How to produce a strong PR strategy at a low cost

Dealing with the press is one of the most challenging parts of business management. For those without experience it can seem incredibly daunting, particularly given the potential consequences of getting it wrong. However, it’s possible for any business to create an effective PR strategy that drives growth – and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune to do either.

The basics

Understanding PR, and why we do it, is the most essential element to producing your own PR strategy. PR is another tool for getting your message across to the wider world. The big difference is that you’re doing this via media and journalists and that means that the way that you present your information needs to have an interesting, newsworthy element.

Content is key

Producing great content gives you a valuable asset to use in generating good PR and that’s why it’s an essential part of any PR strategy. Content creating for PR purposes needs to have a story or a message – dry, statistic-filled press releases or product focused content that is purely factual won’t travel that far. Instead, it’s important to package up the information you want to get across into a story that others will find interesting, perhaps linked to current events or world affairs. If you told your story to a friend would they find it compelling enough to tell someone else?

Make accuracy part of the process

It’s one thing to publish blog content that may go unseen by most of the internet. However, when you’re working with the press every error and inaccuracy will see the light of day. Not only does this reflect badly on your business but if you’re making claims you can’t support or not being entirely forthright in terms of the way you describe your business, its products, affiliations and achievements then you could end up on the wrong side of a legal action.

Contacts will open doors

When PRs are paid six figures to manage press relations it’s partly due to their skill in handling situations but also for their contact books. If you can build up your own valuable list of contacts then you’re already half way to an effective PR strategy. Getting press contacts isn’t always that easy – start with websites and journalist social media accounts (which often include a contact email). You may need to call up an office to get contacts for a specific person and industry magazines or trade catalogues also provide a wealth of information. You’ll need 50-100 solid contacts before you begin reaching out.

Establish a process

With PR, timing is crucial. So, when you’re creating a PR strategy make sure you know what needs to happen, when:

• Prepare the article for release
• 1 week before you release the article, send a teaser email to your database of journalists and offer an exclusive.
• 1 day before release begin publishing your press release about the article across the internet on sites such as www.mynewsdesk.com
• On the day of release start calling journalist contacts, re-send your email with the words “For Immediate Release” to attract attention
• Consider spinning the article up to 20 times to increase its reach

Iconic Digital has a broad range of experience assisting businesses when it comes to handling PR – contact us to see how we can help you by giving us a call today on 020 7100 0726.