“You can’t measure PR effectiveness, so it’s a waste of money.“
PR, or creating fertile ground for your company to grow, can be difficult in the social media age, when little Suzie’s t-ball game has the same clout as your company’s marketing department. Here are four PR gems that we’ve debunked to help your company make the post of its public relations efforts.
PR Gems
- There’s no such thing as bad publicity. Holy smokes. Why this one is still around is beyond me. Maybe if you’re Paris Hilton or some other Hollywood bad girl (or boy), this might be true. In the business world, nothing could be farther from the truth. Ask Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling how a little unwanted publicity is working out for him.
- You can’t measure PR effectiveness, so it’s a waste of money. While it’s true that it’s hard to tie in a speaking engagement at a national solid waste management conference to an increase in garbage truck sales, you can track the effectiveness of public relations efforts in many ways. And when the phone stops ringing, the e-mails stop coming in and your new product releases go into a void, you’ll definitely learn the value of public relations.
- You can do your own PR. Maybe. At smaller companies, PR initiatives are handled in-house, especially when relationships with local and regional media are what matter most. When your goals involve producing press releases and announcements, internal resources are usually sufficient. But when you are looking for more visibility in the form of speaking engagements, promotion of special events, reputation management, and radio or TV interviews, it’s often best to outsource to PR to professionals who have the contacts, experience and know-how to get the job done.
- PR is just spin and manipulation. In a world in which consumers or B2B buyers can review hundreds of opinions online about a product or service, attempts to spin or manipulate consumer behavior will be viewed with contempt and will surely backfire. Assuming you have a good product or service to begin with, transparency and honesty are essential for long-term success. While you may be able to sell a dud once, in the end, you’ll lose customers for short-term gains.
Trade Press Services specializes in helping you create the right messages in the right media. For more information, call us today at (805) 496-8850, visit our website at tradepressservices.com, or e-mail company President Gerri Knilans at [email protected].
