With new business domains being brought every day, new business social profiles being set up, and new businesses popping up on every corner, it's getting tougher to stand out from the sea of products and services. However, there are ways you can weave stories and create awareness so that yours makes a lasting impression. Public relations can give you opportunities for growth in ways you never would have imagined.
If you're looking for cost-effective PR strategies without compromising quality, hire a PR marketing agency in Bangladesh. You'll get all the public relations services you need within your budget to elevate your brand.
To make the most of PR, here are six ways you can take advantage of even the simplest public relations strategies to get the most significant results. Let's jump right into it!
1. Brand Awareness and Recognition
71% of customers say it's vital for them to recognize a brand when they're making a purchase. So, strategizing to expose your brand to a broader audience can help you establish a strong market presence and raise brand recognition among customers.
Here are some ways to do that:
- Research the top and most popular publications and blogs in your region and start creating personalized pitches. These pitches should be to the point, so skip the lengthy introductions and dive right into the unique selling points.
- Even if these publications refuse to publish it this time, don't write them off. Build a good rapport and get suggestions on how to widen your media outreach. These media contacts will come in handy later on.
- Influencer collaborations are a great way to expose your brand to a broad audience. This can save you time and money since influencers already have access to communities that could take you years to build. And track engagement to know if your strategies are working and what needs improvement. Since these collaborations can be expensive, daily or weekly updates to your strategies can do wonders.
- Hosting live events is a fast way to boost brand awareness. If that's not within your budget, online webinars are a great alternative.
2. Prioritize Retaining Over Acquiring New Customers
If you're thinking long-term, strengthening customer relationships should be at the top of your priorities. When customers are happy, word-of-mouth spreads naturally, helping to form an organic positive image of your brand. Acquiring a new customer can cost five times more than retaining an existing one, so customer retention isn't something you should overlook.
Here are some ways to do that:
- Stay in touch with your customers even after the service to collect feedback and testimonials systematically. Create static or video content from these stories to publish on your website, blog, social media, or press releases. Focus on the results and benefits.
- Social media allows brands to create a direct, two-way relationship with the audience. By responding to customer queries and comments, you can start building a loyal following. Q&A sessions and livestreams are also great strategies to keep the audience engaged.
- Give out discounts and loyalty rewards to your repeat customers to let them know you care about them.
- To nurture and maintain customer relationships even in your absence, invest in customer success and support teams. A loyal customer base leads to repeat business.
3. Recruit the Best in the Business
To be on top, the people behind the brand need to be on top of their game. It is much easier to hire top talent when you have a positive public image of the business. This can cut down on hiring costs significantly.
Here are some ways to do that:
- Gather employee testimonials and create content to show behind-the-scenes footage of your services in an engaging way. When you show all the processes, from the production to the finish, it increases transparency and customer trust.
- Add your mission, vision, and core values to your website so people can see what qualities and attitudes your business values. Be transparent about salary ranges, work hours, tasks, and culture in your job postings, as candidates appreciate honesty.
- Make trendy reels and TikToks to highlight your company culture on social media. This strategy works well if you're looking to hire younger millennials and Gen Z employees.
- Create a whistleblower or feedback form and promptly address any negative feedback. This shows you care about creating a safe and fair work environment.
- Acknowledge the hard work of your employees with recognition certificates, monetary rewards, discounts, and awards.
- Implement training programs so employees can upskill themselves, grow professionally, and contribute more to the company's success. Happy employees are more motivated to stick around.
4. Showcase Your Insights and Expertise
To be respected in the industry, you have to show that you have knowledge and experience that people, both inside and outside the industry, want access to. Thought leadership builds a professional public image for your business, leading to more conversions.
Here are some ways to do that:
- Educational blogs full of industry insights, hacks, and fun anecdotes on your website or popular blog platforms like Medium, Substack, and LinkedIn can position you as an opinion leader in the market.
- All the content must be well-researched, practical, and backed up by proof.
- Sign up to speak at conferences and engage in intellectual panel discussions to show you're the real deal.
- Network at corporate events and find potential investors, clients, and collaborators.
- Consistently post updates to contribute to ongoing discussions. Share your thoughts on recent causes and trends to show you're keeping up with the times.
- Collaborate with others like you or credible influencers to co-host events and run joint promotional campaigns.
5. Use SEO in All Your Content
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can help your website show up in the top 10 Google search results, increasing your visibility to potential customers.
Here are some ways to appear in search results organically:
- Platforms like Ahrefs and Semrush can help you find relevant and trending keywords people use to search online. Use these keywords in your blogs, copy, captions, website descriptions, and press releases.
- Publish content on third-party blogs and insert links to your business website to drive traffic. You can also add links to websites with high domain authority on your own website.
- Create content that stands the test of time, such as business reports, how-to guides, and similar resources.
6. Maintain Your Reputation
Learn to de-escalate situations before they get out of hand. It's crucial to take measures to safeguard your reputation by employing the right people.
Here are some ways to help you manage crises:
- Have a strategy ready to respond to any content you push out that might not be received well or could be misinterpreted.
- Hire a crisis management agency or in-house team to handle issues before they cause irreparable damage to your brand.
- Always have templates for social media apologies and press releases ready so that even if the old team leaves, the new team can quickly respond to situations appropriately.
- Google Alerts is a handy tool for monitoring brand mentions.
- Be transparent and take accountability instead of shifting blame.
- Try to shift the audience's attention to the positive work your company has done. Your ethics and contributions to society can help soften the blow to your reputation.
Wrapping Up
In summary, building awareness helps potential customers become familiar with your brand before they engage with your business directly. When they do, they are more likely to trust you, thanks to your public relations efforts. Retaining these customers is also crucial, as it is much easier and more cost-effective than acquiring new ones. This approach saves time and money while encouraging organic growth through word-of-mouth.
Focusing public relations on both the internal and external aspects of your business creates a positive reputation that attracts top professionals in the industry. This can reduce recruitment costs, which is especially valuable for small and medium-sized companies. Conducting keyword research is also essential to improve your website’s ranking in search engine results. In times of crisis, having a prepared response plan can protect your reputation.
These six approaches can drive significant business growth and help you stand out in a crowded marketplace. Choose the public relations strategies that align with your business model, budget, and resources, and get started.
