What is one benefit a local business can expect from a public relations campaign? To help you acknowledge the benefits of public relations for local businesses, we asked business owners and marketing leaders this question for their best insights. From improved credibility to attracting potential investors, there are several benefits of local PR that may inspire you to begin PR initiatives for your business.
Here are 10 benefits of public relations for local businesses:
Improved Credibility
Make Yourself Known to Potential Partners
Public Relations Can Stretch Your Marketing Dollar
A Strong Relationship With the Community
Enhanced Media Relations
Initial Foot Traffic
Location Awareness
Brand Awareness
Attract Customers Who Value the Same Things You Do
Attract Potential Investors
Improved Credibility
Media coverage is always going to be more impactful than your own advertising efforts. When a reputed publication or platform vouches for your business, its readers get a great first impression of your brand. You immediately come across as an organization that's trustworthy and credible which pushes more and more people to buy your products and services. Building this kind of credibility with traditional marketing methods could take you a very long time. But a PR campaign can fast-track the entire thing tenfold.
Harry Morton, Founder, Lower Street
Make Yourself Known to Potential Partners
A public relations campaign can not only boost your image to customers but other potential partners in the community. For example, highlighting your business's mission can pique the interest of non-profits that may want to partner with you for an event or service day. These partnerships are mutually beneficial, exposing you to further clientele in the community. Partnerships also allow you to combine the resources of two organizations to achieve something new!
Adam Shlomi, Founder, SoFlo Tutors
Public Relations Can Stretch Your Marketing Dollar
Although it is listed in a different category, public relations is part of your marketing, and this makes one of its main benefits its ability to stretch your dollars. Every business allocates part of its budget for marketing, whether it is through digital advertisement, print media, or even social media post-production, and like all budgets, they are generally limited. Public relations through its use of journalists, local media, community groups, and other local entities, can successfully get your name and brand into the public discourse, acting as a viable marketing strategy. This relatively inexpensive, and most often free publicity, alleviates the stress on your overall marketing budget while getting comparable results. By leveraging public relations as a part of your marketing strategy, you can stretch your promotional dollars while maintaining your brand as a positive part of the community.
Matt Miller, Founder & CEO, Embroker
A Strong Relationship With the Community
When a business takes the time to engage with its local community through PR activities such as donating to charity, sponsoring local events, or getting involved in local projects, it builds a strong relationship with the community. You don't just become a business, you become a part of the community. In turn, this can lead to improved brand awareness and reputation as well as increased sales, as customers are more likely to support businesses that they feel are invested in their community.
Peter Lucas, Owner, Relocate to Andorra
Enhanced Media Relations
Enhanced media relations are often one benefit of a PR campaign. An initial PR campaign-driven media meet-n’-greet gets local businesses in with the local news and media. Forming relationships with journalists and publicists will open up more opportunities down the road for media engagement for the business. Good relationships with the media can help build a positive brand image with the entire community too.
Kevin Callahan, Co-Founder & CEO, Flatline Van Co.
Initial Foot Traffic
One benefit to a public relations campaign for a local business can be an immediate influx of foot traffic. Sometimes people are reluctant to shop where they haven't been before. They're used to their old habits and the stores they trust. With a PR campaign, you can establish trust in your brand because you're leveraging the trust people have in the publications and media outlets that talk about you.
If someone reads a good review or a positive article about your business, they may be more likely to visit. Once you have that foot traffic, it's up to you to provide a great customer experience. If you do that, they're more likely to visit again, and over time you can grow your customer base.
Dennis Consorte, Digital Marketing and Leadership Consultant for Startups, Snackable Solutions
Location Awareness
A public relations campaign will help drive awareness of your physical business location. Depending on the size of your geographic area, locals may not know your business exists, especially if your business is located in a city or an unfrequented side street. If you can expand the number of people in your neighborhood that know of your storefront, you're more likely to bring in new business.
Patricio Paucar, Co-Founder and Chief Customer Officer, Navi
Brand Awareness
The old adage that states, “Any publicity is good publicity” may not always be true – but it often is. Politicians embroiled in controversy can gain positive spins out of it and get elected or re-elected (e.g., Bill Clinton). An ill-timed and/or ill-conceived marketing campaign can still benefit a company (e.g., Coca-Cola). So it isn’t hard to imagine how a damage-control campaign can generate curiosity.
If the damage isn’t that severe, you can parlay that into some increased sales. It’s been done many times. Public relations often kicks in when something bad happens, but it doesn’t all have to be bad. If the public relations tactics work in your favor, it can be hugely beneficial. That’s how a local business, or any business, can benefit from an effective public relations campaign.
Trevor Ford, Head of Growth, Yotta
Attract Customers Who Value the Same Things You Do
A PR campaign can strengthen your community standing by highlighting the values that stand behind your operations. Chances are, there's a significant group of people who aren't clear on what's important to you as a local business, whether you're well-known or not.
And as people come to know what matters to you, you'll attract customers who value those same things. This helps to create a bond with loyal customers in your community, which can insulate you from competition by non-local businesses.
Lisa Banks, Chief Content Strategist, SaaSpirin
Attract Potential Investors
A good PR campaign helps the business get noticed by potential clients and prospective investors. In today's competitive business world, it isn't easy to attract investors or even get noticed.
A PR campaign raises the excellent image of the business and sells its values and strengths to the world. A good PR campaign must be placed strategically on media platforms after being expertly curated to gain the target audience's attention. Not only will it attract potential investors from the business field but also from the government and international commerce bodies