Related Articles
Our new, mostly digital era has completely shifted what it means to be a brand. The competition has never been greater, forcing all businesses to keep up with modern trends and business practices so they don’t fall behind.
When the internet was formed many years ago, it began to forever change where and how we conduct business. Today, business takes place in all shapes and forms but happens mostly online.
So how can a business stay up to date and ensure it doesn’t fall behind? A great tool to utilize is PR. Any successful company likely has a dedicated public relations team helping it get its name out there in the places where it matters most. So how can you use PR to help your business succeed online?
I’ve put a list together of five important uses of PR that today’s top brands and companies concentrate on to help their business succeed.
1. Boost Your Company’s SEO
In any Google search, there are millions of results generated for a keyword within split seconds. If you want your brand or brand name to stand out, you can utilize PR to strengthen your branding online. Otherwise, nobody is going to find you.
What’s most important is getting your website embedded into stronger, more powerfully ranked sites. A common practice for doing so is through backlinks or a live link inserted into an article in a place that makes sense. Consider how you might be able to secure blog placements or editorial coverage, which can be great ways to boost your company’s ranking in the Google search engine.
Over time, turning your attention to SEO could boost your company’s website and brand name online. The goal is to get your brand to rank first in Google when someone looks up your company name. This allows for easy discovery of your brand. An undiscovered brand is not a successful one.
2. Get Your Company Seen in the Media
One of the most important reasons to utilize PR is to get your company seen in the media. While paper-based media is on its way out, millions of eyes are still reading online publications every day.
The Rolling Stone Culture Council is an invitation-only community for Influencers, Innovators and Creatives. Do I qualify?
A great first step is to check out publications that focus on the topics, fields or interests that are associated with your business. For example, if I owned a sports team and wanted to get the word out about my team, I would focus on sports-related outlets.
The next step is securing media placement. You can reach out to the target websites you’ve come up with or look for assistance from a public relations and marketing firm that specializes in your target media.Always do your due diligence to ensure it makes sense for your brand.
3. Enhance Brand Perception and Credibility
Maybe the most important reason to look into utilizing PR is to correctly brand your company and build a positive perception of your brand. This is where you need to do some brainstorming because this is one of the most important steps in building a solid reputation online. Think about exactly what you want to convey to the masses and what message or story your brand has to tell.
When you have the opportunity to create the narrative for your company, make sure you utilize it to bring life to your company. You want your brand to be seen positively in the media so people trust your products and services. The more organic you can make everything look, the better. But when this isn’t possible, make sure you are making the most of your media placements.
It’s important to focus on copywriting, so you accurately get your points across in a meaningful way. Think about who will be coming across your content and how you can best get your point across to those people. In my experience, writing is important to how successful your PR campaigns will be. Don’t be afraid to outsource the writing and find a copywriter who might be able to better express your message than you can.
4. Market Your Products or Services in a New Way
Millions of readers come and visit news outlets and blogs every day. This means getting placed in major media outlets gives your brand the opportunity to market its products or services.
This is when getting creative will be effective. Think about the different ways you can utilize media to market your brand. Maybe it’s collabing with a famous influencer who has a fanbase in your target niche. Or maybe it’s publishing an article that gives deeper insight into your products and services and their uses.
5. Make an Announcement
A common way major corporations utilize PR is to make announcements and give updates about the company. Usually, companies do this through press releases distributed online. An article might do more good than an email list announcement, newsletter or in-the-mail notification.
While there are many ways you can do this, keeping your customers and shareholders aware of any major changes, announcements or launches is vital to your business’s success. When everyone is on the same page everything just works so much better.
PR can be a powerful tool for any brand — if you know where to start.
