The PR Targets You Should Be Hitting.

It is a common misconception that PR stands for Press Release and not Public Relations and, that PR purely relates to working with the media and sending out press releases. Not so.

There are many types of PR that you should also be working on within your business. So with that in mind, we have put together the top 3 PR targets that you should be hitting!

Social Media

Reach your clients directly via your social media accounts. No doubt you already use social media platforms in your marketing strategy, but did you know that social media creates a unique place for PR where the rest of the world can view your customer communications. Keep these interactions light, when appropriate, and show a human side to your company, which really shows these interactions in an authentic light.

There is no better way to get your brand in front of potential customers than via social media. Make sure you are using consistent and relevant hashtags (#) on all of your Instagram posts too. This way if your audience is searching for #s relating to your products or brand, you’ll pop up repeatedly. Social media has been home to some of the best PR successes over recent years. 

Internal Communications

Working on your employee relations and morale is key to a loyal and productive workforce. Also known as Internal PR, the task of ensuring your staff hold the business in a positive light and remain loyal to the company is imperative.

Keep your staff feeling happy, valued and informed by implementing the following activities.

Circulate an internal newsletter full of business news, new clients, new product development, any individual positive staff stories, so that the team feel included and proud of what they and the business is achieving.

Organise employee events to give staff a chance to build good working relationships where they begin to know and trust each other. Happy staff, equals productive work time.

Resolve issues quickly. Place a suggestion box in a communal area where staff are encouraged to post anonymous tips, comments and suggestions that your business can read and act upon. This way, issues can be brought up without anybody feeling awkward.

Community Engagement

Now more than ever, there is a strong sense of community that as a business you should be engaging with. By developing a mutually beneficial relationship with your local community, you’ll gain support and loyalty within your area. Small businesses can achieve this by sponsoring local events, sports teams, educational programmes or clean-up activities. Support could be financial, via a donation, or involve willing employee participation.

You never know, good community relations could generate new business through the contacts you make whilst also increasing the pride that your employees will feel by doing good for the community. This ties in brilliantly with the above point.

So when you are next thinking about your PR, remember it is about more than just sending out press releases and making friends with magazine editors.