Irrespective of the business size, your brand image and reputation decide your future. A strategic PR approach can be the best approach to maintain reputation in the digital era.
In the current market, Public images can make 63% of the total value made by the companies. In times of a mishap or when a company has to go through a bad reputation in a market, it can affect the affiliates and the corporate existence. It will take another 4 to 7 years to restructure and build the reputation lost. Companies, therefore, must pay attention to the PR strategies to maintain public relationships for a better future.
A PR agency teamed with some of the specialized PR professionals to draft the communication plan is valuable. They use media or other indirect and direct approaches to create and maintain the company's positive image.
In simple words. PR or Public Relations is the strategic procedure for managing and spreading the information to the potential audience in a favorable condition and approach.
The process is more focused on:
- Information that should be produced
- How will it be drafted?
- How to release?
- What media platform can be the best choice?
How Is PR & Communication Interlinked To Each Other?
Communication plays a crucial role in effective public relations. There is always a need to create two-way communication for both parties as the information needs to flow correctly in the proper direction. It is a need to convey the information so that the receiver does not face issues while understanding the intent. Most commonly, the receivers are investors, public, employees, audience, and the sender is a company.
How is PR different from Marketing?
To help you understand, let us check the most traditional definition of both.
Public Relations:This is the process of maintaining the public image of a company or individual with the help of a professional approach and skills.
Marketing: Marketing includes the activities that help promote business, selling their service or products upon making comprehensive market research.
So what is the significant difference?
Marketing is mainly indulged in promoting businesses and their offerings, whereas PR primarily focuses on building and maintaining its reputation.
What are the benefits of PR on new, growing, and established businesses?
Public Relations can be beneficial for businesses of all sizes and verticals. The strategic approach is used by the businesses to ensure reaching the audience by maintaining their reputation.
- Increase Brand Credibility: Irrespective of the industry type, trust is one of the factors that play a crucial role in determining the success of any business. Therefore building the gap between businesses and customers is necessary and can be strategically done with a PR agency.
- Improve Profits, Sales, And Leads: Since PR aims to develop the reputation of businesses, it is likely to improve sales, leads, and profit margins. With such an agency, press releases and stories are created to connect with customers.
- Alter The Customers’ Way Of Thinking About The Business: It has been witnessed that even the business giants have faced a sizeable bad reputation even when it is hardly their fault. Being backed by a PR agency becomes valuable in maintaining the reputation.
- Complements The Marketing Activities: If your business is invested in marketing activities where you have products and services to sell, proper PR strategies can be largely beneficial. Since this is entirely dedicated to improving the reputation, it can alternatively help in marketing activities.
- Crisis Mitigation: Even the simplest of wrong moves or comments can alter the business's brand reputation. PR is one of the best ways to manage such complex scenarios and mitigate crises with effective strategies.
The range of services offered by the reputed PR agencies like communication consultancy, strategic development, event support, media, and influencer relations can be largely beneficial for businesses. The multilayer promo campaigns offered by PR engagement works both as marketing products and maintaining the company's reputation.
Statistics Showing the Impact of PR on Businesses
With more agencies realizing the importance of working with PR agencies, it has been seen that the PR agencies have grown to 30% in the last five years. As per the market data collection for this fast-growing sector that can be an excellent inclusion for business, it shows that the revenue for public relations has grown from $14 billion in 2016 to an approx of $19.3 billion by 2020. In the US, the agencies have generated $13.5 billion, which is a considerable elevation when compared to the last years. It has been observed that the large companies that have 500+ employees have engaged in PR activities. Almost 46% is associated with PR strategies and followed by the small and medium-sized companies that have invested 31%.
This statistic shows that the PR market was worth 63.8 billion dollars in the year 2018 which is expected to surpass 93 billion dollars by 2022. The statistics show the importance of PR for businesses.
PR is More Than Just Writing Press Releases:
Now that you have gained statistical knowledge and the importance, you must have understood that PR is more than writing press releases. Its unparalleled ability to connect with audiences and improve brand reputation can have a positive influence on businesses. The quicker you choose, the faster you write your success stories.