It is a sign of the times – but it takes a recession for PR to come into its own.
As organisations get wary about spending money, marketing budgets come under the microscope. Companies that never even considered PR (or thought of it as a wishy, washy country cousin of the marketing campaign) have suddenly begun to see the benefits of adding PR and stretching a budget.
There is a danger here. If you think that PR works instantly – just as (some) ads do. They don’t. Here are a few reality checks for you. I may sound like a broken record but I can’t emphasise enough:
- Just because you appoint a PR agency does not mean that they wave a magic wand and you will be instantly famous. It takes time to build relationships, for the editors understand who you are and what you do. It is not necessary that just because you advertise that editors know who you are. Some of them don’t even look at the ads.
- What is possibly news to you is not necessarily newsworthy. Your PR person knows that and you need to trust them to guide you in building your relationship with the media and your customer.
- Keep an open mind. To make sure you get the value, you need to think out of the box and let the PR agency guide you.
PR works. It takes time sometimes especially if you don’t have a lot of money to throw at it.
