What is public relations?
Let’s get back to basics…
Normally in articles like this, the writer usually quotes some definition from an industry body. Instead, I’m going to tell you what I tell my five year-old daughter when she asks what I do:
“People pay me to get their business in magazines and newspapers and on websites, TV and radio. Lots of other people then read, watch and hear about what that company does and can then decide if they want to buy what it sells.”
That’s it in a nutshell really; PR is all about getting the right information about your company in front of the right journalist, at the right place, in the right time. It’s about telling true stories that inform and entertain to people who care, so they might take an interest in what you do, what you sell and what you stand for.
Not only is PR a cost-effective way of raising awareness, it’s also about managing the reputation of companies and handling communications when things go wrong.
It’s All About Relationships
The way I do PR is all about relationships. That’s my mantra (and that’s why I’ve been shortlisted for the CIPR Best Use of Media Relations).
It takes a PR professional years to build a strong network of journalist contacts so they can ring up a writer or editor and place stories in the right titles. A PR professional should know about the ever-changing media landscape so they can provide you with the best advice on what content to create and where to place it.
I work with clients who have limited budgets and often, as they’re start-ups, it’s their own money they’re paying me with. That makes our relationship personal and means I work hard to make sure every pound counts.
PR vs Advertising
Advertising takes many forms, whether it’s a full-page in a glossy magazine like Cosmopolitan, on a petrol pump handle, or in a niche interest title like Course Fishing. Advertising online could be a Facebook advert, a Google search title or a short YouTube infomercial.
Whatever form of advert you’re considering for your brand, consider PR first as it’s far more cost-effective than traditional advertising. For example, a full page rate card advert in the Telegraph’s glossy magazine supplement Stella costs £18,300, however, I achieved a full page article for my client after only a few months’ PR retainer; which is a fraction of the cost. Considering that readers of Stella magazine will read an article yet take no notice of most of the adverts, PR is far more effective in engaging readers. The article created a great spike in traffic to the client’s website and resulted in an impressive number of sales.
PR can help supplement and develop your advertising strategy too, as it all comes down to defining and promoting your key messages as a business.
PR is all about your brand being in the right place at the right time. That’s not down to luck, but down to great strategy and the release of timely and well-presented information to key contacts. Let me do that for you. I’m good at it.
So, I’ve told you a little about what I do, how I do it and what I stand for. Get in touch to tell me about you and your business and together we can spread the word and start writing that success story.
Written by Jo O’Connell, JellyRock PR
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