The importance of ongoing PR for business success
Many organisations mistakenly believe PR is just a one-off effort to increase awareness or engagement for a product launch or business update.
In fact, true media and business success comes from ongoing PR, whether your business is small or large.
Whilst short bursts of PR may be a great first step in generating engagement from target audiences, a long-term PR strategy is necessary in achieving effective and meaningful visibility, maintaining a positive reputation, and being prepared in case a crisis hits. Importantly, an ongoing PR strategy also minimises an organisation’s reputational damage caused by a crisis, which of course, can arise at any given moment.
What is Public Relations?
Firstly, let’s clarify. What is Public Relations?
PR encompasses a wide array of activities, ranging from media relations, crisis communications, social media and influencer engagement, and internal communications, just to name a few.
The primary goal is to achieve media coverage and increased awareness to manage and maintain a positive reputation and relationship between an organisation and its many stakeholders.
Create visibility
Overtime, ongoing, strategic PR activity can help create increased visibility for your brand through frequent media coverage and effective communications.
Visibility and awareness are vital for an organisation to attract new customers and engage consumers, ultimately contributing to an organisation’s overall success. Increased visibility also leads to increased trust and credibility.
Like everything, consistency is key, especially with PR.
According to Adoni Media’s Director of Accounts & Strategy, Monique Dews, “an organisation wants to be top of mind in the public which requires consistency to increase visibility”.
Consistency in PR, whether it be regular social media updates or news coverage, helps reinforce and strengthen a brand’s identity and cultivates a positive reputation.
Maintain a positive reputation
Not only does frequent PR lead to increased visibility, it also ensures the organisation maintains a positive reputation in the eyes of their stakeholders and in the public.
One PR campaign might be engaging in the short term, however, a series of PR initiatives has more impact over the longer term in establishing and maintaining a positive reputation for an organisation and their stakeholders.
Further, it can be challenging to establish a positive reputation if the organisation lacks widespread recognition and awareness.
Being prepared in case of a crisis
As we’ve emphasised time and time again, an ongoing PR strategy is absolutely crucial for effective crisis management.
There is nothing worse than having an unexpected crisis occur when an organisation is unprepared.
Organisations that proactively use PR to establish a positive reputation over a series of months or years will be in a stronger position to protect their brand and reputation during a crisis.
Depending on the situation, a strong track record and established goodwill may even outweigh the extent of the crisis, helping the public and stakeholders move on quickly. Being crisis ready starts with having a PR strategy and a Crisis Management Plan in place well before a crisis emerges.
We know firsthand that PR can be overwhelming and a mammoth task. This is where working with a PR agency is an advantage. Ongoing PR requires consistency to ensure an organisation is best prepared in case of a crisis, to create ongoing visibility and a positive reputation.
A PR agency like Adoni Media is here to help you with all of your PR and media needs. Our leading team will design an ongoing PR strategy tailored to your needs and specific company goals. We can also work with you to outline a Crisis Management Plan, so you are quick to respond when things go wrong.
