Using Public Relations as Free Marketing

Posted by Elliot Jolesch on October 17, 2017

In today’s fast-paced world of instant information, on-demand entertainment and personalized marketing, every business must take advantage of every opportunity for marketing and publicity. There are countless possibilities for this, from television commercials and radio ads to social media campaigns and viral marketing, but small businesses and startups are generally at a disadvantage. For one thing, they are small and have small marketing budgets; and secondly, they likely have a small audience and little brand recognition.

This means that small businesses must be even more eager to take advantage of marketing opportunities– particularly those that come with a small price tag. Enter, public relations, the medium which allows startups and small businesses to reach a large audience and significantly increase branding, for free.

To be specific, public relations is the professional maintenance of a favorable public image by a company, organization or person. Of course, there are a number of ways in which this favorable image can be cultivated, and you must identify the best ways to use this practice for your own business. Speaking generally, there are three key areas to public relations on which a small business can capitalize for marketing purposes:

  • Publicity
  • Merchandising
  • Promotions

Developing and implementing a strategy that includes all of these areas will greatly increase the efficiency of your public relations efforts.

Getting Noticed

This may seem obvious, but the first step to successful public relations for small business is getting noticed. In fact, the entire goal of your public relations policy should revolve around continuously getting noticed in a good way, and for good reasons. This means that your strategies (in both public relations and marketing) should always be based on providing value to your target audience.

The best way to begin is through a press release. For PR rookies, here is a step-by-step guide for successfully creating and distributing an effective press release:

  1. Create a press release announcing something special or significant about your company. Remember that it must be an attention-grabber that is relevant to the needs of your market.
  2. Summarize and compress the release into a single hook or angle that is most likely to be noticed by the media and your customers. This will be your headline.
  3. Develop your press release in a professional format, on your letterhead. It should include:
    • Dateline
    • Headline
    • Important information
    • Supporting facts and figures
    • Your contact details
  4. Send your release to each media outlet you choose with an opening letter that will be interesting and specific to each media person who receives it.

Remember that your public relations strategy should include all media, especially those that are most relevant to your industry, market or business. A diversified strategy should include:

  • Television
  • Radio
  • Magazines
  • Blogs
  • Social media
  • Any other media outlets that your audience may view, read or listen to