Is Good PR in the reach of a Small Business?

On a recent edition of Dragons Den, Deborah Meaden remarked that to “spend any less than £3,000 a month on PR you are nowhere.” Not only is that remark misguided as she is used to dealing with large brands, it also has the potential to make many business owners think that good PR advice is beyond their reach.

 An effective PR campaign, as part of your marketing mix, has an important role to play in building your reputation and awareness as well as trust of your products and service. In reality, using a PR professional can be extremely cost effective as it can help you identify the stories which will be of interest in different media be that newspapers, magazines and even TV and radio. It also means you can get on doing what you do best – running your business.

Recent experience shows the positive impact that getting the right advice can bring. An organisation which approached Melville PR had been writing its own press releases and struggled to get any media coverage.

Together, we uncovered some new story angles and developed a tailored campaign which has achieved significant coverage in two key local newspapers and even two interviews on radio. We have now put in place a strategy which will continue to build their profile.

PR is wider than just achieving media coverage. Social media is now an important part of the PR toolkit. Material being generated in a PR campaign can also be used in other ways such as being the basis of a website blog or be widened out to be case study to further demonstrate the features and benefits of your product or services.

This allows you to regularly update your website which can help you appear higher in search engine results. The importance of this is underlined by a recent survey by the Chief Marketing Officer Council (CMO) which found that 87% of respondents said that online content has a major or moderate impact on their buying decisions.

The benefits of LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter in reaching out to your network and potential customers should not be overlooked. It is all about building awareness and reputation.
All of these things are achievable, no matter what size of business you are. Seeking advice from someone who has the experience to develop a programme and can be extremely cost effective in terms of the results it can bring.

For an initial discussion about how Melville PR can help your business contact Mark Perry on 0160 339267 or email at mark.perry@melvillepr.com