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PR Marketing in Tough Times

Written by: Adrian Maguire

Article Overview: Tough times present PR opportunities as well. If everyone else is cutting their public relations expenditure, then the players that remain will be heard more loudly and clearly. You will still want to be prudent and it is wise to review activities and focus on those that make the maximum impact. Here are ten things you should do and five things not to do.

PR Marketing in Tough Times

Ten Things You Should Do

1. Look after your customers. In good times standards may slip and negative opinions are formed that went unnoticed. These become more critical issues in a recession - when every customer counts. Redouble your efforts to ensure all customers are happy and communicate we those that aren't and find out why!
2. Focus on value not price. It is much better to add value to the overall package by including additional elements such as service and focusing on the factors that make your offering truly different to competitors rather than simply lowering prices.
3. Audit the promotional mix. Promotion is often the most costly element in the marketing mix. If you see this as a cost then it will be very tempting to take the axe and chop, chop, chop. But if you see promotion as an investment then you will see slash and burn approaches as harmful to your medium and long range interest. Examine carefully which elements of the mix are of greatest value to you. PR will almost certainly be near or at the top this value/cost analysis.
4. Advertising – retreat to quality. Look at the promotional channels you use. Which of these are core to you? Which reach the highest numbers of target customers? Which have reliable certified circulations? Which have built in response channels and the highest potential yield. Cut the ones that don’t fit this criteria.
5. Exhibitions, sponsorships and promotions. Now is the time to look very seriously at these large ticket items – do they deliver serious customers, or just generate the warm glow of goodwill?
6. Change the PR focus to promoting products and capability over corporate communication. Much of corporate communication tends to vanity, passing itself off as awareness creating, brand building and positioning. In tough times it is better to focus on messages about product or capability that have strong calls to action and that will produce name and address leads and enquiries. Intelligent use of the web is key to this process.
7. Make PR the lead communication activity. PR has the power to sneak under the buyer's radar in a way that advertising and other 'in your face' promotional tools cannot. It has reach, value and credibility. More than this, it has an investment effect that other channels lack. People store facts and messages from PR for decades and this shapes their perceptions of companies and brands. For these reasons it is wise in hard times to maintain PR momentum.
8. Reinforce your web presence. The web is a hugely empowering force for your prospective customers. It is where the active enquirer, who is intending to purchase, looks for information, screens the various offerings and decides to shortlist suppliers. For this reason, when others may be neglecting their web presence, it is a good time to improve your web presentation and present your best face to these crucial buyers. Product reviews, case studies, white papers, opinion pieces, blogs, podcasts are all potential tools to use.
9. Differentiate. Having differences between your product and others that buyers value is the key to avoiding being seen as a commodity product. Emphasise good practical design that has user benefits over mere style. Stress the aspects of quality and service that extend the usefulness and value of the product.
10. Negotiate the best deal you can. Whether it is advertising, exhibition space or any other promotion, negotiate the best deal you can. Make it plain that you have a budget so the seller knows that they are not wasting their time, but that you want to maximise the impact for the money you spend.

Five Things You Should Not Do

1. Don't expect something for nothing. Yes - negotiate hard with suppliers - but be reasonable and have realistic expectations.
2. Don’t forget lapsed and customers and lost orders. Now is the time to renew contact, bearing in mind that clients may well be reviewing suppliers to find better value and performance.
3. Don’t withdraw into the bunker. Maintaining a positive attitude - and an active approach - will enable you to find and exploit the PR opportunities that do exist.
4. Don’t neglect networks. This is the time when the real network of colleagues, professional associates and old friends can provide leads to new business and unconventional opportunities to work together.
5. Don’t forget to communicate. Keeping up the releases, the blog, the newsletter and professional network connections maintains visibility and gives you prominence when others have withdrawn.

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  A Tough Economy Can be Good for Your Career

Article Tags: axe, br 2, capability, corporate communication, critical issues, exhibitions, good times, goodwill, marketing mix, name and address, pr focus, promoting products, promotions, recession, rsquo, sponsorships, target customers, tough times, vanity, warm glow



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Does a New Company need a "Big" PR firm? - I've started work with a brand new company that is going to do loss mitigation. My boss intends to hire a "big" PR firm - ie one that costs a lot of money - because he wants press releases sent out to the New York Times, the LA Times - all the major papers around the country - and he think they'll be more likely to print them if they come from a "big" firm as opposed to a one-person PR firm. I think it doesn't matter where the press release comes from as long as its well written. What are the opinions here?
Re: Does a New Company need a "Big" PR firm? - [quote="OmnivoreInk":dmj1i0sv]I've started work with a brand new company that is going to do loss mitigation. My boss intends to hire a "big" PR firm - ie one that costs a lot of money - because he wants press releases sent out to the New York Times, the LA Times - all the major papers around the country - and he think they'll be more likely to print them if they come from a "big" firm as opposed to a one-person PR firm. I think it doesn't matter where the press release comes from as long as its well written. What are the opinions here?[/quote:dmj1i0sv] I think the most important factor is whether your press release will reach the most number of your target audience or not. It won't matter if the press release is well written if no one has the opportunity to read it. I also believe that credibility comes with having your press release in an established source like The New York Times, LA Times, etc... For instance, if you enjoyed playing tennis, who would you trust more? The advice from a recreational tennis player who has his own column in [i:dmj1i0sv]Tennis Magazine[/i:dmj1i0sv] [u:dmj1i0sv]or[/u:dmj1i0sv] the recreational tennis player who has his own blog? I don't know about you, but I'd listen to the guy on [i:dmj1i0sv]Tennis Magazine[/i:dmj1i0sv] over the blog owner at least 9 out of 10 times.
Re: Does a New Company need a "Big" PR firm? - I agree with Kevin [quote:3b8fyubd]I think the most important factor is whether your press release will reach the most number of your target audience or not.[/quote:3b8fyubd] You dont a big company that will charge mega bucks as Im sure they will even add a %age to the cost of the press release. Im sure if you approach New York Times, the LA Times with every thing presented professionally I think it will still stand the same chance. I would start advertising online, then locally thats when the NYT can see what there missing out on! And to test the water first!
Re: What I'm reading this weekend - Nov 5, 2010 - Tough to say Yinka - I'm usually working about 25 hours per week - a lot of that is online. For most of these articles I pick them up from my RSS feeds, recommendations from friends, or Twitter posts. I'll do a quick skim of the article and if it looks interesting I'll save it for later to read.


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