7 REASONS WHY YOU NEED PR

It can feel like a challenge to know whether or not you’re ‘ready’ for PR, or even if PR is something that is going to work for you.

So, here’s a starting point…. If any of these statements sound like something you have been thinking or saying, then you need/are ready for PR...

“My website looks great, I’ve got a brilliant product/service, but web traffic is low and people just aren’t buying.”

People aren’t seeing you. You may be ‘visible’ on social media, but are you really maximising your use of these platforms? Are you showing up regularly to showcase why you’re great at what you do?

Have you really cultivated trust between you and your audience? Without this it is really hard to convert followers into fans, and likes into sales, because there is a link missing. PR is something that can establish that trust factor and turn your followers into purchasers.

”My reach on social media seems to have saturated and I don’t know how to kickstart it, get people interested and grow my audience.”

There are many things you can do within each social media platform in order to get the most value from your activity and facilitate steady growth and development, however, we can use PR to look externally to different routes of visibility. We can find different ways to get in front of our audiences in order to then bring them to our social media in order to maintain and build further connections.

PR facilitates visibility in so many ways, from the way you network to how you present yourself and your brand to positioning you as an expert in the media. All of these avenues, and more, will lead to both increases in social media following and engagement which will in turn lead to an increase in sales.

”I’m really bloody great at what I do but I feel like people aren’t seeing or understanding that.”

Often, one of the key missing links when this is the case is the right kind of communication. Enter: PR. Are you really showing people why and how you are an expert? Are you showing them the transformation that your service or product can give them?

There are many ways that PR practices can help you bridge this divide including: honing your brand messages, sharing your knowledge and expertise through social media and your blog, sharing why you are brilliant through online and offline media, building in-person connections through networking and allowing people to get to know you.

”I’ve got a product launch coming up and I don’t know how I’m going to get people to notice it.”

Put simply; you need eyes on it. This is what PR is great at doing. You can make it very cost effective and very targeted to ensure that you can reach your target audience with minimum budget but maximum results. Plan a coordinated push to the media to make a splash and do this alongside your social media and email marketing.

Ultimately if you want to launch something you need an audience to launch it to. PR is an incredible tool in this respect.

”I have targets to reach within my business and I want to take my side hustle full time - but I just don’t know how else to get people to see me.”

You need to fly at all aspects of visibility that you are comfortable with and the things you’re not comfortable with, you can work up to. It’s a case of believing fully in the value of your business and that what you are offering is a service or product that is important and relevant.

Then it’s about commmunicating this in every way possible. Do you do email marketing? Are you truly utilising social media to its full potential? Are you building a network of contacts and supporters around you? Are you sharing your news with your local media? Are you sharing your expertise within your industry? Are you collaborating with other businesses? Is your online visibility strong enough or do you need to look at your SEO?

These are all elements of PR and visibility that you should/could be covering in order to elevate your business and reach those financial goals.

”I’m struggling to convert my social following and website traffic into purchasing clients and customers.”

Here we need to understand the barriers to purchasing. PR is about communications and your website is a communication platform. Is it clear enough? Does it convey your key messages? Does it communicate the value and quality of your offering? Can you display the transformation that your business can offer?

We have to get really objective at this stage as if you are building a following and getting traffic to your website, the weak link is somewhere within your website be it your communication or your systems.

PR can help convey your messaging clearly and strongly as well as allowing you to explore and gather feedback from those are are connecting with you and are following with you but aren’t purchasing.

”I need to set myself apart from my competitors.”

One of the most impactful ways to set yourself apart from similar competitors, in addition to using yourself as your own USP, is to get into the media. Get into the media and be seen sharing your expertise and knowledge. Share why you are amazing. Allow yourself to be seen on a variety of platforms. Allow yourself to stand out from your competitors based on your own experience and attributes.

If you are looking to invest in a service, life coaching for example, are you going to be instinctively swayed towards the one who has been featured in (and indirectly endorsed by) Psychologies, Huffington Post and Women’s Health or the other one who isn’t displaying any of these credentials?

Has any of this resonated with you?

Let me know your thoughts. Do you feel like you’re missing link might be PR? How have you made your business visible thus far? Has PR been something you’ve tried or considered?

Get in touch…