Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Public Relations
- Helps build trust
- Helps build relationships
- Tells brand stories
- Enhances reputation
- Manage crises
- Engages and persuades
- Positions you or your business as a thought leader
Marketing is often misunderstood to be about promotions. However, in reality marketing covers all aspects of defining a product or service to getting that product or service in the hands of the customer and beyond.
When people ask if marketing and public relations are the same thing, they often mean advertising, which is only one aspect of marketing. Marketing encompasses everything it takes to bring products and services to market and make them successful. Advertising is about paying for messaging that resonates with the consumer and pushes them to buy or take some other action. Of course, companies also pay for brand recognition.
On the other hand, public relations is about engaging with the public through “earned” media. This is media that you don’t have to buy. As a result, public relations is often seen as more legitimate than advertising. Instead of paying to get your message out there, you engage with the public and generate interest. This might include making news or just letting the media know about all of the interesting things you are doing. In this day and age, it might even mean starting conversations directly with the public. While advertising is usually a one-directional method of communication, public relations creates multi-directional communication.
Public relations is “earned” media, so theoretically, you can run a campaign for zero dollars. Your budget for PR will include the amount of time your campaign requires, the level of expertise, the type of tools you plan to utilize and whether you plan to host events, build websites or create other assets like videos, reports or studies. PR can integrate with your advertising and social media or it can stand alone.
Whatever your budget, PR will likely require time to plan and execute. However, it’s possible to focus on PR for much less than you spend on advertising. In fact, the more you build your brand organically, the less aggressive you may need to be in terms of ad spending. Of course, if PR helps you mitigate or avert a crisis, it can even save you a lot of money.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engine optimization (SEO) is important for improving the position of your website in the search engines like Google and Bing. This means that you will have high visibility when customers are searching for companies like yours. SEO implies a certain amount of credibility. The higher you rank in the search engines, the more credible your company will be to potential customers. Being on the first page of Google also delivers a significant increase in traffic to your website. When was the last time you clicked to the second page?
Once you reach the stage you want to be in organic traffic, you can start to decrease the amount you are paying for advertising as long as you are attracting the right customers through your search terms. Thus, SEO not only improves your brand recognition, but also reduces cost.
On-page SEO is another major factor impacting your business. When users can find what they want faster, they’ll start coming back. It’s much easier to sell to someone who knows, likes and trusts you than to a brand new lead.
Have you ever visited the main street in a small town? Maybe you see the names of businesses on the facades of buildings regardless of whether the business is still there. These businesses were popular for generations due to their prominence. They built their businesses through a combination of location, great customer service and word of mouth. The Internet is a similar type of market where companies build their position on the web. This is true even if you have a brick and mortar place of business. In order to succeed in the search engines, you need both credibility and prominence.
However stable the Main Street business seemed, it was always dealing with threats. A similar business with cheaper or trendier products, a new shopping mall and even the Internet could all cause customers to look for something new. Prominent websites are the same. Competitors will try to knock higher ranking sites down. Google will realize that certain SEO tactics are overused and issue a penalty. Even successful website owners must always keep up with SEO and not assume that their current position is permanent.
When people ask this question, they are often thinking about time and money. Many business owners give up when SEO seems to take too long to work and simply focus on advertising. Others might think they have established their spot and they no longer need to focus on SEO only to find out that their position quickly slides downward as soon as their focus is elsewhere.
While advertising might get you on the front page of Google (as long as you bid high enough), SEO can help you attract audiences at all stages of the buying cycle from awareness to ready to buy. SEO keeps your results looking fresh and new, so customers aren’t left wondering if you are still in business. Organic search results make you look established. Customers know that many of the ads that appear in search results are fly-by-night. Even after seeing your ad, they may scroll down the page to “check you out.”
Even if you are paying for Google ads, SEO should be an important part of your online presence.
Social Media Management
Every brand is different. What works for a restaurant won’t work for an insurance broker. First, we need to identify where your clients are when they are on social media and why they want to connect with you there. This social media analysis will help to generate a plan that puts you front and center and top of mind.
Social media is very reliant on graphic elements these days. We’ll help you determine how this will look by considering your existing brand and collateral. Social media needs to be consistent with your brand voice and audience. You will receive a complete audit and recommendations.
Posting schedules, messaging, content and customer service all fall under the modern social media manager’s job. If you haven’t yet streamlined your social media customer service, we’ll help you set it up and plan out your content and posting schedules to match your brand voice and audience’s needs. Will you go live? Do you need professional video, or do you just want to sit down with your clients on camera and be authentic? All of these factors need to be planned out ahead of time.
How will you engage with your audience? Who will you follow and why? How will you generate great reviews? There are so many factors to consider in your social media strategy, and every company is different. We’ll put together a package that makes it simple and hassle-free.
Determining the best social media channels for your business requires research based on the demographics that you want to serve. Facebook has the largest audience and includes an audience spread out across a wide demographic range. However, there are many other platforms that you may wish to pursue depending on the nature of your business.
When you engage on the smaller platforms, your message may actually be seen by more people due to less competition and less filtering. If you sell B2B, you will probably want to be on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is also great for your brand as an employer.
Some platforms like Instagram and Snapchat appeal to a younger audience. Some, like Twitter and Reddit, are great for issues-based discussion because the users are highly interested and engaged with current affairs. (However, promotional marketing messages are not usually welcomed on Reddit.)