How to Build a PR Strategy for Your Small Business

Did you know that it takes 40 positive reviews to nullify just one negative review about your brand?

The question of getting a negative review isn’t a question of if, but when. And if your business is only focused on brand promotion and advertising campaigns, you’ll be in big trouble when you do get a negative review.

Even worse, an unsubstantiated online rumor can leave your brand’s reputation in tatters if you’re unprepared.

Luckily, having the right PR strategy can prepare you for these crises before they happen. Not only does the right PR strategy manage your brand’s reputation, but it also helps to promote your brand’s values, help your brand be visible to more people, and so much more.

Ready to build the right PR strategy for your small business? Keep reading to learn everything you need to know.

Decide on Your Brand Identity

Before you start with a public relations campaign, you need to figure out what your brand’s identity and values are.

To decide on your brand identity, ask yourself questions like:

• “Why is my brand doing what it’s doing?”
• “Why do people care about what my business is doing?”
• “Who is my target customer and how can I help them?”
• “How does my business bring unique value to the table?”

This is vital for your brand messaging, which you will be using throughout your PR campaigns. If you’re not sure about your brand’s identity and messaging from the start, then you’ll end up with inconsistent messaging that confuses customers.

This is especially important for small businesses. You don’t have the same name or logo recognition as big companies such as Apple, so you need to keep your messaging consistent across all platforms.

Create a Budget

Before you set out to create your PR strategy, you’ll need to set a budget. But don’t think that you need to spend thousands of dollars on your first PR strategy.

As a small business, you could look into hiring a small firm or a freelancer. A PR consultant could even work with you for just a few hours to help you get a plan in place.

You can also create and execute your PR strategy yourself. If you’re just starting out, focus on developing relationships with local news outlets and influencers with a following that matches your audience.

You might think that news outlets aren’t interested in small business public relations, but this is a myth.

So if you’re wondering how to get PR for your business, reach out to your local news outlets and see if they’d like to cover your business.

Even better, you can get PR software like Justreachout.io to help you with outreach, searching for press opportunities, and more.

Write a Press Release

A press release is also called a news release or a media release. A press release is a one or two-page document that highlights a milestone your business reached recently.

This milestone could be:

• A new product launch
• A recent research report
• A successful round of funding
• A new publication
• A new business partnership

The goal of a press release is to create an official statement about your small business so that a reporter covers it. This is why it’s so important to have media contacts, as you can let them know about your press release.

You can write the press release yourself, as long as you make sure to follow the format for a press release. Keep in mind that the target audience for press releases are journalists, not your customers.

Tell a Relatable Story

For the most effective public relations strategy, you want to use your writing to tell a story. So no matter if you’re writing a social media post or a promotional email, make sure you add an element of storytelling to it.

When you add storytelling to your brand copy, you make it easier for your audience to relate to your content.

For example, let’s say you run a company that makes snacks for kids that are free of top allergens. You may be a parent yourself, and you may have had trouble finding snacks that won’t trigger your child’s many allergies.

It’s much easier for your target audience (other parents) to trust you when they can relate to you. And this trust is crucial for building an audience that’s loyal to your products and will promote them to others.

Whatever kinds of stories you’re telling in your copy, you need to keep your brand’s messaging consistent.

When you keep your messaging consistent, you’ll build trust with your audience of target customers. They’ll know exactly what to expect from you no matter what kind of content or products you’re putting out.

Evaluate and Improve

The best PR strategies are ones that are continuously being improved. Every couple of months, you’ll want to evaluate your PR strategy so you can improve it later. Take note of what did and didn’t work in your campaigns.

Some things you can do to measure how well your PR campaign did is to track how many press clippings mentioned your brand.

You can also analyze the content of the articles that mentioned you. How did the writer perceive your brand? Did your brand message come through?

You can also take a look at how many mentions you got on social media, and also see if your website traffic increased, decreased, or stayed the same.

Create a PR Strategy for Your Small Business Today

Even if you’ve got a stellar product, you’ll need to be very focused on your PR strategy to make the most out of your brand’s visibility and manage crises when they come.

And when you’ve got the right PR strategy in place, you’re setting your business up for success. You’ll also have more time to improve your product and customer service.

If you found this article helpful, you’ll love the rest of our site. Be sure to check out more blog posts from our business category for even more helpful tips and tricks.