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by Renee Fellows

August 25, 2008 —So many of my small business clients come to me for marketing and advertising assistance but they often undervalue or even overlook entirely what a solid public relations effort can do for their business.  It’s not that I don’t package public relations work as part of their overall marketing communications strategy, I do.  But when it comes time to cut budgets and approve estimates, I find that many clients tend to get the red pen out and cut PR often without giving it a second thought.

There’s an air of mystery surrounding public relations work that I think sometimes makes it seem like an intangible expense to business owners.  And this trend isn’t just for small business but is also evidenced throughout blue chip companies alike.  While it can be difficult to quantify public relations successes in terms of dollars and cents (although experts have been pairing matrices to campaigns for years now), there can be methods put into place within an organization to gauge overall campaign “success.” These can include satisfaction survey results, direct customer feedback, increased sales and a litany of other marketing communications results attributed in part or entirely to public relations efforts.  It’s important to not only look for results but to have a firm understanding of the intent and purpose behind public relations work.  Let’s look at some of the key reasons that companies (both for profit and nonprofit alike) utilize public relations efforts and how the strategies may fit into your small business.

Attitude Adjustments

A friend of mine frustrated with her adolescent daughter’s increasing teenage misbehavior began charging $5 for every “attitude adjustment.”  It was a stroke of parenting brilliance (and highly effective too).  Within weeks, the tantrums, negative behavior and ever-popular back-talk began to wane.  I began to think, “if only our clients could implement the same policy with every disgruntled customer charging them $5 for spreading bad comments about their company experience.”  Then I realized I had a far more powerful tool at my disposal – public relations.  One of the primary factors for conducting public relations campaigns is to modify, encourage, or expand perceptions toward a product, service, or company.  In today’s teen and Generation Y market, there are some veritable giants who have successfully captured this market by using attitude to attract and sell to their target.  But remember that attraction alone will only sell so many items; the real success is found in the combination of quality product or service with well planned marketing and public relations strategies . 

Let’s look at one of my favorite companies, Apple.  This company has done everything right in the last ten years to increase market share in cell phones, electronic handheld devices and computers by promoting their products as hip, innovative, fresh, and above all else, better than anything else on the market.  How did they do it?  They utilized their brand evangelists (i.e. their own customers talking up the greatness of their brand) combined with a solid public relations campaign (not to mention they produced some really rockin’ products!).

While personal computer (PC) users were fighting off slews of system-terminating viruses and trying to squeeze age-old DOS and Windows programming into new applications, Apple was quietly developing technology for a new generation of users. And Apple began communicating with this younger market where they lived, at school. Through educational programming, Apple became the computer of choice by teachers and students for its ease of use, graphical interfaces and flexibility in program applications (like Art, Graphic Design, Music, film, and so many more).  Once headed to college, these young ‘believers’ didn’t choose the PC when shopping for their first computer, but rather purchased the Apple because they knew the company, the software, and that the laptop would immediately fit into their lifestyles.

Today, Apple has grown the youth market with the introduction of digital recording devices like iPods and multiuse data/phone/video handhelds like iTouch and iPhone.  Just for good measure, Apple knows how to talk to its markets.  From press kits directed to both the techie journalist and the young editors at some of the hottest teen magazines (including media advances on the latest new devices),  to email and social media communications that interface directly with their  intended users, the company is constantly hearing feedback and incorporating it into new versions of its products and services.

Small business can learn a lot by using some of Apple’s most successful strategies into its own marketing communications strategies.  By examining current customers and examining their age, sex, race, where they live, how they purchase and frequency of buying much can be learned.  Don’t be afraid to ask questions about your business and really listen to what your customers have to say.  Then go about developing ways to better meet their needs (even exceed them) and delight them in every aspect of their experience with your organization.

In Tandem Marketing

The greatest marketing campaigns in the world won’t be successful without public relations to support them and vice versa.  That means that communications strategies must be developed simultaneously with marketing efforts in order to fully maximize your ad dollars.  Marketing and advertising’s purpose is to motivate action and public relations goes hand-in-hand to support this effort.  With today’s popular text messaging, Internet Messaging (IM), blogs and social web sites like FaceBook, Twitter and even Skype, developing conversations about your product or service isn’t as difficult or as costly as it used to be.  That’s not to say that it doesn’t take strategy and a solid plan to get your product mentioned and ‘chatted up in the right venues – that’s where a good public relations person or firm is really worth their retainer.  

Want your customer base to know more about your products?  Tell them!  If they have purchased from you previously, the odds are that they will be interested in discounts, new products, accessories, and ways to use their purchases in new and exciting ways.

Perception

With a recession in full swing and consumer confidence waning, what your target market thinks about your company can be the deciding factor in how they spend their hard-earned money.  Is your company eco-friendly?  Are your products Fair Trade Certified?  Does your company support social causes and charities?  These are just a sampling of some of the many messages that need to reach your markets (and something to cheer about).  Good corporate citizenship is as much about doing good for the community as it is about building a brand that can be trusted by your customers and your employees.  Employees should be included in the forefront of your efforts because they are, above all else, the most loyal and vocal brand evangelists you have in your arsenal.  When treated with respect and given the proper tools, they will go forth and tout the benefits of your organization all day long.

Public Opinion Matters

If you don’t think that public opinion matters, let’s recall Bridgestone/Firestone Tires and the exploding radials that caused 6.5 million tires to be recalled in 2001, nearly 250 highway deaths, and the closure of one of America’s leading brands and companies, Bridgestone/Firestone.  Not only in crisis communications but in positive situations as well, public opinion can be the deciding factor in whether a company succeeds or fails.   

A corporate relations survey by The Counsel of Public Relations Firms was conducted during the battle between Ford Motor Company and Bridgestone/Firestone to determine where communication failed and why.  As Bridgestone/Firestone gave notice of termination of its 95-year relationship with Ford to supply tires to their vehicles, the survey showed that Bridgestone/Firestone and Ford demonstrated “a complete breakdown in communications between the two companies.”   It was evident, said survey respondents, that both companies completely disregarded their crisis communications officers as they volleyed accusations and threats across the midline leaving their terrified customers lying in wake.  When public relations strategies are thwarted and emotion wins out over common sense the group most likely to suffer is the customer – and eventually the company.  Customers won’t tolerate bad business dealings especially when it comes to the safety of their families.

What can we, small business owners, learn from the Ford vs. Bridgestone/Firestone debacle?  That no matter what, the greater good and the consumer must be handled as the immediate priority.  As business owners we need to realize a harsh reality: Our business isn’t about us, our needs, or our desires, but rather the business is about our customers and their needs.  We do not exist without our customers. 

Still think that your small business is too small for a public relations strategy?  Guess again.  A few parting questions for you and your business management team:

Learn from the successes and failures of other businesses and don’t underestimate the value of a solid public relations effort alongside your marketing and advertising strategies.  Together they can provide a powerful vehicle for understanding and responding to your customer’s needs and give you a competitive edge in your market place.

Renee Fellows is the owner of ClearPoint Marketing Communications in Derry, New Hampshire.  She works with small business clients to develop marketing and public relations strategies that bring business and customers closer together. She can be reached at 603-434-9433 or via email at Rfellows@oneclearpoint.com.

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