We often get asked, ‘why do I need a Public Relations (PR) Consultant if I already employ a Marketing Manager?’
Both PR and marketing play a vital role in achieving a company’s long and short-term objectives. The primary difference between the two is that marketing is focused on promoting a specific product, service, or idea, and increasing sales via paid initiatives, while PR is focused on building and maintaining a positive profile for the company overall via unpaid coverage.
Here are our top five tips on how a talented PR consultant can bring added value to your existing marketing strategy and additional expertise to your marketing team.
Reach
The reach and benefit of a compelling story in the right media is almost always greater than a single piece of marketing collateral. One media release or interview can generate multiple unique media clips across targeted newspapers, magazines, radio and TV stations, networks and shows, online news sites and blogs. These media clips can then also be syndicated (picked up by other media outlets) and reach an even larger audience – think national and global not just local. PR coverage can usually be found online long after the marketing brochure or EDM has been binned. You can also leverage media coverage via your social media channels further expanding your reach and the frequency of message to your target audience.
Message
Developing your key messages applicable to each media outlet and timing the pitching of a story are also key tools of an experienced PR consultant. They will know what should be included and what should be left out of a story, so you engage not repel the journalist and their audience. Expert PR’s will know how to effectively communicate your key messages consistently to change or enhance perceptions, generate goodwill, and help assist in achieving your company goals. Repetition of your messages in the media not just paid marketing strengthens the perception of your brand with your target audiences.
Credibility
Publicity that is generated through PR, and communicated through independent, trusted, and unbiased media is more likely to be perceived as credible and worthy than marketing material (no matter how good the marketing material is!). Coverage is often called “earned media” because it is independently verified by a trusted third party i.e. the media outlet and is not paid for. Credibility is driven through PR consultants who create authentic and informative content that is then delivered by a well targeted impartial third party to tell the story of your brand in a new way that engages with their viewers, listeners, readers or followers.
The right angle
A good PR consultant can advise on which story will appeal to which journalist or media outlet and when to pitch that story for the best chance of great coverage online, in print, or in broadcast media like radio and TV. It’s a honed skill developed over time but can be put to work for you on a project or monthly basis, so PR provides great return on investment.
Take Profiler PR for example, we are experts in delivering creative content fir clients across a fascinating range of industries from mental health charities to water remediation to finance to ensure their stories appeal to a wide variety of audiences and position them for growth. Whether it be crafting pieces for social media, newsletter and magazine content, website articles or press releases - we have you covered. We do the research, interview, and photograph the “talent” i.e. people involved the story, and craft strategic messaging that will make your company stand out from your competitors.
Cost effective
PR is a built on great relationships and networking across a broad range of media. A successful PR consultant builds up these very useful relationships over years –an internal marketing resource simply can’t match these networks, as they just won’t have the time. Most journalists get hundreds of emails and calls a day, and they just don’t have the time to respond to unsolicited cold calls or emails. A PR consultant will be much more time and cost effective than paying your team to get contacts, that may or may not turn out to be the right ones and are hard to maintain.
We understand that not every business is able to integrate these strategies on their own. It takes considerable time, concise development and, quite frankly, a touch of magic! Looking to an external PR consultant like Profiler PR can help you coordinate your PR and marketing efforts day-to-day. We love working with marketing teams to leverage their hard work in the media.
Feel free to contact our team via hello@profilerpr.com.au
to see how we can maximise your organisations exposure in the media..
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