Public Relations is the function of protecting and improving your brand visibility and reputation.
Running an SME (Small & Medium Enterprise) is not an easy task especially at a time like this where the global market is crashing due to the pandemic of COVID-19. You’ve got limited time, budget, and resources to get stuff done to grow your business. A sound PR strategy can help to widen your consumer base and also improve your overall brand awareness. If you’re a small business or SME (turnover of around £1.5m+) it’s important to communicate with your stakeholders and spread the visibility of your brand, so you can turn your SME into a larger scale operation.
PR not only works in safeguarding your brand against any public backlash and handling your communication strategies in a crisis, but a great PR strategy will also help to grow your reputation and make your business name more recognizable amongst your target audience.
How PR Is Beneficial For Small Business and SME’s
1. Cost-effective/ Healthy for your budget
By doing PR, you’re continually working on building trust and credibility for your brand without spending too many marketing dollars.
Even better, word-of-mouth recommendations and organic buzz influence more potential customers to visit and talk about your business. By getting others to consistently bring up your name in a positive context will undoubtedly make your business grow in the long run.
2. More effective
Earned publicity merely is more trusted than advertising. According to a Nielsen study, PR is 90% more effective than advertising in influencing consumers. That being said getting a favorable mention of your brand, which is earned and not paid, holds much more weight than an ad.
3. PR is also build positive image
Public relations is another crucial way to reach your audience, build awareness and create a positive business image. PR can supplement and support your other initiatives in a way advertising can’t. Use PR to provide and deliver real value to your audience and you’ll win people’s attention. It may sound hard, but all it takes a good plan and hard work.
4. PR strategies can prevent risks
A key part of PR is to keep a check on what is being said about the business and making sure that the information that’s being spread is accurate. If it isn’t, your PR plan should include a section on how to manage and rectify misinformation.
By sharing timely and relevant stories across earned, owned, and shared channels you will keep your business high up in search engine rankings, which will, in turn, bring more customers knocking on your door.
6. Creates long-lasting relationships
As PR is about building trust and delivering value, you’ll establish lasting relationships and generate goodwill.
