Is your PR driving business your way?

By Jeannette Bitz
Part of my role as a partner at Engage PR is business development. It should go without saying that one of the most important aspects of business development is keeping your current clients happy and helping them expand their visibility and succeed beyond their expectations.

In times like these, every PR dollar needs to be well spent, so when I approach new prospects I ask them “Are you happy with your press coverage and your PR overall?”  Many reply, “My boss has a relationship with the contact at the agency.”  But when I follow with “Okay, but is your PR helping drive sales?”, I’m always surprised by the silence at the other end of the phone. 

Sadly, many marketing VPs and directors have no idea how or if their PR efforts are helping with their bottom line, even in these tough economic times. I’m a believer in PR, and I believe companies need to invest in it—but they shouldn’t do it half way.

PR can help generate sales, but it takes good consistent coverage that shows thought leadership and market leadership. Without such coverage, your customers will wonder what’s going on with your company, or even if you’re still in business.

What are the other risks of not doing PR or of investing in poor PR?

• You’re likely to be irrelevant if you have no visibility
• Your unique point of view about the market, customers, and competitors is lost
• If  you stop doing PR, you lose mindshare—and it takes twice the amount of time and money to even hope to get it back
• You’ll lose insight into what’s happening in the changing media landscape. Trust me, it’s changing daily!
• Worse, your competitors, even those with sub-par solutions, will gain more mindshare and thought leadership

Good PR helps you communicate the need for your product or service, differentiate you from your competitors, and build your relationships with the press, bloggers, and analysts who will get the word out about your company.  Although today companies may wonder if they should spend money on PR, without it your visibility and even your sales may fizzle, not sizzle.