PR is an invaluable part of any successful marketing plan and it accounts for so much more than sending out press releases to the local paper or trade press.

At its essence PR is the tool that is used to maintain the reputation of your business, and when it’s used effectively it keeps things running smoothly from day to day (and fixes those nasty problems that come out of the blue).

Whether through the press, digital media or at events, PR is, in my opinion, far and away the best means of outward communication at your disposal. When used effectively PR can be used to position you or your organisation as an expert in your field, as well as a likeable and relatable entity, instilling trust and familiarity in your brand, which keeps customers coming back for more.

Bearing all of this in mind, the short answer to this question is that you shouldn’t just use the PR function for the sake of it. 

You may have been told that you should work to a PR schedule - and that is good practice - however the schedule should be determined by stories worth sharing when the time is right, not by creating a timeline filled with a certain number of stories a week regardless of content, so that you appear busy even when you’re not.

Being ubiquitous whilst also being useful and interesting to your clients is the PR dream, however if you’re there with the turn of every page with innocuous updates and irrelevant news stories, it can end up being a turn off to customers (and media!); your presence becomes akin to that bad smell that won’t go away. Just think of generic furniture shops and how well received they are, it’s bigger news when they don’t have a major sale…

When you start a PR campaign you should take a good look at your calendar, which events and diary dates taking place over the next few months relate to your business? 

A good PR agency will fill in any gaps in between that you should be aware of, for example, if you’re a builder and statistics have just been released about the improving housing market, they can advise you to take the opportunity to provide an informed professional comment to press that reflects well on your business.

It’s worth noting here that business often take the opposite approach to PR and don’t believe that they have anything interesting to say when they’re actually sitting on some fantastically newsworthy content. 

The key is to run everything by your PR agency/consultant. It’s their job to keep an eye on trends, related news and news agendas that lend themselves to your line of work and make sure your brand and reputation is protected.

Do you want to know more or do you have another marketing question we can help with? Is PR proving to be a nightmare? Or design doing your head in? Talk to us. Email your questions anonymously to us today hello@silverbulletmarketing.co.uk or Tweet us (not so anonymously) @SilverBulletPR and use the hash tag #AskSB