Elevating Your Small Business: The PR and Digital Marketing Connection

Many small businesses look on public relations which provides a great way for brands to shape their public image and gain more attention from potential customers.

Public relations, also known as PR, is a tactic used by brands and public figures to control how they are portrayed in the media. Brands generally use PR to release announcements, share details about new projects, and more. A  brand or public figure is portrayed in a positive image and is shared with the right audience with PR.

PR can be a game changer when it comes to small businesses. Developing a brand and drawing awareness to that brand is really important for a small business which can be made easy by PR. Voices can be given to small businesses and set them up for growth by the help of PR. Small businesses can also continue to leverage positive media relationships and interactions as they grow into more widely known brands by laying the groundwork for these connections.

Small businesses can have many benefits of PR, including enhanced brand awareness, control of your brand image, and more.

You draw awareness and attention to your brand when you are in the media and have press coverage and it is possible with PR. You will be able to land spots in digital publications, print magazines, newspapers, blogs, newsletters, and other media outlets with large followings with the help of PR. You can get your brand in front of more people by collaborating with these various media outlets.

You will be able to control the image of your brand with PR which is is one of the biggest benefits for small businesses. You can control how your brand is presented by working with the media and putting unique stories and angles. You are more likely to control how it is perceived when you have control over your brand image. Various factors, such as your target audience, the social climate, and more, should be looked in to by a solid PR strategy, to determine how to best present your brand to achieve your desired perception. The overall legitimacy of your business in the eyes of investors, partners, prospective buyers, and more can also be improved with the help of the positive press.

PR in-house can be done for even cheaper than digital marketing and paid ads. You just need to write up a press release and send it over to some journalists to get the coverage for a story or an announcement from your small business. Although, you can start these initiatives with no monetary investment at all, but also can spend more money to run more powerful PR campaigns.

Community plays an important role for a lot of businesses, especially those that  have brick-and-mortar locations or work on referrals. You can create connections within your community and further lay your roots for greater brand growth with the help of PR. A PR strategy that targets local publications can be executed to prioritize coverage throughout your local community.

The achievements of brands get highlighted with the help of PR. Although, you can post about your wins on social media, you will be able to amplify these wins by getting more traditional media coverage through PR. You can also cite that recognition again and again when your achievements are recognized by major publications which creates a sort of permanence that can benefit the reputation of your brand for coming years.

You can leverage this positive media coverage for partnerships or incentivize investors to get involved in your business since PR can help you attain this attention. Your brand not only seem more legitimate with positive media attention, but also it shows partners that there are opportunities to draw attention to their other initiatives, as well.

A bit of little strategy and effort go a long way with the help of PR. Small business owners and operators can amplify their public relations efforts in many ways. Tips for small businesses that can be followed in order to make the most of their PR strategies include:

Media kits are commonly associated with performers, artists, and other media personalities. It is a good idea to include a media kit with pitches if you are doing PR for your small business, so that it is easy for outlets to provide accurate coverage of your brand.

A bio, a short boilerplate, brand assets such as logos and other imagery, a link to your website, links to past press features, contact information, and any other information that you deem relevant should be included in your media kit. Ensure that your media kit represents your brand well and is aesthetically appealing. You should also, make sure that your media kit is easy to access and well-organized so that the journalists can find everything they need without much effort.

A variety of PR tools are available for small businesses using which they can handle public relations in-house. Some simply connect brands with media outlets and others are for scouting out journalists as these tools vary in nature. PRWeb, Help a Reporter Out (HARO), Hootsuite, PR Log, Online PR Media, CoverageBook and Business Wire are some popular PR tools. You need to check them out to see which could fit best in the PR strategy of your small business.

It is important to create a narrative and tell a story that will resonate with others when it comes to getting press for a project you are working on or for your brand in general. You will create something that people can  connect in a better way, and there is a better chance of getting picked up by a publication by doing this.

Storytelling is especially important for small businesses because businesses without widespread recognition will have trouble catching publications, journalists, and readers with just their brand name.

Partnerships with influencers can be leveraged by small businesses to gain attention for their brands and projects. This type of partnership generally happens in the form of a brand collaboration on a product line or by having an influencer as a brand ambassador or spokesperson.

For example, a deal can be signed with a fitness influencer to become an ambassador for your gym equipment brand. A press release can be submitted to publications and used as an opportunity to make some noise about the new partnership. More publications are incentivized to pick up the pitch by having well-known names in your headlines which can also help to get viewers to pay closer attention to your stories.

Another great way to get good press for your small business is participating in community events. You can ether sponsor events organized by community organizations, or you can organize events of your own to empower and uplift those around you. Your community will appreciate the involvement, and local publications are likely to provide coverage, in both ways.

A variety of free tools from email hosting to presentation building, that are great for different areas of business operations is offered by Google. Google Alerts is a tool that can be used to receive notifications any time your brand is mentioned online. PR initiatives can be tracked or press that you have garnered unknowingly can be identified. It is easy to stay on top of both positive and negative coverage and continue to shift the narrative in a way that compliments your business when you know what is being said about your brand.

PR mostly depends on relationships within the media. You can easily get coverage for the accomplishments, announcements, and more for your business by building positive relationships with journalists, editors, and other important people at publications. Media contacts can be made at networking events, online networking, or through an introduction by other professionals in your industry. However, these are very much give and take relationships. For example, you might have to offer exclusive access to big news in exchange for prime coverage. You need to get creative in forming these relationships so that both parties get the benefit.

Marketing is likely the first thing that comes to mind when social media is taken in to consideration for business. However, the evolution of this industry and technology over the past years has made social media an extension of traditional media. The image of your brand can be controlled by curating the social media pages and profiles of your brand to reflect the values that your business holds in high regard. You need to keep an attracting aesthetic and make sure that the content you post is representative of your brand values.

Provide expert opinions or advice from the leadership team of your small business is a good way to capture the attention of readers which also allows you to establish thought leadership in your space that reflects well on your brand. For example, you can have your CEO submit a pitch about fashion trends for the coming season if you own a wholesale clothing business.

You will be able to connect with the public and the media by hosting an event as it gives the media firsthand interactions with your organization. Ribbon cuttings, facility naming ceremonies groundbreaking ceremonies, team member initiations, and product releases are some popular buzz-worthy events. This type of initiative can be succeed by carefully curating your guest list. Media outlets and journalists whom you invite should be carefully chosen so that you can ensure that you end up with coverage in the most relevant publications. A charitable event that supports your community or a conference that highlights the expertise of your team can also be hosted.