What Goes Unseen: The Hidden Benefits Of Utilising An Essex PR Firm
When people think of PR, they think of political disasters or they think of glitzy celebrity campaigns; they don’t think of much else in between. The fact that most people don’t know what PR comprises of is unsurprising. This is especially true given how wide-ranging a discipline it is – but it’s also a shame. As a business owner, one of the very best things you can do is accrue exposure in media publications. There are more benefits, however, beyond simply these appearances in prestigious outlets. The team here at VerriBerri, a leading Essex PR firm, wanted to look at these hidden benefits in a little more detail; to give you an idea of just how comprehensive a discipline PR can be for you and your business.
The Obvious
So, let’s start with the obvious benefit of PR (Public Relations) and get it out of the way. If your brand appears in some form in a leading publication; whether that be print or online, that lends you industry clout. That reputation in turn helps lead directly to sales. If someone has read an engaging and positive piece about something your business offers, then they’re more than likely going to opt for your brand when the time comes that they need that particular service. You can’t put a price on that sort of prestige and coverage. Although I suppose we do exactly that at our Essex PR firm, and biased though we may be, it’s a pretty darn reasonable one! If you were to boil it down to its absolute basics, then that’s what PR revolves around. Securing that sort of brand coverage.
The Unseen:
What people don’t realise most of the time is that PR has many unseen benefits as well as just newspaper, magazine or website appearances. These are as follows:
Back-Links
PR has a very real and demonstrable link with SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Our Essex PR firm also offers SEO services. We are always taken aback by how separately businesses approach their marketing and their development. We believe that the best way to grow sustainably is to take a holistic approach, one which encompasses all facets of marketing, PR and SEO included.
For those a little less au-fait with digital terms, SEO is the process by which you optimise your website to better rank on Google’s (or other search engines’) results pages. Back-links are simply URLs that lead to one of your website’s landing pages. If a reputable online publication, someone like Forbes, for instance, publishes an article on your brand with a back-link to your website, then you’re ‘quids in’, so to speak. Google sees this as a barometer of trust and reputability. The more of these back-links you have, the greater your website’s overall SEO-value.
Influence/Brand Strength
There’s a lot to be said for just being in the back of people’s minds. The truly major global brands transcend the services they offer, becoming universally recognised entities thanks to the sheer and overwhelming presence they have. If you look at a brand like Coca-Cola, then you see their sticky paw-prints everywhere. Now, this is obviously an extreme example, but the more you can nestle your brand into someone’s head, stored away until that information is required, the better. Articles build trust, they build brand recognition and build a more resilient core for your brand. Reputability is hard-earned and easily lost; so the more you can bolster your business image through the likes of press appearances, the more solid your business will be moving forward.
Greater Opportunity For Collaboration
With online PR, especially, there’s massive scope for collaborative opportunity, nowadays. The remit of a PR professional extends beyond solely securing coverage; their job is to promote and build your business’ brand. A great way of doing this is through collaboration with other reputable businesses. The proliferation of social media platforms in recent times, as a means of marketing, has meant that partnerships are more useful than ever before.
Teaming together with an influencer for a competition, another business with like-minded principles, or a charity are all great ways in which you can show off your brand. Collaborations require extensive databases of contacts and carefully-fostered relationships, and that’s exactly what PR executives have in abundance.
The Future Of PR
Though print media continues to admirably fight on, online opportunities undisputedly present the greatest opportunities for brands and businesses. This online sphere is one that moves quickly; so having a specialist team on-board to act with corresponding swiftness is imperative. There’s no reason why business owners can’t attempt to carry out their PR themselves, but when you’ve got so many other plates to balance at the same time, the results just won’t be the same. It will be interesting to see if the continued development of AI and virtual realities manage to work their way into the world of PR, in the coming years, and if so, how?
Conclusion
Ultimately, PR is about people and so long as there are people then there’ll be opportunities for your business to grow through this means. PR is undoubtedly as important today as it’s ever been before. With the proliferation of digital news, social media and other online opportunities, it’s in your business’ best interest to garner some well-deserved exposure and coverage. Here at our Essex PR firm; we’ve seen the discipline morph and change over the years, but one thing has remained constant, and that is PR’s place within a business’ development arsenal.
Contact Us
So, if you’d like to find out more about our Essex PR firm, then get in touch! Contact VerriBerri today on 01376 386 850 or click here. We’d love to have a (socially-distanced) sit down and see how we can help progress your brand. If you’d like to find out more about work we’ve previously carried out, then you can take a look at some of our case studies! Don’t forget to go and give our Instagram a look, either!