by crafting a message to address the issue immediately. You might need a professional communication team to do this. A professional PR team will help you create a crisis management plan, track brand mentions, and manage PR activities. Furthermore, with a crisis management plan in place, you can quickly respond to any issues without spending hours confused and escalating the situation due to poor communication. Don’t wait for a crisis to hit before you get the services of PR experts.
Build Organizational Reputation with Profesional PR Firm
Building a strong reputation opens your company up to great opportunities for growth. Besides the obvious benefits like building brand loyalty and awareness, it can also help you increase sales. However, you need a professional team and PR tools to achieve your business goals through public relations.
At RPR Firm, we have more than 11 years of experience helping brands improve their reputation and build solid relationships with their audience. Are you considering working with a full-service PR team to boost your brand reputation? Schedule a free consultation with us today.
12 Reasons You Should Invest in Public Relations
Recent research reveals that 60% of marketing executives believe digital marketing and public relations (PR) will work together more closely in the future. As a business owner, this is the best time to Invest in Public Relations as it is 90% more successful in influencing consumers than advertising. Still not convinced? Read on to find out how to boost business growth with PR activities.
Why Should Businesses Invest in Public Relations?
Besides the apparent benefits of visibility and brand reputation management, investing in PR offers other advantages. Here's a list of 12 reasons why investing in PR is a good decision.
1. Boost Brand SEO
In today's digital business world, search engine optimization is a fuel that drives long-term growth. Research shows that 68% of online experiences begin with a search engine, while SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate. Good PR strategies combined with content marketing can create buzz for your business online. This content will drive traffic to your website and generate quality backlinks from reputable websites, contributing to better SEO performance and ranking on search engine results pages.
2. Build Brand Awareness
At its core, investing in PR helps build brand awareness. Combining good PR strategies like press releases, newsjacking, and guest blogging will help you establish a digital footprint. Subsequently, this content will help prospects understand your brand, get visibility from reshares, and start building connections with your brand.
3. Humanize Your Brand
With so much vying for consumers' attention, it's easy to lose connection with your target audience. Since most communication is online, you cannot easily measure body language, which creates its own challenge. Using a powerful PR technique like storytelling, you can engage with your audience more personally. Rather than positioning as another brand, PR storytelling helps you show a more human side of your brand. For example, showing empathy by supporting issues relevant to your audience that also align with your brand's value.
4. Implement Cost-effective Strategy
Digital PR campaigns have significant elements of organic marketing, like content marketing and link building. Generally, these methods are less expensive than paid advertising. For example, content marketing costs 6x less than advertising, freeing up your budget for other priorities.
5. Foster Brand Collaboration and Endorsement
Collaboration and endorsement are crucial elements for business growth. However, companies will only work with brands with good reputations. Creating PR campaigns that show your brand favorably in the media can help build your reputation and awareness. It also helps to establish your brand as an authority in the industry.
6. Hire and Retain Top Talent
Recent LinkedIn research revealed that 72% of recruiters agreed that the employer brand significantly impacts hiring top talent. With employee review sites like Glassdoor and other social media platforms, prospective employees can quickly research your brand's value and employee development programs. Investing in PR can be the key to making your brand attractive to the right talent pool.
7. Maximize Your Advertising Strategy
Relying on paid advertising strategies isn't sustainable for a small business with a limited budget. However, including PR in your marketing mix helps you to stretch that budget. PR strategies like gaining earned media, blogging, link building, and thought leadership drives traffic long-term, which is excellent since ads only generate traffic when they are active.
8. Manage the Brand's Reputation
A study by MIT found that false news travels 6x faster than truth. In a world with a 24-hour news cycle, you must constantly monitor and protect your brand reputation. By investing in PR you can more easily monitor brand mentions, communicate company news and quickly respond to false news and crises before they escalate.
9. Attract Quality Leads
Quality lead generation depends on brand awareness and your target audience’s willingness to believe how your products or services will benefit them. Prospects are more likely to work with you if they see your brand as trustworthy. Investing in PR helps your brand go a long way toward achieving this.
10. Gain High-Quality Backlinks
The quality of backlinks you generate is vital to improving SEO performance. PR integrates strategies like guest blogging and social media to get original links from reputable platforms which will help the target audience find you easily.
11. Establish Brand Authority
A survey by Nielsen revealed that 85% of consumers look to content from experts before they make a purchasing decision. Investing in PR helps you build authority and position as an expert by creating thought leadership content and reports. Subsequently, customers will rely on your brand for information which will boost visibility and make the sales process easier.
12. Increase Customer Lifetime Value
Another benefit of investing in PR is improving brand loyalty. When the target audience trusts your brand, they are more likely to purchase your products the first time. But, you need to keep them repeatedly purchasing from you, and a key way to do that is by building a good relationship with them through PR. For example, keeping them up to date with news and information that’s relevant to them.
Next Steps to Invest in Public Relations
The benefits of public relations in business growth are unlimited. You can improve customer loyalty, build trust, boost SEO performance, save advertising costs, and get reputable backlinks. All of these will help to increase sales and growth and help you create a formidable brand. However, to invest in Public Relations, you need the right expertise. At RPR, we help businesses generate tangible results that support business goals with expert-led public relations services. Schedule a call with our professional PR consultants to get started.
7 Tips for Making Good Public Relations Even Better
If you’re interested in leveling up your public relations (PR) efforts, we bring you some tried and true strategies. From humor-infused campaigns that tickle the funny bone to data-driven emotion pairing, strategic distribution, and gamification, here’s how to make your good public relations campaign even better.
1. Add Humor, But Be Creative
Likely, the last thing your target audience wants to see is another PR campaign with a man in a suit talking about your product or event. Integrating humor in your PR campaign content helps to place your audience in a relaxed mode. An Oracle "2022 Happiness Report" revealed that 90% of people are more likely to remember funny ads, and 72% would choose a brand that uses humor over the competition. Although humor can be tricky, the rule of thumb is always to understand your target audience and the topic's sensitivity. Infuse some humor creatively into your content so it delivers the expected results without throwing your customers off your brand. For example, Unilever Dollar Shave infused UK humor to target the UK audience in preparation for its launch.
2. Pair Data with Emotions
Data drives the most effective results, but most businesses aren't taking full advantage of this in their PR campaigns. To improve your PR activities, you must understand the type of content and topics most relevant to the target audience and the platforms in which they engage. With PR tools such as BuzzSumo content analysis reports, you can analyze how your audience reacts to specific discussions on Facebook. This information will help you decide on the best angle for good public relations. However, it's best to consistently create content that touches on relevant issues that align with your brand's values and marketing goals.
3. Distribute Strategically
One common mistake among business owners is confusing reach with effective results. Although the platform's audience size matters, PR content is usually more effective if it’s on a platform that is more relevant to your target audience. For example, Instagram and TikTok are better distribution channels to deliver content for a younger demographic, while LinkedIn is best if you are targeting a business-to-business audience. This approach works in media relations as well. For example, learning a journalist's niche and identifying relevant distribution channels, and adapting your content to fit will generate better publicity for you.
4. Integrate PR tools
Companies must be one step ahead of the competition to achieve good public relations results today. Integrating relevant PR tools will help you gain insights, distribute effectively, organize PR activities, and track results. For example, you can set up Google Alerts to monitor mentions of specific keywords like your brand names or a cause you support. Other PR tools like BuzzSumo and HARO will help improve your campaign efforts.
5. Include Gamification for Better Engagement
Competition is a great way to boost engagement and visibility for your PR campaigns. By including elements of competition like lotteries, raffles, and others, you will give customers more reasons to participate. It also triggers a natural emotional response that helps them recall your brand long after the campaign ends. While most topics might not look "game worthy," you can always add creative PR strategies to make it fun.
For example, a PR campaign about a social issue can ask the target audience to create a 1-minute video about how the issue affects them or suggest a solution. After the campaign ends, the top pitches receive a grant or an opportunity to join your team in addressing the issue. Always remember that the goal of public relations is to first connect with the public. Gamification offers that unique opportunity to do this in a fun manner. The Nike + Run Club app campaign is an excellent example of using gamification in marketing.
6. Integrate Testimonials to Build Trust
Storytelling is an effective PR campaign strategy, and there’s no better way to tell authentic stories than through testimonials. This approach shows your target audience that you understand their problems and there's a solution. Customers trust brands with excellent social proof; if you want to improve PR results, you must find ways to build trust. Testimonials can come in the form of brand stories, customer success stories, employee stories, and more. For example, you can have a customer speak in a video instead of hiring a model to read a script.
7. Partner with a Professional PR Firm
Most times, the challenges with making good public relations even better start with a lack of expertise. For example, not only do you need scroll-stopping content but also technical knowledge of SEO and other relevant non-traditional PR strategies. It’s hard to find that diverse expertise in-house without a full PR team. However, partnering with an agency that offers full-service PR can save cost and time, and help you put your best foot forward. Their wealth of knowledge from working with brands like yours will help them implement effective public relations strategies that boost performance fast.
Get Started Making Good Public Relations Even Better
You need more than a generic approach to create the best PR campaigns and maintain your competitive advantage. Including humor, creativity, integrating PR tools, and partnering with professionals can boost your PR campaign performance. At RPR, we help businesses generate tangible results that support business goals with expert-led public relations services.
Schedule a call with our professional PR consultants today!
Pros and Cons Of Hiring an External PR Agency Versus In-house
Should you hire an external public relations (PR) agency or work with an in-house PR team to handle your public relations? This is the question many business owners need to answer before promoting their brand. As someone who has worked with an in-house team and is currently running a PR agency, I understand both sides of the in-house vs. external PR debate. Each choice has pros and cons. Let's get to the details.
In-house PR Team Pros
Having an in-house PR team as a critical member of your Marketing Department has some advantages over an external PR agency, including the following.
1. Better Brand Familiarity
An in-house PR team knows your brand inside and out since they are part of your organization. They have a deep knowledge of your brand messaging, business goals, customers, and competitors. Although a good external PR agency will learn about your brand, establishing this relationship can take some time.
2. Ease of Contact
Reaching out to any member of your in-house team will take less time than an agency. You’re probably in the same physical workspace, and even if you work remotely, they are available only to you since they are most likely full-time employees. For instance, you can have an impromptu conversation at someone's desk or set up a quick call without scheduling. With an agency, you'll likely communicate via email or phone and book a meeting.
3. Project Dedication
Reputable PR agencies work with many clients, so you might not get the level of attention you want from your campaign manager. However, some agencies like RPR Firm treat every customer like they're the only client they are working with.
In-house PR Team Cons
There are also downsides to hiring an in-house PR team, especially if you’re a startup or lack the financial resources to make this huge financial investment.
1. Need for Ongoing Talent Management
Having an in-house PR team means you must always find, hire, and train new team members. What’s more, hiring a team can be much more expensive than partnering with an agency because of the need for insurance, employee benefits, technology, and other perks. Also, the ever-changing public relations landscape requires many skill sets, like media outreach, content creation, reputation management, etc. You can even break down these smaller categories and specializations. This is why you can’t rely on one person to handle everything; it truly takes a team.
2. Investment in PR Tools & Technology
Whether in-house or an external PR agency, every public relations professional needs tools to communicate, connect with customers, and monitor their campaign progress. Some PR tools, such as Prowly, Meltwater, Muck Rack, Brandwatch, and others, are quite expensive. However, since a typical external PR agency has invested in these tools already, you don't have to shell out extra cash. Besides, having a tool is one thing; knowing how to use these tools to extract valuable insights is a different ball game entirely.
Pros of Hiring an External PR Agency
Hiring an external PR agency comes with many advantages, and we highlight some of them below.
1. Teamwork and Experience
Most external PR agencies have likely seen what works and what doesn't work for a brand like yours from working with different clients across multiple industries. A good external PR team will stay updated with industry trends and the latest technologies to maximize your campaign’s effectiveness. Moreover, an external PR agency will have professionals with different areas of expertise that can unlock unconventional PR opportunities of which you may not be aware. As a result, you can easily change your campaign direction or goals without spending months hiring or training someone.
2. Better Equipped with PR Tools
You need reliable PR tools to make informed decisions about your customers, competitors, and investors. Most premium tools are expensive, but external PR agencies typically use them on a larger scale for daily operations. Hiring an external PR team means you don’t have to incur unnecessary costs on software purchases.
3. Cost-Effective
Hiring, training, and keeping an in-house PR team requires time and money. Although the cost of partnering with an external PR agency depends on your needs, hiring an agency could save you a great deal. Also, many PR agencies offer a la carte services, so you’re not tied to a monthly retainer allowing even more flexibility and cost savings.
Cons of Hiring an External PR Agency
Partnering with an external PR agency comes with downsides as well, including the following.
1. Location
Unlike an in-house team, an external PR agency might not be in the same location as your business. Choosing meeting times can be challenging with different time zones or locations, leading to a lag in communication. However, a good agency has processes to make any time differences work.
2. Simultaneous Work with Multiple Clients
This can be a plus or a minus, depending on the agency. A reputable PR agency will make you feel like you're their only client. Unfortunately, not every agency prioritizes maintaining an outstanding client relationship as we do at RPR Firm. If you're currently working with an agency that doesn’t prioritize your business, it might be time to find a new one.
3. Less Control
External PR agencies tend to work best with some level of freedom, but that doesn’t mean you won't have any input on your PR campaign strategies. However, you need to trust the agency to use its best PR tactics for your campaign. Although, you'll usually be required to approve strategies and other campaign decisions. However, your partnership with a PR agency gives them some liberty to make choices for your business from research and conversations with you and your customers.
If you want complete control over your PR campaign, an in-house team might work better for you, but a responsible external PR agency won't just make decisions and leave you in the dark. They'll have thorough reporting processes to keep you informed and keep themselves accountable. Some agencies might even have their own data reporting platforms with real-time data for their clients.
Should You Hire In-house vs. an External PR Agency?
At the end of the day, the decision to hire an in-house or an external PR agency is dependent on your specific business needs. What works for one brand may not work for the other. A good compromise may be to complement your in-house team effort by collaborating with an experienced external agency.
How To Spread Enthusiasm With PR In An Age Of Crises
In a world filled with global challenges—from hurricanes to war, mass layoffs to economic recession, it’s easy to fall into fear and pessimism. So how do you spread enthusiasm with PR in times of crisis without doing more harm to your brand than good? In this article, we explore different tips that can help.
Tips for Spreading Enthusiasm with PR
It’s easy to be overwhelmed by negative occurrences around us, and it takes a smart brand to spread positivity amid challenges. Here are four tips to spread enthusiasm during crises:
1. Be Attentive to Your Customers
The best strategy is to talk less and listen more during crises. You can gather information about how the problem affects your target audience, possible solutions, and how you can help. Start conversations with your target audience about the effect of the crisis on their daily life via your social media. Also, monitor platforms like blogs, social media pages, forums, and others that talk about the impact of the situations and identify critical issues your brand can solve. Remember, people just want to feel heard, seen, and understood; genuine listening goes a long way.
2. Showcase Resilience through Storytelling
In times of crisis, people want positivity, inspiration, and affirmation that they can overcome any obstacle. They also want to feel understood, and the best way to connect with them is by showing your customers that you understand their pain. Creating a PR campaign highlighting stories of how your brand, an employee, or a client remained resilient in times of crisis and turned things around sets the stage for a conversation. Moreover, it inspires your customers to stay positive, triggering a ripple effect that can spread to larger circles. In turn, you might ask your customers to share their stories. This promotes user-generated content that helps build brand awareness as well.
3. Encourage the Feeling of Togetherness
The most effective PR tactics leverage genuine human connection. Spreading enthusiasm with PR works if customers feel understood and know you stand with them. Identify a critical issue in your local area that affects customers.
Once you have that figured out, you can create campaigns that trigger conversation around "this is the problem, how it affects us, and what we can do to fix it." From this, you can quickly get people to support whatever relief drive you initiate. It's easier to spread enthusiasm when your target audience is on board. People want to support a cause that helps relieve the stress of a crisis, and generating awareness and response is more seamless when we all work together.
4. Create Campaigns Around Brand Values to Show Positivity in the World
Beyond creating PR activities that showcase togetherness and help you listen or drive resilience, your campaign must align with your brand values. Every PR campaign must connect back to what your brand stands for and not just for the traffic or me too PR stunt. Initiating relief campaigns, online and print media content, or any other PR crisis strategy must showcase your brand values.
Infusing your brand values helps consumers connect with you faster and build loyalty. It lets you show that you aren't an "on paper" brand; you match your values with action. In a world riddled with deceit and crises, upholding your brand values helps to spread optimism and enthusiasm for a better future.
Examples of Powerful PR Campaigns that Spread Enthusiasm During Crisis
Many brands have supported consumers and/or upheld their brand values in times of crisis. If you plan to spread enthusiasm with PR, here’s some inspiration for your next campaign.
1. Airbnb for Ukraine
To support victims of the Ukraine invasion, Airbnb started a campaign that offered short-term housing to refugees. This campaign triggered enormous support with individuals booking Airbnb and canceling at the last minute without requesting a refund. This method serves as a donation drive to provide shelter for refugees.
2. Apple, “Creativity Goes On” Campaign
In the heart of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic, Apple created a PR campaign called "Creativity Goes On" to remind us to remain hopeful. The campaign inspired joy during the lockdown with Apple sharing tools and tips consumers need to stay connected with family. It also showcased creative projects and an educational learning series to help people who may be overwhelmed by the pandemic. The campaign was effective because it created a feeling of being heard and provided solutions to help consumers navigate the trying time.
3. Tescos #EveryLittleHelps
During the lockdown in 2020, many public businesses had to shut down completely, especially in the hospitality industry. So when bars, pubs, and restaurants began opening in mid-April, Tesco did something remarkable. They created a campaign that urged customers to shop from their local pubs instead of Tesco. This campaign showed Tesco's commitment to local communities, thus showcasing its brand values.
Partner with a Professional PR Agency
There will always be crises, but we can amplify the positive instead of the negative. Using PR, companies can create positive messages that build consumer connection and loyalty and showcase brand values. When implemented strategically, you will establish your brand as a reputable entity that listens, understands, and takes action to support its customers at every turn. At RPR, we help brands create effective public relations strategies that boost brand awareness and revenue growth and spread enthusiasm. Book a free consultation to explore our public relations services today.
Benefits of Having a Social Impact Strategy in PR
In today's business landscape, building solid relationships with customers, partners, investors, and other stakeholders is crucial for success. A social impact strategy can help your company achieve this by nurturing relationships with your community and other businesses. In this article, we discuss seven benefits of social impact strategy on your company’s public relations (PR) campaign.
What is a Social Impact Strategy?
Social impact is a focus in business that involves taking on socially responsible activities to serve communities and impact the world. Companies that prioritize social impact do so by contributing to solving a local or global challenge. This could be standing for a cause or addressing pressing needs like environmental issues, gender issues, educational gaps, refugee rights, social justice, etc.
While many brands understand the importance of social impact on business, it’s also critical to learn how to communicate their steps and efforts to improve the world. When perfectly executed, a social impact strategy can benefit your business in a number of ways.
7 Benefits of Social Impact Strategy in PR
PR is primarily about improving your appeal to the public, and demonstrating a positive social impact can help you do that. Here are seven ways your PR strategy can benefit from a robust social impact strategy.
1. Helps Customers Identify With Your Values
Business isn’t just about what you sell but also what you stand for. A 2019 survey showed that 77% of customers love brands that share their values and make efforts to champion them. Thus, a social impact strategy benefits PR because it helps customers identify with your company’s mission. One company that uses a social impact strategy effectively for its PR is Nike. The sports company is known for supporting social causes and showcasing athletes and cultures globally. The brand prioritizes consumers in its storytelling, utilizing Instagram for inspirational images and videos, Facebook for larger campaigns, and Twitter for addressing concerns. Nike's campaigns encouraged social distancing during the pandemic, supported the BLM movement, and empowered girls to pursue their dreams. Their campaigns inspire people to have courage and strive for greatness.
2. Builds Customers’ Trust
Consumers are more skeptical than ever when it comes to marketing ploys from brands trying to earn their business. However, they do tend to be more likely to put their trust in companies that align with their own values. Your social impact strategy allows you to ‘put your money where your mouth is,’ so to speak, through PR published in the media showing the good your company has done. This is earned media, not paid advertising, and is much more credible to consumers, which makes it easier to earn their trust and loyalty.
3. Harnesses the Power of Your Positive Influence
Knowing how your company inspires change in the world can help you fine-tune your branding messages. PR is not only about knowing what to say to the public but also how and when to say it. Your social impact strategy is the means by which you determine this as it’s your plan to affect change—the who, what, when, where, how, and why. With these things identified, it’s much easier to craft effective PR.
4. Attracts Investment Opportunities
Showcasing your company’s efforts to improve the world will help get investors’ attention. The positive recognition will also encourage them to invest in your company and feel confident doing so.
5. Helps Retain the Best Talent
Employees are the backbone of every successful company, and just like consumers, they are more attracted to companies that share their values. A company that enacts change will likely attract top employees who share its values and vision. Having employees that support your social impact will improve their commitment and productivity within your organization.
6. Increases Revenue
While PR is more of a top-of-the-funnel activity than marketing, its ultimate goal is to attract potential customers. However, being able to publicize your social impact means customers who align with your values will be more willing to buy from you.
7. Brand Reputation
One of the primary advantages of being a socially conscious company is that it increases your brand awareness and improves your reputation. Social impact is about helping others and contributing to a better world, so this should be the core of your strategy. If your company cares about making a social impact, you can create a meaningful change that improves other people’s lives. Eventually, creating a visible change will enhance your media recognition and make people see you positively.
Hire a PR Expert
Brands need to cultivate a strong relationship between their social impact strategy and PR strategy, but you’ll require a unique skill set to do this well. It would help if you had PR professionals who could effectively communicate your social impact strategies in a newsworthy way rather than a sales pitch.
At RPR Firm, we have a team of PR professionals with the skills and experience to help you benefit from your social impact by communicating the work you’re doing. Our company has more than 11 years of experience helping brands further their mission to make a change. Schedule a free consultation with us today.
What to Consider if You Are Thinking of Starting a New Business: A PR Agency Perspective
Did you know that 30.6% of businesses fail in the first two years, 49.7% fail after five years, and only 65.5% stay active for up to 10 years? Investopedia identified poor internet presence and marketing as the top reasons for this failure. As a prospective business owner, investing in a solid promotional mix strategy that involves PR campaigns will help you gain public attention, build brand awareness and communicate product relevance effectively. However, consider a few things before setting up your business or investing in a PR campaign. These include target audience, messaging, when to start, strategies to implement, hiring in-house or agency PR services, and tools for successful PR campaigns. Being a professional PR agency, this article will answer these questions to help you get the best results.
Your Target Audience
The target audience is the first building block for a business considering PR strategy in its marketing mix. Every product or service is designed to solve a problem for a specific demographic, and knowing your target audience guides that direction regarding messaging. As such, effective PR for a new business relies heavily on clearly defined target audience personas.
You should understand your target audience like you do a friend. Important information includes what they like, what content distribution channel they frequent, what relevant topics they interact with, and other demographic details. For example, if you have demographics that skew older in your target audience, newspaper, and TV PR campaigns might be more effective than social media platforms like TikTok or online news publications. Note that the who will guide the what, when, and how for a practical PR approach.
Your Messaging and Positioning
In PR, positioning, and messaging refer to how you describe your unique value. Humans are complex beings, and every business niche has at least one or two competitors. If you want to start a business that gets attention online, becomes the talk of the town, and appeals to customers' inner desires, then your messaging and positioning must be ironclad. You must consider all factors, including the customer's voice, prohibited phrases, how they want to be addressed, your brand tone, and, most importantly, your brand story. You will build lasting relationships or a loyal customer base with a story that emphasizes what the target audience wants, their inner desire, pain, and aspirations.
When to Start Running PR Campaigns
The question about when to run your first campaign has no specific answers. Why? Public relations is a tool for creating attention for your products, services, etc., and different businesses have varying business goals. However, as a new business, it's best to start running a campaign just before or immediately after you launch. You want to introduce your business to the market early, so your customers can follow your journey and develop an emotional connection to the brand.
Your PR Strategy
A PR strategy defines the method you adopt to launch a successful campaign. A well-defined strategy is highly organized and highlights all campaign elements. As a new business owner, some of the tactics that make up your PR strategy may include the following:
- Press releases to build brand awareness and generate backlinks.
- Interviews with local TV stations and media outlets to trigger brand conversation and visibility.
- Engage in community and industry events as speakers, panelists, or participants to build PR relationships with important stakeholders and promote products.
- Social media to create buzz and improve brand awareness and customer engagement.
- Partner with influencers to boost brand trust rating and drive sales.
- Publicity stunts to generate attention and get the conversation going about your upcoming product launch.
In-house Versus PR Agency
Hiring professionals matters when starting a new business that integrates PR strategy into your promotional mix. There are a few things to consider regarding in-house versus PR agencies, like budget, expertise, and goals.
A PR agency is usually less capital-intensive than an in-house PR person or team. Besides the cost, hiring an agency offers better results for new businesses as they have more experience in the industry and established relationships with media personnel. While in-house PR might take time to test different approaches, an agency can implement the best tactics immediately and get good results.
PR Management and Measurement Tools
Whether you create your PR campaign in-house or hire a PR agency, it's best to have real-time tools to track campaign performance. Here's a list of the best PR tools to consider.
- Muck Rack
- Anewstip
- HARO
- Brand24
- Google Alerts
- Brandwatch
Getting Started with PR for a New Business
Starting a business that integrates PR strategy into the promotional marketing mix without considering key factors is risky. You must arm yourself with information about significant PR elements, ready to hit the ground running from day one. Consider factors like target audience, brand messaging, positioning, when to start, and the best strategies and tools. Once you have these covered, you are one step closer to creating an effective PR campaign that creates buzz for your business and drives profitable actions. Need help with getting started? Schedule a call with our professional PR team to see how we can help your new business or product with strategic PR activities.