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Public relations still has clout. Lots of it!

Guest post by: Patti D. Hill

Article Overview: Strategic public relations with an investment in thought leadership has the innate ability to shorten the sales cycle.

Public relations still has clout. Lots of it!

Regardless of what you may have heard, public relations still has clout. Lots of it!

PR has an ability to create awareness and support among constituents for a company's products or services, management views, intellectual capital and its distinct approach to doing business. It helps build credibility, manage risk, establish a positive reputation and drive sales.

There is, however, a sizable gap between promoting products or services and thought leadership, the cornerstone of a public relations campaign. There are far too many executives that don't or can't offer commentary or opinion beyond their products or services, at a grave disservice to their company. According to a survey of senior decision makers, thought leadership activities offer the most influence in many purchasing decisions. Unfortunately, it is the PR activity least used by many product and service providers.

Wikipedia suggests a thought leader is someone who is "recognized among peers and mentors for innovative ideas and demonstrates the confidence to promote or share those ideas as actionable distilled insights." Pervasive thought leadership platforms cleverly rise above one's own company and its products or services to convey a deep understanding customer needs and the marketplace overall.

Decision makers are bombarded with one-to-many advertising campaigns with minimal impact. A more effective strategy would be to engage in traditional public relations activities with a real investment in thought leadership.

I use my own thought leadership campaign as an example. Penman PR, the public relations firm I founded and co-manage is industry agnostic, but my interests run toward complex technologies, especially nanotechnology. In addition to being the editor of NanoExpress News, a monthly nanotech e-newsletter, I am a columnist for Nanotechnology Now, an advisory member of Nanotechnology Research Foundation, and a founding member of Nanotechnology Advancement Center (formerly Nanomaterials Applications Center). My proficiency in nanotech softens the marketplace and makes me a logical choice for public relations services in that arena.

These activities are augmented with one-to-one outreach to clients and prospects with tailored peer-to-peer strategic counsel.

Creating a personal brand that shows thought leadership can be time intensive, but worth the investment. Write articles unrelated to your product or service and get them published in newsletters, blogs and print and online publications. Secure speaking engagements and share substantiated opinions. Join organizations and contribute. Network online and off. Be a resource to your constituents with good karma as the only motivation.

The bottom line: be brilliant. Show expertise without self-promotion. The payoff is more high quality business.

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Article Tags: nanotechnology PR, public relations, sales, thought leadership



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