I often speak to business owners who know they should be doing more to raise their profile but many of them say the same thing: “We just don’t have the time, PR always gets put to the bottom of the pile!” Sound familiar?
Running a business is non-stop, believe me I know that first-hand! Business owners have so many tasks to do, not only do they need to be experts in their own fields, but they also have to learn book keeping, how to do a VAT return, strategy, networking, HR, employment law and a whole host of other skills.
It’s no surprise then that sometimes things that may not traditionally be seen as part of the essential day job fall by the wayside. But putting your PR on the backburner can be a very costly mistake. How can you attract new customers if they’ve never heard of you? The business benefits of raising your profile in the media and online should never be underestimated.
The Rule of Seven is a marketing adage which says a potential customer needs to see or hear your marketing message at least seven times before they take action and buy from you. Basically you can’t just engage in marketing and PR activity and then be done, to be successful it has to be an ongoing process with consistent messages.
Use Facebook, Twitter, blogs, print and online newspapers and magazines to get your business name out there. Enter awards categories – you don’t have to win to gain great coverage for your business, being shortlisted is a huge endorsement in itself. Effective and consistent PR should run through everything you do and be among the top tasks in your daily ‘to do’ list. Because you can’t run a successful business in secret!
By Melanie Hill, Managing Director of Yorkshire based Integrity PR
For more tips on how to raise your business profile using PR techniques follow Integrity PR on Twitter @integritypruk and Facebook at Integrity PR, visit www.integritypr.co.uk or email Mel at mel@integritypr.co.uk for an informal chat.
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