PR for Small Businesses

Afroditi Lazarou

Public Relations is an essential element in the success of already established companies. However, raising awareness and creating a positive reputation through Public Relations is equally important for small companies and start-ups. But how can these companies practice PR tactics without spending too much money? 

First of all, the company needs to be interactive on social media. Connecting with the audience online and making the customers feel valued by being accessible and open to discussion on social media is critical and also free. PR practitioners should take advantage of the fact that small companies can be more personal and communicative than larger ones. 

Moreover, there should be a mix of different kind of media. The PR practitioner should use as many mediums as possible. The messages should be consistent on all media in order to avoid contradictions.  Having a strong online presence can make a difference and it can also ensure a better communication not only with the consumers, but also with popular influencers. 

Last but not least, the messages should be original. Sometimes, a creative idea has more impact than an expensive one. The PR practitioner should think out of the box and not hesitate to implement unique ideas. If something is special, it attracts more attention. 

Achieving a good PR is not always a matter of money or even strong media relations. Small companies do have some strengths that can lead to their success if used correctly and efficiently. 

Conveying your corporate message effectively

“Brand is no longer depending on its messages but on people’s opinion.”

Paul Holmes (2012)

By Ms Ioana Manussos, MA in Marketing Advertising & PR, The University of Sheffield International Faculty, City College)
Dr. Dimitrios V. Nikolaidis, Head of the Business Administration and Economics Department at the University of Sheffield International Faculty, City College, Thessaloniki, Greece.

We are living in an era of “speed” and influence; an era in which information travels extremely fast and reaches huge audiences; an era in which individuals act as reporters since they are able to transfer and post information 24 hours a day. The fact is that the way people get informed is changing and the social and new media have great contribution on shaping the public opinion. Word of mouth is getting as powerful as ever before.  However, public relations and marketing communications in general should be faced rather differently.  Public Relations is changing; it is definitely much more than sending press releases and cultivating good relations with the Press. The PR executive needs specialized knowledge, market awareness, and digital familiarity.  But most of all they needs to understand that a new era evolves; an era where public relations should not only be perceived as a set of processes but also as a field where the practitioner should create and defuse content.  I have been teaching and practicing public relations and marketing for many years (more than 15); during this long period of time I have seen the transformation of Public Relations from a set of processes to the creation of content.  

In today’s global business environment, Public Relations have a huge impact in the strategic-decision making process, being the core component in conveying the message across the company’s departments, stakeholders, and even borders. As it is stated by a lot of PR specialists the success of a communication is a function of the message received. The messages that communicate to the widest audience are those which appeal to the lowest common denominator –human emotions. Human emotions make the message to be felt, not only heard (Shah, 2011).One interesting quote has been stated by Nelson Mandela which clearly emphasized the importance of communication:  “If you talk to a man in a language that he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk with him in his language,  that goes to his heart!” Everybody knows that is very important the fact that before you want to convey a message, it’s best to know the purpose of why you are doing this action. Because we are talking about corporate messages, the basic step is to know what the company stands for and what does it want to express to its target audience.

Nowadays, public relations plans are more concentrated on the target audiences, the ways in which consumers can be engaged in the campaign and also, the understanding of the potential consumers.  The attitudes and behaviour of consumers are carefully analyzed by the PR planners.  A good planning can lead to a better advertising campaign as well. It is said that Public Relations is better than advertising at conveying a message or even building a brand.  The PR strategies usually are focused on the brand strategy, corporate communications, cause marketing, crisis communication, media strategy, event management or grassroots marketing. Usually a PR strategy means more than writing a press release and do a follow-up with the journalists. That’s why it’s not only about media when talking about public relations.  First of all, researching about your target audience, developing a database of contacts, decide which is the PR story that needs to be communicated,  writing an actual press release, establishing relationships with journalists and media in order to familiarise them with the company and the company’s purpose are some of steps in order to develop a good PR strategy.

Gill (2011) argues that besides having a good external PR, a company must develop its internal PR as well. Each company must see its employees as being the most valuable assets. Thus, internal public relations is the most important activity when talking about employee engagement and effectiveness. The employee engagement can grow the reputation and image of the company. Good employer to employee relations can lead the company in having satisfactory results in the productivity of the organisations, as well as motivation and dedication from employees.

Digital PR?

Living in a world where digital is the main word in everyone’s life, specialists’ state that PR strategies should be combined with SEO activities. The traditional media relations strategies such as press releases or preparation and distribution of a media kit are starting to be referred to at the past tense due to the fact that the public relations strategies began to expand on the online environment ( Water et. Al., 2010).

As stated by Horn (2013), most of the PR practitioners have to develop a PR plan that combines the digital with the traditional media and to know to „integrate communications plans into each field” (p.16). Before starting writing a communications plan, the following factors have to be evaluated: strengths and weaknesses of the company, the success of the company on the local or global market and identification of the main goal.

In order to create a viral content message, the most important part of the process is to know how to reach your target audience.  The most powerful tool of advertising is considered to be the word of mouth. People tend to believe what their beloved ones share or tell regarding a company, a brand or a product (Anon, 2013). 

 Eventually, the public relations professionals have to embrace the emergence between the traditional PR and digital PR.  Many customers have become familiar with the search of campaigns and a company’s latest news on the social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. Turning Public Relations practice in the digital environment will make this practice global and more socially responsible (Gruning, 2009)

Keep the message simple, but deep in meaning

Best anti-smoking campaign

Since 1990’s the Thai government was taking measures against smoking. The Thai Health Promotion invested heavily 1600 Quitlines in order to help smokers quit smoking.  “The most powerful speaker is me”, was the main insight before starting this campaign and deliver their message effectively.  In 2012, The Thai Health Promotion Foundation decided to create a viral campaign against smoking. The main focus that the campaign had was to make people conscious about the negative effects that smoking has.

“The advert shows kids (actors) going up to people who are smoking on the street. The children ask for a ‘light’. All of the adults approached where shocked, and gave the kids a lesson in health. This is where it gets clever. The kid then says “if it’s so bad, then why are you smoking” – boom, the adults are speechless. The child then hands them a note and walks away. The note says’You worry about me. But what about yourself?’”, explains Stuart Ralph (Morally Marketed, 2014).

The Thai Foundation named it “The Smoking Kids” which clearly stated that the approach they employed was “inside-out reflection”. Actually, the smokers were put in a place creating themselves a warning message. Apparently, an amount of $5000 invested and no media spending, managed to raise a global conversation towards smoking on social media channels and websites.  This campaign faced major challenges. “The campaign was able to create a measurable behaviour change. The number of completed calls went from an average of 7,057 per month from January to May, to 11461 in June, an increase of 62%. This marked a new high and outperformed all of THPF's previous anti-smoking campaigns over the past 20 years”. (ThaiHealth, 2013). What is more interesting is that the result managed to get far from local, going even global.

The use of integrated communication turns out to be successful

Pepco Holdings, SRL

Pepco Holdings, SRL  is an electric and gas company in the Mid-Atlantic region. The company suffered from customer dissatisfaction, bad reviews and press stories over service reliability, being named the “Most Hated Company in America” by Business Insider. By using a content marketing strategy, Pepco Holdings decided to use an integrated communications strategy in order to improve its bad images, as well as bad reputation. Thus,  they started changing the internal structure of the departments, re-writing the job descriptions having as a result the greater accountability and high performing talent. Regarding the external part, Pepco Holdings managed to update on fact sheets, reliability projects , broschures, blogs and the development of  reality TV ad campaign that detailed how front-line workers were improving  service reliability in order to attract the earned media towards exposing the company to the weekly activities that they have.  By using social media, the company shared information of how people can save money on electric bills, benefits of smart meters, investment in infrastructure. The result was their corporate message turned out to be sent effectively due to the positive turnaround in media and political perception  (Comcowich, 2013).

In conclusion, PR practice is already in another level as the main tasks and responsibilities are not changing on one hand, but on the other hand the necessary skills required for the execution of these tasks have changed dramatically. Technology resulted a vast change in the way PR practitioners are implemented their strategies and tactics; audiences have a voice and the power of word of mouth has been stronger than ever before. And as David Kiu, vice president, sustainable business and communications, at Unilever has stated “today, we might do this increasingly through new tools in content marketing, digital or social media, but in ten years, there is no doubt more new technologies will rise to replace these. The future of PR lies in updating our skills to cope with the changing external environment while keeping the unique value we add squarely at the centre of all that we do. In so doing, we will find the true purpose of PR”.

Bibliography

Anon.(2013). What is the secret to creating great viral content that will engage your audience?  PRWeek.16 (12), p. 47.

Comcowich,W. (2013). Five Case Studies that Prove PR’s Worth. Available at: http://www.cyberalert.com/blog/index.php/five-case-studies-that-prove-prs-worth/.

Gill, R. (2011). Corporate Storytelling as an Effective Internal Public Relations Strategy.International Business & Management. 3 (1), p. 17-25.

Gruning, J. (2009). Paradigms of global public relations in an age of digitalisation. PRism. 6 (2), p.1-19

Horn, S. (2013). Social media's online advantage: The evolution of public relations to digital communications. Public Relations Tactics.20 (1), p. 16.

Ralph, S. (2014). ‘The Best Anti-Smoking Ad Ever’ Says The World!.Available: http://www.morallymarketed.com/case-studies/the-best-anti-smoking-ad-ever-says-the-world/.

Shah, P. (2011). Business Communication: 3 Effective Ways To Convey Your Vision. Available: http://www.slideshare.net/priyaflorence/business-communication-3-effective-ways-to-convey-your-vision.  

ThaiHealth. (2013). Smoking Kid, A personal message to the smokers.Available: http://www.aef.com/pdf/jay_chiat/2013/thpf_smoking_kid.pdf.

Waters, R and Tindall, N and Morton, T. (2010). Media Catching and the Journalist-Public Relations Practitioner Relationship: How Social Media are Changing the Practice of Media Relations. Journal Of Public Relations Research. 22 (3), p. 241-264.

Social Media Influence on Public Relations

Written by: Tomo Popovic

Social networks have changed the game of Public Relations in many ways. It has been estimated that 81% of PR professionals cannot imagine doing their job without using social media. Furthermore, social media has become the major intermediary between PR pros and target audience. What is more, brand image of any modern company greatly depends on its presence and reputation on social networks. However, three factors we need to consider in any Public Relations effort are the following:

Multi-way communication; Social media and web 2.0 technologies and tools have enabled PR pros to engage in direct dialogue with their audience. This implies constant interaction and information gathering, which further empowers PR pros to target and reach the audience in much more efficient and effective manner. Additionally, as companies interact more with their audience their posts will be seen and shared by more users. What is more, this greatly enhances brand awareness which is the aim of PR.

24/7 Service; The flow of information is constant and extremely rapid through social media. What is more, single information shared on any major social network can greatly affect company in both positive and negative way. However, negative news is always more influencing and interesting to public and therefore should be recognized and managed in a timely manner by PR pros. Furthermore, audience expects companies to provide real-time service through social media which requires constant PR activities on social networks.

Desire for amusing & unique content; Nowadays, consumers receive enormous amount of information on daily basis and therefore only interesting and original content will draw their attention. As a result, PR pros need to focus on sharing content that is straight to the point and newsworthy in order to reach and keep more audience. Therefore, it is required from PR sector to continuously find and share new information that will appeal to the audience and draw their attention.

The Art of Copywriting | Press Release drafting 101

Written by: Christine Saifi
Edited by: Matija Petrović 

The renowned businessman behind Virgin Group, Richard Branson once said "a good PR story is infinitely more effective than a front-page ad". So, if you're looking at getting high media coverage, then writing an effective press release is the key.

Why write a press release?

Press releases are an essential element of any PR strategy. They aim at gaining mindshare in people's minds and raise awareness about the company's activities. Press releases can be written to announce product launches, events, openings, sponsorships or any other newsworthy matters.

Press release drafting is an artful skill which copywriters of a company or a PR agency need to master. Companies need to keep in mind that journalists are constantly being swamped with feature stories, pitches, and press releases, so why should they consider yours?

That said, content creativity is now much more important than ever before and can, in many cases, be a company's competitive advantage. So, making your press release stand out from all the others is crucial.

​Before writing: 
So before you start drafting your press release, ask yourself these four questions:

1.       Is my press release "newsworthy"

2.       Who is my target audience?

3.       What are my key messages?

4.       Will anyone actually be interested in reading the release?

How to write a press release?
Countless articles have been written about the do's and don'ts of press releases. The most utilized writing style is the Inverted Pyramid model which is when the most important information goes at the top of the story, while the least important information goes at the bottom.

The Inverted Pyramid Structure:

 

A few more tips I learnt along the way…

While the format of a press release hasn't changed over time, the content of the release is now expected to present something new, be creative, and appealing. So here are a few things I learnt as an English copywriter at a PR Agency:

1.       Rules are meant to be broken. While the inverted pyramid is the most useful writing style, don't be afraid of breaking the rules a little and explore other more creative styles. You can start your press release with an attention grabbing sentence, quote, or anecdote, and then proceed to the 5Ws.  That said, some news stories can only be written in an inverted pyramid style.

2.       Write eye-catchy headlines. Your headline is what will get the reader to delve more into your press release so make sure to write killer titles.

3.       Always have visuals. We currently live in a visual world and according to PR Newswire, people & journalists are 3.5 times more likely to share and view pictures, videos, and infographs rather than plane text. So never dispatch a press release without supporting visuals.

4.       Be concise. The ideal length of a press release is about three to four paragraphs. Anything longer than that and you can be sure you lost the reader's interest.

5.       Use simple language. You don't want to bother the reader with words they have never heard of, or need a dictionary to understand. Break your long sentences into shorter ones and use simple language.

6.       Add clickable links. Today's readers and especially online ones are curious readers so you need to have a call for action approach and invite them to find out more information about your products or project through clickable links.

7.       Take advantage of Social media. You need to spread your news through as many outlets as possible so share your press release on social media. Some of your followers may not check newspapers but they may check your online pages.

8.       Optimize your press releases.  Take advantage of Web 2.0 and include linked search engine optimization keywords to help increase people finding your news stories.

9.       Choose your quotes carefully. Quotes should be used to provide insights and opinion and sound like a real person is saying them. They definitely shouldn't be used to provide extra information or full of technical language.

Good looks are pricey these days, aren’t they?

Written by: Matija Petrović
Edited by: Christine Saifi 

                                  

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a rapidly evolving PR mechanism, which is already a must for all larger companies, and can be a big competitive advantage for any organization. But even a large company can be distinguished among competition through a strategically well-designed and properly executed CSR plan.

The problem is that many people and corporations nowadays think that CSR is all about who gives or spends more money, and they often tend to waste it, as a consequence of that perspective. Of course, we must be honest and admit that corporate donations usually have a secondary objective, which is beneficial, whether if it's motivated by tax deduction or simply by a need to get into consumers' good graces. However, as long as we do keep it as a veiled secondary objective, people won't mind.   

Firstly, we must focus on our goals, and by "our", we mean both the corporation's and the charity's. As soon as we determine that our causes are compatible and that the potential for mutual benefit exists, we can proceed. As Kimberly McCall stated on her website (www.MarketingAngel.com )- strategic philanthropy should "align itself with a cause that both reflects the ideals of the company and meets the needs of the charity". Thus, engaging in causes or activities that somehow, even slightly, contradict our company's work or principles, might be considered unethical.

Secondly, it's important to keep in mind that consistency is a key to success when we talk about CSR. Our donations must not be an occasional or a one-time thing. A recent survey from Aflac (the whole survey in the link) shows us how people stand on this matter:

·         81% of consumers are more likely to purchase from corporations who are active in philanthropic efforts year round as opposed to only in times of need.

·         86% of consumers are more inclined to purchase products and services from an ethical company.

·         75% of the consumers said they would be happier to work for a company with a strong CSR program.

·         69% of consumers are likely to purchase stock in a company well-known for its ethical standards.

Of course, many companies have insufficient funds; therefore they are limited and unable to support multiple causes constantly. However, we can always pick one or two that suit our company best or even use some alternative methods as cause-related marketing, which has proven to be very successful and is considered to be one of the fastest – growing segments in advertising and public relations. Cause-related marketing is different from corporate philanthropy as it does not necessarily involve a financial donation.

A good example of a cause-related campaign is the one that Starbucks started, named "Suspended coffee", offering their customers an opportunity to pay a little extra and support a fund for those who can't afford coffee. The campaign evolved into something much greater after a series of events, developing a so called "Pay it forward" movement (read more here: #AJO ).  Another example might be a campaign  "#HanesForGood" launched by Hanes, an American clothing company (mainly producing underwear and socks), who cooperated with The Salvation Army and Mark Horvath, and managed to donate millions of socks to homeless people throughout the years, with big help of their consumers.

In conclusion, undoubtedly - money is important, but no matter how much money we have, we must use it wisely, because in a delicate matter like this, the line between success and failure is very thin.

Change the way you think about Public Relations: Commit to a more personalized view for better results!

Written by Marija Nikovska, Marketing specialist

Have you ever considered what the true definition of PR is or what it could be? Let’s try to define both words that constitute the phrase: Public – the group or groups of people or parties we are addressing to, or conveying our communication message or messages to, and Relations – well, that is one tough word to give proper explanation to. However, here we meet with another word, encrypted somewhere between the Public and the Relations, and that is the Message. Thinking about it, can we also define the Message?! And can we level the importance of the message and the length of its reach in PR as the ultimate goal of every campaign? And what can a message be – is the message the written headline, or is it the cover photo on our client’s fan page? Or the message is the colour that dominates our campaign? Is the message hidden behind our CSR agenda, or is it handwritten on the 2016 Christmas greeting card? Or is it everything?! How can the message be given a broader view, and how much personalized can the message be when it is transmitted? We can talk about brand messages that are broadcasted through well-developed PR and/ or advertising campaigns, or we can talk about brand messages that are conveyed all the time, every second of the day, by people that are or are not aware of the process itself?! And we can talk about people messages, how they communicate through their specific lifestyle with everything that defines them as a concrete person?! 

Looking it from a broader and more likely a more personal perspective, aren’t the PR messages everything you do, what you represent, what you say, wear, your perfume, hairstyle and more? If a person wears a Prada bag does it show anything about him or her? Is it solely an expression of status? Or does it also convey a further, deeper message? But, does it also convey a message that the brand indirectly transfers to all the other people around? The Prada bag may be perceived as of financial standpoint, but it can also show the person’s character, it can be a reflection of one’s lifestyle and mind. Or how does the Prada bag compare to other bag brands – let’s say Michael Kors bag or Furla bag? Or how about a fake Gucci or Louis Vuitton bag? And how much people have the ability of spotting what is fake and what is not? Well, we can just assume that PR professionals are very much able to do so, and go even deeper, be psychologically driven to catch messages transferred in just 3-5 seconds after giving a complete first overview. Since the Prada bag it is not often combined with a coat from H&M, but rather an equivalent.  Here we could also add the ability or the psychological ability of other people to notice and perceive the messages every person carries, and we would ask if PR professionals are capable to do this now necessary psychological foreseeing and the analysis afterwards. And examine how much potential is hidden behind the above argued, helping us, PR professionals, into becoming more successful.

Though there is contradiction often applied in the above given statements, since sometimes more important of what you wear is how you wear it, here we talk about the tendency of messages being transferred both sides and the ability of people recognizing these messages. What acts as PR for us, and how we produce free PR for all the brands we live with? Some examples: what does it show to us if we see a gentleman driving a Volvo, wearing Zegna suit and Breil watch?  We also see a girl walking in Chiara Ferragni flats, with a Pomeranian in a plaid bag and Carrera sunglasses? How different these people are from a man and a girl with equivalent financial statuses, but associated with a completely different set of brands. While the Volvo shows stability and maturity, the Chiara Ferragni flats show free spirit, funky style and probably some Instagram addiction.

People create relations with the publics all the time, every day with the things they do, wear and drive, by conveying messages of the type a person they are. At the same time, brands or love brands freely communicate with publics all around the streets people walk – from New York to Tokyo. So, how much more the PR can be personalized? Directly or indirectly? And even more, it is not only about examining brands that can be just worn or driven, it is valid for every tiny detail that can be produced or serviced and found in someone’s life, home, office, leisure. And further how these PR messages can be and are associated with one’s background, through the things learnt in life, inherited, further expressed and posted.

The complete picture: It is all PR, a more personal side of PR. And it is all a message, whether we like it or not. Today, we just have to comply with it and learn how to identify and use it in our own benefit, and create professional opportunities. Since at the very end of the day, if we rephrase Al Pacino in the very famous Scarface, it would be: “The shoes Chico, they never lie”. J

MARIJA NIKOVSKA is a marketing specialist with extensive experience in developing abd implementing public relations and integrated marketing communication campaigns. Holding a master's degree in Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations from the University of Sheffield International Faculty, Marija has worked in the Advertising industry while now she is the Director of Managers' Academy in the city of Skopje.  She often visits the Department as a guest lecturer discussing topics of corporate communication and marketing.

Tatiana Loparski's Views on Contemporary PR (PART II)

Interviewed by: Elina Ketikidi

Tatjana  Loparksi studied at the St. Cyril and Methodius University in Interdisciplinary Journalism and she did her post-graduate studies at the Department of International Law and Politics at the faculty of Law. Currently Tatjana is in the final stage of acquiring her Master's degree in Marketing Advertising and Public Relations from The University of Sheffield International Faculty, City College. For 13 years she was working as a journalist for various national television channels in Skopje, as well as radio stations, daily newspapers and magazines. She served as  the Spokeswoman to the President of the country (2005 – 2006 ).   Tatjana has also a great experience in the field of Public Relations. She was a PR Manager at Image PR Agency, a Managing Partner of Omega PR Agency and now she is the executive director of her own PR company "Element PR  & Corporate Communications.  In early December Tatjana delivered an interesting seminar to the postgraduate students in Thessaloniki on PR Evaluation and Metrics.  

T
https://mk.linkedin.com/in/tatjana-loparski-9b612021

PART II

What do you wish you should have known before starting your career in PR?

Things are changing pretty fast in this profession. I did not have the education of PR, having in mind that I have finished journalism and also I had my postgraduate studies in International Law and Politics. I wish I would have the education that you are having now. At that period in my country the PR just started to evolve into a profession, so I was learning it while working it. I had a great challenge working as a Spokeswoman of the President of the country and I learnt a lot while working in such a position. I was stuck everyday with tones of papers that I had to read, with hundreds of questions that had to be answered and I was working for the State Institutions were mistakes are not allowed. But I learn a lot !

We are coming through the era of social media and digitalization. How does technology affect your daily work and how can you use social media to reach and impress traditional media? 

Several years ago we had some big arguments among colleges in my country about the use of social media. Great part of them thought it is a waste of time and something for fun. I was not one of them. Seeing how internet changes the flow of information, it was more than obvious that social media will make a revolution of communication. There are now social media that affects public opinion and make even crisis for some companies when they have some issue on social media. The future of this profession is in content creation, that will be distributed via Internet and some of traditional media. That is the natural way of creation of new media. See the history of communication and you will see the development. People started to communicate with signs and now we are almost a global village because we can easily communicate with the other part of the world without any problem because of technology.

Have you ever guided any executive decisions during a communications crisis? How do you know when to sound the alarm of a major communications crisis vs. less severe issue?

In crisis communication you have one first rule that you have to implement and that is centralization of communication channels. When crisis appears there is only one person that is giving information in the public. If you do not control that, there will created more problems. So make sure that you will have all the information needed and also make a plan for communication. You will know when it is high alarm crisis; you will be first news at all media. You will know, believe me !

What things do you consider when creating a PR plan to avoid creating a PR fail moment?

I like this phrase - PR fail moment. Do not think that every plan is a perfect one. It is changing material. When you will do something you will have to do also modification, so that is how you are avoiding PR fail moment. 

From 2005 until 2006 you were the Spokeswoman to the President. Which are the main differences being President's Spokeswoman from just being a PR manager in a company or organization?

The main things connecting both are that politics and business is the influence that they have on each other. When there is political misbalance and problems in the country it affects economy and in extend affects political situation in the country. You cannot work in PR if you are not into public affairs and dealing with problematic issues of your clients. That is why the essence of this job is to communicate, to build a network of people whom you trust and work with and of course to know your job. When you are a Spokeswoman for an institution such as the President's Office you are dedicated to fulfilling the duties of the office that you are working for, and that is mainly media relations, but when it comes to PR manager of the organization you are dealing with all audiences including media. Therefore, being a PR manager allows you to practice in full the PR profession.