What is PR?

What is PR?

I’ll let you in on a secret: PR consultants are so good at highlighting their customers online, in print, on tv and on the radio – that it looks like it happens without any effort at all. The majority of Canadians think people interviewed by a reporter happen to be in the right place at the right time when, in fact, it’s most likely the result of an effective PR campaign. So, basically, the better we are at our job, the less people know about the hard work happening behind the scenes.

PR consultants are so good at highlighting their customers online, in print, on tv and on the radio – that it looks like it happens without any effort at all.

Tweet

We wouldn’t have it any other way. We want our clients to bask in the glow of positive media profiles. We strive to enhance clients’ reputations through media relations.

Essentially, we’re storytellers. We live to share interesting stories that resonate with our media contacts and their readers, listeners and viewers. On any given week, our company is pitching reporters and editors each and every day on behalf of clients. This results is positive media profiles.

Every day we:

Write media releases

Write email pitches, which are more personal

Write blog posts for clients

Create short, powerful videos

Create crisis strategies (with our trusted crisis expert)

So, if I had to define PR I would say that it is the development and execution of an effective communication plan, which outlines how and when we will regularly interact with media contacts to provide great story ideas that highlight our customers. This is done in a highly collaborative manner. Our client meetings, where we delve into topics, trends and emerging issues, are fun and interesting for all.

Through this flow of information, a company – as well as its products, services and people – are profiled in a positive manner in media outlets via Earned Media. We communicate the right message at the right time to the target audience. Our monthly retainers ensure that there is a consistent focus, by the media, on our clients. The ROI is enormous, as stated here:

According to Forbes* magazine: A recent study from 2014 by Nielsen commissioned by inPowered on the role of content in the consumer decision-making process concluded that PR is almost 90% more effective than advertising: “On average, expert content lifted familiarity 88 percent more than branded content…but I think that’s low.  With advertising, you tell people how great you are.  With publicity, others sing your praises.”

With this Earned Media – any profile of you or your company that you have not paid for or created yourself – the impact is noticed immediately. That’s because Earned Media is more credible than advertising and therefore more powerful. In fact, Earned Media provides the all-important third party validation. And, while there’s no guarantee our story ideas will be picked up by reporters and editors – we work hard to ensure that they almost always do get selected. We base our success on outcome – not output.

For our clients, the icing on the cake is social media – the all-important amplifier of Earned Media.

Even in today’s noisy, information packed world, Earned Media is still a great way to explain and demonstrate a company’s credibility in a consistent, comprehensive manner. Canadians are still very influenced by media outlets and what they read, hear and see.