Public relations is often thought of in the negative sense: as a way to keep the company out of the public eye when the news is bad. Important as that can be, p.r. can also be an extremely valuable part of a broad-based, multi-faceted, proactive marketing plan.

Low cost, high credibility

Even when public relations is defined as only news media relations, it's capable of accomplishing much the same task as paid advertising – only at a lower cost and with greater credibility.

At its broadest, though, p.r. includes a variety of other helpful disciplines, including community relations, investor relations and dealer relations. Most importantly, all p.r. activities flow from the branding and positioning decisions made during the planning phase, so that all p.r. efforts are fully integrated into the overall umbrella message and is directed to the same audiences.

Public relations excels in two areas.

First of all, it's cost-effective, because you only have to pay for the creative – writing a new release, designing support materials, contacting editors and news directors – and not buy the space in a publication.

Second, the message is credible because consumers (even the savvy people who are consumers of business-to-business marketing) believe that advertising can be misleading – yet they tend to trust the articles that appear alongside those ads. That's because a mention in the editorial columns carries a third-party endorsement: It's not the company or its spokesman saying these things, readers think, it's the editor of the publication who's saying them.

Give us a call if you'd like help in using the trade and general press to improve your organization's position in the marketplace.