If you want to adopt the broadest definition, marketing communications can be boiled down to just two varieties: paid (also known as "advertising") and unpaid. Just about all forms of MarCom that don't directly cost a company money can be defined as PR, or public relations. PR can be the absolute most effective form of marketing... and is often the most misunderstood, and most underused (or incorrectly used). Let's take a quick look at what PR is, and how it's changing rapidly in recent years.
"Why Won't the Media Just Print What I Tell Them?"
Imagine you're the editor of a respected print publication (or web site... more on that in a moment) in the golf industry. You walk into the office, sit down at your desk, and open your email. There are three new messages, each one of them from the publicists of golf equipment manufacturers, and all three of them have the same headline: "XYZ GOLF CORPORATION ANNOUNCES BEST LOB WEDGE EVER". If you run all three of these releases in the same issue of the same magazine, what will your readers think? Yeah, they'll think that you and your magazine has zero integrity and is therefore untrustworthy, and they'd be right. As the editor, your job is to do further investigation to try and validate or disprove the claims of the respective PR people, and then put forth your own case as to which one is actually the best. Perhaps you'll get all three lob wedges sent in for a review, or maybe you'll contact a bunch of pro golfers to get their opinions on which wedge they prefer (while keeping in mind that those professionals are also beholden to particular companies via their endorsements). But in any case, at least two of those three companies won't get the results they wanted when they sent in their press release.
The way that information is presented to the media and directly to the public is vitally important. Claims must be provable. The language must be honest while still presenting the company in its best light. The publicist's job isn't only to be a mouthpiece for the company he or she represents; it's more of a conduit who understands both the company's goals as well as the challenges of the media's job to provide accurate information to their readers and viewers.
Types of PR
For the purposes of this article, my references to PR are based on consumer/lifestyle publicity (as opposed to crisis management and other types of PR). Rewinding back to when I was beginning my career in the ancient pre-Internet era, PR was an easily definable task. You wrote press releases, and sent them out to publications that were likely to be read by your customers. Was there more than just that? Of course, if it was being done correctly. You sent photos along with the releases. You followed up with the writers and editors, making sure they received the releases and providing more information as required. And, of course, you made arrangements for reviews of products, ensuring as much as possible that the reviewers would understand and appreciate the aspects of the product that would be of highest concern to the customer.
All of the above is still true today... but it has expanded exponentially. Companies now have the additional task of much greater direct contact with their customers via their web sites, social media, blogs, and more. Let me tell you: one improper post on social media can take away all of the goodwill that a publicist builds up through years of traditional PR work, and yet some companies trust their social media postings to an intern with little or no experience or understanding of the importance of staying on message. Today's public relations involve a much larger scope of contact points, with more vehicles and more ways to succeed (or fail) than ever before.
It's a Two-Way Street
Here's something funny about PR: companies always seem to want the public to get their messages, but only begrudgingly seem to desire communication in the return direction. Here's an example: recently, a customer of one of my clients reached out to the company regarding a product he'd wanted to purchase, and for whatever reason, spoke to someone who, frankly, was curt and rude in their response. It was unacceptable, and the customer got on social media to relate his poor experience with the company. It's an unfortunate all-too-common experience these days. However, since my client had an experienced PR professional handling social media, we were able to not only extend sincere apologies to the customer, but turned the situation around to the point that the customer went out and bought the product, and then went out of his way to made follow-up posts praising the level of service he'd received. Be aware that every time you can contact a customer, directly or through an intermediary like the media, it can immensely sway the perception of your entire brand. Being responsive to customers in the right way is part of the equation.
Internal Is As Important As External
You probably think of your customers as the people who purchase the product or service for their own use, but there are actually many layers of customers, all of whom must be made aware of your PR pitch for each campaign. The media is a customer in this aspect, and in many businesses, the distributors, retail salespeople, and others are also customers who must receive your messaging. But don't forget one of the most important customers: your own employees. If your salespeople, customer service staff, and anyone else who has even a remote possibility of interacting with the public don't know or don't understand your PR messaging, how can you expect your brand to have a consistent story that permeates at all levels? Never blow off internal PR as a crucial first step.
JKC Knows PR
We've been involved in the marketing of some of the most popular products in our industry's history, and a good portion of their success was based on our ability to define the right message and get it out to all of the key channels. Contact us today and let's talk about how you could be getting better results from your public relations efforts.
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