Public Relations Oct 16, 2011
Public Relations - "The New 101"
Public Relations is the practice of connecting organizations to their key stakeholders. By establishing and cultivating positive relationships with them, we gain important insights into their needs and interests. We also create advocates for who we are and what we do. They support and tell our story for us.
I've always believed an effective communications program should be a part of any marketing effort, but until recently PR was an afterthought to many companies and most marketing campaigns. A relatively small budget allocated to media promotion or an event to complement the large advertising spend.
For years the PR discipline has focused on identifying and influencing a few key opinion leaders in any given sector – driving journalists to support our brand in print; tapping into industry experts to endorse our products or holding attention-getting events to shine the spotlight on what we have to share. These tactics remain useful tools of the trade, but we have the opportunities today to reach more people, in more meaningful ways, more rapidly than ever.
Technology is changing and communications along with it. That's nothing new, but what is new...are the behaviours people are adopting to connect with others. Where our sphere of influence used to centre around a few friends and family, people can now search for and find individuals and groups with the very same interests as their own – both on a personal and professional level.
More and more people rely on their own ability to search and connect with peers who help inform their decision making process.
This is great news for marketers – more influencers, more channels and an unlimited window of opportunity to reach them. But it's crowded out there and people have less and less time to focus on even the most interesting information. So, how do we break through the clutter? We need to be even more focused than ever before. We need to target the right people and be meaningful and relevant to them - always.
Everyone is an influencer. Every brand is trying to identify, engage and mobilize their ambassadors. And that's how public relations and traditional marketing programs are working together like never before.
Successful organizations today will be able to identify who specifically they're talking to, they'll understand what is relevant to them and they'll be able to deliver content that meets those needs. And, none of this has to do with promoting their products (directly, that is).
Mary FearonCommunications Director
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