PR - Luxury or Necessity?

Small businesses and sole traders are finding the current economical crisis rather challenging and in some cases, just plain scary! I for one have felt the knock-on effect of businesses cutting down on their spending, as two things which get shoved out the window before anything else are advertising and, sadly for me, PR! But is this sensible business practice or a potential disaster waiting to happen?I’m not biased – I promise you – but unfortunately cutting out PR entirely or even scaling it down to too little activity can have long-term detrimental effects on a small company’s overall profits and success.

Particularly with on-line businesses, as well as spending money on advertising such as banners and ad-words, regular, professional and targeted on-line PR increases search engine ratings, website traffic and direct sales. The best way of doing this is regular output in the form of blogs and press releases to the online world. Coupled with regular contact with the world of print media ie. magazine and newspapers, plus radio and TV, exposure and enhanced exposure to your target audiences and the outside world are a dead cert.However, PR is NOT advertising! With an advert, you’re sending a message direct to your target market, saying whatever it is you need your message to be: buy me now! click on me now! order this now! … you get the picture. The advert contains clear instructions of how this can be achieved – phone number, website – and if it’s worth it’s salt, perhaps a little incentive just to metaphorically twist the reader’s arm that little bit more – a discount, free gift, or a message which categorically says we are the best! If you don’t do xyz now then you’re a total loser…..or in some instances comparison with competitors (such as the Pepsi Challenge for example)!

PR isn’t quite like that. It’s a more subtle approach, endorsing your products and services through the very trusted eyes, ears and other senses of the journalists whose magazines, papers, blogs and TV or radio reports the world listens to and reads every day. If they say it, well it must be true… mustn’t it? Well of course, there are certain “persuasive methods” open to PRs to encourage their reporter friends to look upon their clients favourably – ie. the freebie, the goody bag, the media party, the editor’s lunch – but journalists are of course professionals and a key part of their job is to be impartial and pass honest judgment on what comes that way, which is why PR is so much more powerful than an advert and should be an important part of any company’s strategy to communicate with their public.

They’ll only print what they agree with and believe in, and like, (or what their editor does, anyway!) which is why (as discussed previously) samples are imperative in certain sectors such as beauty when you really do need to get these people hooked on your products for real. This goes for anything though, from makeup to cars, from nappies to pensions, hotel rooms to the latest Wii game…if it doesn’t do what it says on the tin, then watch out! But if it does – you can bet your bottom dollar they’ll be shouting about it from the avidly-read columns and pixels of print or online media. Honest feedback from journalists on what you're showing them is also helpful! If they don't like something, it's because they're viewing it from the eyes of their readers, your end buyers, so any constructive criticism should be swallowed whole without any sweetener! And your PR is that interface between your business and the media.

So, you get all that, but that still doesn’t mean that when the chips are down, who do you pay - your suppliers, your staff, yourself even, or a giggly airheaded PR whose main job consists of schmoozing with the magazines and bunging a few free lipsticks across their desks? Well, take it from one of my clients – I won’t mention who for fear of embarrassment! – who says that the work I do is a key component in bringing in sales to their website based business, and that sales actually dropped off noticeably when I dared to take a holiday and cut back on the blogging and press releases! The other effect of cutting out PR activity is that unlike advertising which is instant, PR is a longer term method. Doing it here and there when you’ve got a spare bit of budget can have a hit but nowhere near as effective as long-term communication and the building up of an online presence.

So, keep your story and your business going and do the right thing, set aside a small amount per month or quarter for some quality, professional PR. If that really isn’t an option then take some advice from your PR and try and continue with the basics yourself if you can until that multi-million pound order or deal comes your way!

PR really isn’t a luxury for when you want to make a splash, but an important necessity for bread-and-butter exposure and a vital component in the life-blood of your special business.