Top Five Reasons Public Relations is a Smart Choice

New companies don’t always reserve space in their start-up budget for public relations. Instead, they leave promotion to word of mouth or worse, rely on the belief their work will speak for itself. Some would even prefer to stay under the radar, believing PR leads only to bad publicity. Let’s get straight to the point:  this is a huge mistake. As we all know, too many well-crafted businesses fail within the first year from lack of an established profile and brand. There are countless reasons that employing a public relations company is a smart choice, but I picked five to pique your interest.

1.  They know how to communicate brand value.

The ability to find creative ways to communicate brand value isn’t always as easy as it sounds. It takes years of experience to learn how to sift through the key messaging weeds. PR agencies take pride in specializing at this type of time-consuming work. They know how to present sometimes pejorative information in an unbiased way to their clients and provide straight-forward advice and branding that is user-friendly.

2. They have influential media relationships.

Media relationships that hold influence do not appear overnight. All well-seasoned PR people have a recipe list of reporters in several different beats that will never be accessible to the “Average Joe” Businessman. A reputable reporter is not going to scour the Internet looking for exciting press releases. PR agencies can step in and use that recipe card, along with the innate ability to develop creative pitches, to entice those very reporters. Agencies hook the reporter to the company’s story creating thought leaders. Third party coverage of a product or service is perceived much differently than advertising. This is validation and credibility through media endorsement.

3. They understand the next steps.

Placing an article is just the first level of media exposure. Knowing the correct next steps to garner maximum SEO and media coverage is an agency’s specialty.  Agencies foster extensive media relationships covering a variety of outlets that in-house PR is unable to cultivate. They know how to reach the right audience and how to play the cards that are dealt with efficiently.

4. PR is a cost-effective solution.

Almost all PR agencies are a cost-effective solutions provider if they are good.  These leaders are aided by a team of professionals that devote their time and efforts to promoting a company’s success. Public relations is also much less expensive than advertising and the benefits are much more substantial. One good media placement can lead to a considerable increase in sales and tremendous growth in profits.

5. Best crisis management experience, bar none.

Negative publicity happens. It’s no secret that private company information is often hacked or some other slip of the tongue leads to bad PR. So how can it be remedied? Extensive crisis management experience can help diffuse, regulate and fix this problem. PR agencies are skilled at turning these situations into neutral and, best case scenario, positive SEO. Businesses also thrive better in economic downturns through proactive PR. Ultimately, planning and preparation can significantly reduce the chances of getting bad press.

The bottom line: PR is not a passive discipline [click to tweet]. A  seasoned team can do wonderful things for the launch of a business, new products, or creating leaders who are experts in their field.