By Robert J. Sincovich, President of R.J. Sincovich Communications, Inc.
Having a competitive edge in marketing usually means leveraging all the meaningful tools at your disposal. Surprisingly, public relations is often one asset that is overlooked—usually because it is misunderstood or shrouded with misconceptions and myths.
Robert J. Sincovich
The truth is, public relations is not some communications specialty limited only to Fortune 500 titans dealing with product recalls or consumer issues that spread like wildfire. PR is actually a positive, impact-driving tool for reaching your targeted audiences in ways that produce highly credible, relevant and attention-getting information. In fact, you are usually reaching your customers and prospects at a time when they are looking for someone to provide solutions.
How does PR create meaningful influence?
One important reason for public relations’ effectiveness can be summarized in this key phrase: third-party endorsement. PR works because it is often founded on third-party opinion and commentary, as well as respected sources of information whose backgrounds and opinions reflect proven data. That’s why it can influence customers and drive purchasing decisions. In fact, by taking some basic steps, PR can help deliver such benefit as:
- A higher level of exposure for you to attract customer attention.
- Industry positioning for you as an opinion leader.
- Merchandisable presence for sales force, mailings, website, social media and more.
- Multi-industry outreach to expand sales potentials beyond current targets.
- Big results with little cost.
But, the simple beauty of this approach is that it can be used by virtually any kind of company, regardless of size, and it can produce benefits in a very basic and functional way with very minimal investments in budget and time. In fact, because much of your information is carried through the news media, things can happen almost overnight. That’s especially helpful if you want to get out a quick announcement that reaches tens of thousands of potential customers.
What are the common misconceptions about PR?
There are typically several common misconceptions about public relations that keep companies from benefitting from its capabilities. Good examples include:
- It really doesn’t impact sales.
- We are already doing everything we can.
- Takes too much time from our current focus.
- We really don’t have anything new to talk about.
- PR is way too expensive.
- It is way too difficult or complicated.
- Our internal people would require special skills.
- We know more about our products than anybody.
Despite these perceived obstacles, the fact remains that PR can be an outstanding part of any marketing mix because the list of potential opportunities can be substantial in terms of customer sales.
In fact, almost any new development within your company can serve as an opportunity to generate announcements. New hires, promotions, product developments, awards, contracts, conference attendance and myriad other things can be developed into messages to share with your audiences. A PR representative would bring in the creative insight to uncover such opportunities or create new ones out of thin air to sustain momentum. The trick is knowing how they need to be developed and where and how to get the word out.
These approaches are often overlooked because they are just seen internally as day-to-day events. But, if your audiences don’t know they are happening, you’re not leveraging the full opportunities for gaining attention. As an added benefit, as a participant in media activities, your company may become sought after by editors who value your contributions from a news standpoint, and new opportunities emerge without any effort on your part.
What’s more, you can pick and choose the announcements you want to make, and the timing for their release. That helps to create a sustained level of presence for you and your company, not to mention grabbing some of that valuable attention from your competitors!
How does this all happen?
Simple. A professional PR consultant or agency is usually contacted for an initial conversation, which is followed by a proposal from them that can suit your budget. Once an agreement is reached, the PR pro will take on the responsibility for everything, including:
- Research and writing of all press materials.
- Creating of media lists.
- Contact with editors.
- Negotiating third-party involvement to boost credibility.
- Managing approval processes.
- Arranging for distribution of all materials and providing representative examples of actual news media appearances.
This actually goes further than these examples, but the key point is that it all becomes seamless as far as your responsibilities are concerned. It is simple, well managed and will promptly begin showing results.
What does it cost?
Probably the most amazing value about PR efforts is that there are no “placement” costs involved. Articles published by magazines, online sources and social media do not involve any payments. Instead, all of these outlets will use the material because they have been developed with a true news value. There is no commercialism in the messaging, and so, it is considered to have value to the audiences who consume these media.
What’s more, the cost can be limited mostly to the fees for professional services. Since most communications today are done electronically, there is no need to produce print materials such as press kits, photos, scripts or most anything else. Occasionally there will be some start-up out-of-pocket costs, or others for support services that may be involved. In all cases these are priced out and agreed upon in advance.
What you can do to take action?
Getting started can be far easier than you might imagine. There are a host of resources available that can provide guidance to put you on the right track from the very beginning. These might include, for example:
- Contact a PR consultant or agency with experience in the solar/alternative energy industry.
- Ask for referrals from a PR Association or local chapter.
- Speak with non-competing colleagues for referrals.
- Reach out to the marketing/communications department(s) of your local colleges or universities for teachers who may have PR experience and potentially relevant connections.
Once candidates are selected, especially with solar industry experience, interview them about their relevant industry background; ask for a client roster and examples of their published works. Make sure to discuss their fee structures and flexibility. Will they bill out on an individual project basis; on an hourly rate; what about setting up a retainer agreement? All of these provide you with ample flexibility to suit your needs.
You can also try to work on one or two initial projects to determine their ability to understand your specific objectives and turn them into real successes. Develop a chemistry with them in which they are involved in your activities. This allows you to test the waters and make refinements. Future growth can be determined once a foundation is established.
Consider one case example:
A solar industry client saw impending regulatory changes occurring in the United States that involved new, more stringent regulations affecting safety standards in commercial roofing applications. Consequently, all related manufacturers and installers could face issues in ramping up their businesses for compliance needs. This development served as an opportunity for the client to author a trade magazine article encouraging solar company leadership to adopt the changes quickly. That would allow them to protect or grow their competitive edge and preclude the certainty of lost business, if they were not compliant within the government timeframe.
Upon being published on the magazine’s website, the article received 741 hits within the first two hours of going live, generating some 43 hours of collective reader time, where buyers heard from the client and saw them as a valuable opinion leader. This translates to relevance, interest, trust and industry demand for the client. In fact, they received a rush of calls from companies interested in more input from them. Simply put, the article made customers call the client for help.
Remember, there is little to lose by exploring public relations as part of your marketing mix. When you see news of your company highlighted prominently throughout the various media channels reaching your customers—and enjoying the resulting inquiries—you’ll know the value you can add to your overall business pursuits.
For more information about adding public relations to your company, please contact Robert J. Sincovich, President of R.J. Sincovich Communications, Inc. online.