In Public Relations 101, 201 and 301, you got a free sailing lesson with a long wet discussion of public relations relative to objective ...the sum of it being that what separates public relations from all other marketing mediums is its emphasis on building awareness and credibility....
PR’s credibility factor is so important to have a handle on. For you investment advisors, accountants, business coaches, lawyers, and consultants out there, take heed: Buyers of professional services almost always base their decisions on credibility.
Credibility enables trust –and without trust you’re not going anywhere.
Variables that affect credibility can include continuity of presence (visibility), name recognition, thought leadership, and the implied third party endorsements of respected on and offline media (and the endearment of trade organizations too).
Here’s the math:
Presence = awareness/name recognition = perceived thought leadership = credibility.
Presence can be achieved at many different levels of intensity across many different layers of constituents across many different mediums of marketing communications.
A wealth management advisor may reach out to 1) to prospects and clients, 2) the media including business journals, consumer magazines, newspapers and special interest group newsletters, and 3) referral sources such as accountants and tax attorneys.
The mediums used to communicate with these different groups could include: sales call, sales letter, news release, web site, email, post card, newsletter, event, brochure, gift and so on.
It is important to also note an often overlooked medium for strategic communication with constituents, that being brand behavior. (We’ll spend some time with this one later on.)
But before doing anything ...think it through!
First, make certain you’ve carefully plotted your brand positioning strategy. Have you done all you can to identify and leverage opportunities relative to target, competitive set, value proposition, unique selling proposition, brand message and brand personality. (These are described elsewhere on The Brand Development Company’s web site.)
Second, have you taken into consideration any trends or circumstances that may influence your message and/or its delivery channels. Are you aware of your target’s interface preferences (periodicals, Internet, conferences, etc.).
Third, have you create a seamless process for converting interest into sales?
Are you optimizing possible synchronicities among mediums? For instance, will your announcements coincide with a major trade show or with a scheduled editorial opportunity in the trade media? Can the new graphics for your web site carry over also to your post card campaign?
And so on. And so on. And so on.
Think it through carefully and be very careful not to over commit. The last thing you want is to spend time and money building presence (credibility) only to evaporate into the unknown.
Suddenly going dark like that can raise questions.
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For more information about public relations services offered by The Brand Development Company, call Tim Bryant at 864-674-6261.
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