The goal of public relations is to help businesses and organizations build and maintain a positive public image. The PR industry is changing, though, because there are now more communication channels than ever. Modern PR strategies can be easier, in a sense, but they can also present a new set of challenges to meet current demands.
Communication, in general, is different now, so in the digital landscape, the public receives all types of content differently. Competition is harsh, so you have to have a creative PR strategy to stand out.
1. Avoid sales pitches
The traditional marketing approach no longer works with the current generation; they don’t want to feel as if they’re merely potential customers. Instead, they gravitate toward brands that have a human approach, such as USANA Health Sciences. You’ll need to find a creative way to tell your brand’s story and make it relatable to your target audience’s life. Now, instead of merely selling your brand, you must create a bridge between your brand and your potential customers.
If you make your content creative and relatable to your audience instead of a specific promotion or sales pitch type of communication, you’ll attract more positive attention and interest. Creativity is also key to holding their attention and keeping them interested. Interactive social media campaigns can be a great way to get your potential customers involved. They’re also likely to pass on exciting content to their friends.
2. Collaborate with influencers
Word-of-mouth marketing is one of the most effective forms of marketing. These days, social media influencers take word-of-mouth marketing to a whole new level as they inform followers about their favorite products and services. It can be highly beneficial to collaborate with influencers who communicate with the people in your target audience.
These influencers are already communicating with these people daily. You’ll first have to earn credibility from some of these influencers if they don’t already know and love your brand. If they do, it’ll be that much easier, or they may have already been talking you up on their own. You’ll also need to determine the channels where your target audience hangs out online and concentrate on influencers there, as well as creating your own content there.
3. Define your goal
You must define your goal before creating a PR campaign to make it as successful as possible. When you have a purpose set in place, it’s much easier to follow a path forward and measure your campaign’s success.
4. Create a plan
Planning and organization are essential for a successful PR campaign. You must also be consistent in your plan execution. Create a plan for everyone working on the campaign, the action points and when they’re expected to be accomplished.
5. Get the media talking
Getting the media talking about your company is one of the most effective strategies if you do it right. Provide certain media outlets with exclusive stories that are creative and unique and will be an attention-grabber for your target audience. Also, if you can create viral content on social media, it’s likely to attract the media’s attention.
6. Study your competition
One of the oldest PR strategies is studying your competition, and it is still very relevant today. You need to know what your competition is doing, find out their strengths and weaknesses and build your brand on this information. You can gain a competitive advantage by acknowledging their weakness and leveraging it to make your brand sound like the better option.
7. Learn from your campaigns
Always make it a point to learn from your PR campaigns. You can continuously monitor your PR activities throughout the campaign. Once your campaign is complete, analyze the data again to see what worked and what didn’t work. Then, you can continually improve your strategy for your subsequent campaigns.
A great PR strategy will enable you to efficiently and effectively get your brand’s message out to your target audience. Many elements go into forming a PR strategy that works for you. It could take some trial and error, but you should begin seeing good results soon.
