Answer: Media relations is the relationship you develop with the media and the ways in which you communicate with them. It is important that a public relations professional has developed strong relationships with the media, and can facilitate that work for your business.
Answer: Public relations and media relations are good ways to make potential customers aware of your business and show existing customers that you’re active in your community. We’ve found that advisors who are active in their communities get more calls and have more loyal customers who spread the word to their friends!
Answer: The benefit of using a public relations professional to gain exposure is that they can view your business from a different vantage point—one that picks up the good news that the media would be interested in but you might think too mundane to be of merit. The advantage of employing a professional is that they will apply the consistency, continuity and momentum that is essential for media relations to be effective. In addition to promoting the company, there are other hidden benefits that become apparent once a strategy is working. You will enjoy seeing your successes in the media, your customers and suppliers will see you in a different light and staff morale will be boosted because they will enjoy working for a company generating good publicity.
Answer: Public relations can be applied either as a regular campaign or as a technique for ad hoc events. The money you pay is based on the time spent by the public relations professional in promoting your business.
Answer: Getting good publicity is about gaining the attention of journalists. Unfortunately, Murphy’s Law being what it is, the bad news will convey itself more quickly than your good news. There is no way to avoid it but you can minimize the damage by having a crisis management strategy in place. This means that you will know what to do if the media contact you about the “bad news” and ensures that you won’t unwittingly make the situation worse. The other way of containing damage is to make sure that your company’s good points have been publicized all along. If something goes wrong and you try to explain what a good company you really are, it will sound like a lame excuse. If you have already created a platform of good publicity about your company, it will considerably reduce the negative effect of any bad publicity.
Answer: Using a public relations professional will reduce your burden. You probably already realize that there are lots of things you ought to be promoting but never find the time. There will be time involved at the beginning when you need to give information about your company to the public relations professional and there will need to be regular liaison. The next time you win a valuable contract or satisfy a customer’s complex needs there is someone else available to tell the world about it—no more missed opportunities.