Time to Commit to PR?
Good, thoughtful PR. It’s not something you see much in our time of bombastic and unfounded declarations.
For the past couple of months, my business partner has been talking about starting a series called “Now That’s Good PR.” My assumption is that she hasn’t begun the series yet because there’s so little “good PR” showing through the lead blanket of pompous tweets. But frankly, that’s what good PR is for.
I can go on and on about the value of good PR. Let’s not give me the blank space. Instead, let me ask you, Ms. Business Owner: Are you ready for PR?
Because it’s a commitment.
PR is a commitment to finding and articulating your message. It requires a bit of corporate navel gazing in combination with a lot of research to come up with what truly sets you apart. Because you have to know exactly how you want to be known if you’re going to create that knowing.
PR is a commitment to truth. Once you’ve found the message you want to deliver, you need to make sure that it is true for your company. The products you make, the service you deliver must align directly to the commitment you make to your customers.
PR is a commitment to storytelling. Stories that exist but aren’t told are meaningless. It means you, the leader of this company, must get out of your office and onto the podium, into the editorial boardroom, and on the phone with those we’ve entrusted with the pen, the mic or the video camera.
PR is a commitment to communicating. As we strive to create editorial calendars and LinkedIn posts, we need to know what is driving your decision making. Your PR team needs to hear where the sales channels are getting pushback, what walls your executives are having trouble breaching, and what big wins you’ve all had lately.
PR is also a commitment to putting you and your company on the line. It’s a wild world out there – people are not trusting what they hear or read. They need to hear and to see a distinct demonstration, day after day after day, that what you say is true. That you deliver on your stories. That what good was done yesterday is something they can count on tomorrow, too.
We always talk about PR being about building and maintaining reputations. And reputation building is a commitment to daily walking the walk. We find that people hire us to help them circle back to the WHY of their business, so they have an opportunity to build trust and solidify their customer base.
PR is indeed a great way to build awareness. But as long as you’re taking that step, make sure you’re ready for the full commitment.
