Why the small business needs PR

As a new business, attracting customers who will buy your product or service is paramount. There are many different ways that you can go about this but, PR will return some excellent results for your business – at very little cost.

Public relations, or PR, is literally, the relationship your business has with its public. The relationship you create with your public will have a profound effect on the future of your business, and this is where PR comes into play.

Build awareness and enthusiasm for your business with PR

PR is how you publicise and build enthusiasm for your business among your public, and in successfully doing so, creating widespread awareness and driving sales.

Here are some simple steps for you to use to create a buzz for your new business:

1. Make sure your product or service is ready

This is your immediate priority before you even start to think about PR. You need to make sure your product is ready for public consumption – get it out, make sure it works and does something that people care about.

As PR drives customer demand, if the product is not available to buy when the coverage appears, you’ll be missing out on sales, or even worse, driving customers to your competitors!

2. Know your market

Successful PR is all about reaching the right audience with a message that is appropriate and meaningful to them. If you fail to know your target audience and the publications that they read, implementing the rest of your PR actions will be virtually useless. There is no point aiming to get into the Financial Times when your customers are more likely to read The Sun.

3. Your message should be clear and concise

The centre of your PR campaign is your message. Make sure it's clear, concise and brief. If your message can't be summed up in a few sentences, it's too complicated and editors won't read it.

You also need to focus the materials you send to help the editors or producers. This means anticipating and answering their questions, labeling photographs and explaining why your story is worthy of coverage.

4. Develop a relationship with and use the local media

Your relationship with journalists is very important and is the basis of your interaction with the media. These relationships take time to develop, and this time should be viewed as a long-term investment.

If you have not yet established a relationship with the local press, read the local publications and get the names of the journalists who cover your specific topic. Check out the online version of the publication and search for articles by those journalists. Give them a call and introduce yourself. Journalists are constantly looking for news and this is a great way to start a relationship with them.

When your business gets a significant new customer, moves from your home to a real office, wins a community award or takes on a new employee, don't hesitate to call an appropriate journalist. You may not always get coverage, but you have nothing to lose by cultivating these relationships.

5. Write a feature article

Write an article for your local newspaper or trade publication on a subject that relates to you or your business. If the article is well written and is specifically targeted to the readers of that publication, it could bring you the publicity you seek.

6. Start a Blog

A blog, similar to an online diary, is a great way for you to position your business in the eyes of your customers, your industry and the press. It can demonstrate that you are a leading authority in the industry and allows you to engage with your customers and potential partners.

Furthermore, businesses who actively use blogs as part of their marketing program have discovered that blogs bring in more visitors to your website and that a high percentage of those who visit a blog, if properly influenced through that blog’s content, will actually buy from their business.

7. Public Speaking

Give talks or teach classes about your profession or business to local groups such as the Chamber of Commerce, or at industry trade shows, roundtables and conferences.

PR is a great tool for the SME and when done correctly is viewed exceptionally favourably by your target audience. It can be time consuming and that is why you may consider an agency such as Igneous Marketing and don’t forget. A PR element is included in all of our SME monthly marketing bundles!

Does Your Business Need Strategic Marketing?

The UK market is crammed with “marketing experts” and marketing agencies. All offering different solutions to the “growing your business” conundrum. From Web design to innovative Social Media Marketing, from clever PR to the all important creation of SEO.

It is a minefield and do you actually need all of these facets of marketing to grow? Probably not so here are the Igneous Marketing “10 signs you need to look at strategic marketing”

1.    You’re not 100% sure where new business actually comes from – how do they find your site? What prompts them to pick up the phone, etc?

2.    You’ve done some work with an agency, but you weren’t too chuffed with the output – what was the brief?

3.    You get lots of leads, but they don’t seem to convert – what is the sales journey, and how well supported is it with powerful marketing content?

4.    You get enquiries for work that you don’t really like doing – is your business clear about what it does best?

5.    You’re always screwed down on price – does your brand and messaging set your business apart?

6.    When asked what your business does, your people all say something different – is your team clear on what you’re about?

7.    You rarely get repeat business or referrals – is your customer marketing and networking strategy creating advocates for your business?

8.    If one big customer left you’d be in trouble – is your business over reliant on one customer, or one market?

9.    You’ve tried telemarketing, PR, advertising or another tactic and it hasn’t delivered – do you have an integrated plan with momentum that all fits together and ties into your sales process?

10.  You’ve read the books and been to some courses – do you know that you need to give marketing some attention, but never quite get around to it when you’re back at the office?

These are all real scenarios that we’ve heard from small business owners in the last 18 months. Small businesses often make do with a ‘marketing-come-reception’ set-up, working with the marketing suppliers run by friends of friends, or the people down the road. And, there’s nothing wrong with that… if you know exactly what you’re doing on the marketing front.

You must lead the way and have a clear objective on what you want your business to look like, how you want to be perceived and what you want to achieve. No marketing agency can dictate this, it must come from you – the business visionary.

To help you with this daunting task Igneous Marketing are offering a free marketing review for small businesses. Simply complete the document here and we will review what you are doing and provide insight into how you can grow your business.

This is a 100% free, no obligation report created especially for you. Get a different perspective, click here to start

Referrals Scheme Launced!

Just thought we would quickly update you with our latest offer which could provide you with our services, every month for FREE! Too good to be true? Read on here