GAYLE WHITTAKER
Gayle Whittaker is a freelance PR consultant specialising in the waste and recycling sector. Having originally trained as a journalist, Gayle made the move into PR 23 years ago and has experience in the not-for-profit, public and private sectors. She has specialised in waste and recycling for the past 15 years.
www.huntersonmedia.co.uk
Business
Clinic PUBLIC RELATIONS
What is Public Relations and why does it matter to your business?
PUBLIC relations is a difficult job to describe to people and many a time I’ve been stumped to explain exactly what I do for a living when friends and family ask me, often resorting to: “Yes that’s right, I write press releases and websites.”
The reality is that PR is so much more than this. The official definition describes PR as ‘building a relationship between an organisation and its public’. Quite a stuffy way of explaining your day-to-day job over the dinner table though!
So what exactly is PR and why does it matter to your business?
PR covers a wide range of methods, tools and tactics but all with one common goal: to create a good impression. In SMEs it’s usually undertaken by a business because it has a product to promote.
However, that shouldn’t be the only driver. The real purpose of PR is to establish and maintain a good reputation for your business for a whole
host of reasons including, of course, sales.
You will already be carrying out PR activities without even thinking about it. Every time you speak to a customer, you’re representing your company and creating an impression - helping to build a reputation for your brand.
There are many other things you may also already be doing: sending out media releases, maintaining an up-to-date website, running social media pages, sponsoring a local football team, etc. This is all PR and all good for profile raising - as long as it’s done well.
But there is still more to PR. What lies behind all the tools and tactics and attempts to increase sales has to be the company’s values.
Top of the priority list for any business should be honesty and integrity, closely followed by excellent customer service. If these are in place and understood throughout your business and its staff,
your PR is off to a good start. Then all you need to do is work out how best to shout about it (ideas for that will be covered in a later column!).
A company with strong values and a good reputation is far more likely to succeed no matter what line of work they are in, and well executed PR is most definitely good for your bottom line.
But a healthy reputation is also important should a crisis occur. If you find yourself in a position where something you sell has failed, someone has been injured or there has been a catastrophe linked to your business, would your company’s existing reputation stand you in good stead?
So when you think about PR in the future don’t just think it’s a press release written to promote a new contract or a new product. These are really important as part of the mix but remember the bigger picture. Your long-term motivation is about having an excellent reputation. Once that is established, the rest will follow easily.
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