Importance of PR for Small Business
You are a startup company and are given two options:
Option A:
Your business is slowly growing and the need for publicity is felt but, the advertising costs are way beyond your reach.
Option B:
Your business is growing, and you have a PR strategy in place at a fraction of the advertising cost.
It is obvious, you would go for Option B.
In this article, we have listed 5 reasons why PR is a must for a small business.
Normally, everyone assumes, PR is only meant for large companies or multi-national corporations or say, celebrities who like to be seen on Page 3. Yet, it is not so. Small businesses can also opt for this and it is cost effective and good value for money.
- Stretch your budget and what you get is a stretched rupee that gives you more when you implement your PR strategy. It would take more of your time though which is a decent trade off. Journalists, bloggers and influencers writing positive stories about your company/product is a good rub off on your business that leads to instant recognition also.
- According to a Nielsen study, PR is 90% more effective than advertising in influencing consumers. No one can beat that! If you are asked to choose what would you believe – an advertisement or a write up highlighting your product or brand, hands down, the write up wins. In this scenario, an advertisement will only support your brand.
- The devil lies in the details and with PR, the more detailed you are in strategizing and complimenting it with your marketing efforts, the better the results. Traditionally, PR was seen as an after-thought by the marketing department. It has changed and marketing heads understand the importance and value for money PR delivers today.
- Monitoring your feeds is as important as seeing your top line and bottom line improve every day. It is advised to have a dedicated person or an agency monitor your social media feeds, interact with the HR team, talk to employees and sort out issues before it becomes an issue! The quicker the problems are resolved, the better PR you have in place. Rare is it for a good PR team to allow an issue to be blown out of proportion, for the simple fact that they are on top of everything that happens around them.
- A newspaper’s shelf life is one day, a television channel is one second but when it comes to social media, it is forever. Today, a brand has to be visible 24*7 and this is possible only in the digital medium. So, boost your brand visibility and reap the rewards over the months and years for information stored in the www is forever.
Now that you have understood the importance of PR and how it can help you get more business, visibility and instant recognition, do sit with your marketing team and chart out a plan of action and consult your local PR agency/partner to execute the same efficiently and effectively.
If you are on the hunt for PR solutions for your business or a communication professional looking for launch pad your talents. Here‘s how you can reach us.
