If you are a business owner, sooner or later the question arises before you, how to tell people about your service or product? Perhaps you produce the best products in the city or even in the world, but no one knows about this and will not know. After all, the market has a ton of similar products already known to the buyer. For this, every company needs advertising and public relations. As a rule, the company organizes a department of the same name, which is engaged in promoting your brand to the masses. What is the benefit for the company in such a unit, how much it will cost the company and whether advertising is effective in the modern world, we will understand in this article.
What is a "public" and why get involved with it?
Any company does not work in a vacuum, but in the information space. This space includes not only potential buyers, but also your competitors, the media, people who will not be your customers, but who can transmit both positive and negative information about you. Organization of public relations is the establishment of a flow of information from you to all these sources. If you do not see the need for such connections, because you work successfully and have a constant circle of customers, then you are a monopolist in the market. All other enterprises need to loudly declare themselves and their product.
Company image
Since the beginning of its work in the market, any enterprise has its own image. At first it is neutral, you and your products have not yet been tested. However, later, any of your actions can make the image either positive or negative. The market is designed in such a way that getting a negative image is many times easier than gaining a good name. Moreover, if they speak well of you today, this does not mean that this trend will continue tomorrow, because you need to work tirelessly on a positive image.
But negative reviews are easy to earn, and getting rid of them is very difficult. Any negative customer is transmitted to your other potential customers and leaves you without demand for a long time.
Now let’s think about which product of the enterprise will interest the buyer in the first place: the one that everyone praises, or the one about which only the bad is heard? It is for the creation and regular maintenance of a positive image of the enterprise that a reasonable leader creates a public relations department.
The role of public relations in the modern world
If you still doubt the need to create an existing public relations department, then let's consider what role this structural unit will play in your organization.
First of all, this is the creation of a favorable information field around your company. Experienced advertisers are able to provide the company with a positive image, constantly support it. Advertising and public relations are necessary elements for the successful functioning of the company along with the legal or accounting department.
Pr-PR
Many confuse advertising and PR activities. In fact, these are different concepts. Public Relations (public relations), and this is how the abbreviation stands, includes not only advertising, but also marketing and sociological research, communications, journalism. If the purpose of advertising is to impose an opinion on a product and sell it, then PR works more globally, its purpose is to form a public opinion about the company and, accordingly, about all products of this company.
Specialists of the PR department work with information: analyze incoming data, study the target audience and its expectations and provide the consumer with the necessary information about the products and goods in the form of advertising.
In addition, pr-department employees constantly receive feedback from consumers and send suggestions for product improvement to the director of the enterprise. How many employees should be involved in these functions? It depends on the vision of the manual. At some enterprises, a department is formed of several employees, and if the company is small, then one person can handle all the tasks.
The loyalty of the organization’s employees to their own brand
We must not forget that advertising and public relations also include the so-called “internal corporate pr”. How can you convince the public that your products are great if your organization disagrees? This is exactly the first step that an experienced pr employee takes. He convinces all employees of the enterprise of the importance of what they do. For this, trainings, holidays, corporate parties are used. All these events are aimed at making each member of your company feel important in the common cause, appreciate and love their work and the product in which they participate.
Advertising as part of public relations activities
Advertising is the promotion of goods at a grosser level, and at the same time more effective.
When employees of the PR department collect information about consumer expectations, it's time to inform potential customers that it is you who produce the goods or services they need. After all, if “nameless” products enter the market, hardly anyone will be tempted by it. People acquire what is heard. You do not need to think that we are only talking about advertising on television or radio, such methods of promotion are very expensive and not always effective. Promotional specialists know that the basics of advertising include the so-called word of mouth, media publications, banners and billboards, promotion of goods with the help of promoters, tastings and promotions for the sale of goods.
How much is public opinion?
Advertising does not necessarily cost the company a "round" amount. Local publications will be happy to print an article about your production if you invite journalists to the enterprise, give them a tour, and provide quality materials. Do not forget about the World Wide Web, today you can’t do without your own website.
It will be very useful for your company to participate in sponsorship programs, help orphanages, orphanages, support sporting events, festivals. Participation will not be free, but it will certainly be cheaper than commercials in prime hours. Residents of your city will definitely appreciate your impulse and notice your brand.
Remember that advertising media are famous for their rich arsenal, and an experienced and pr-manager should understand this. If your company, while the PR department is still operating, remains unknown, be aware that employees are not working efficiently.
What should not the PR department do?
Many managers are tempted to “load” pr-managers with all kinds of organizational work. This can be a mistake, because, fulfilling your current organizational tasks, the employee will not be able to build long-term strategies for the future. What should not be delegated to the pr department?
- Be an employee "on the hook." If you need a secretary or courier, then hire him. But do not transfer such assignments to your pr-manager, since then the work that he directly performs will suffer - advertising and public relations.
- Self-raise money for activities. Of course, employees will need funds for activities. Media articles, banners, payment for the work of promoters costs money, and you must determine in advance how much you are willing to allocate for advertising. However, remember that if your advertising managers will attract money, their work will be ineffective.
- Independently decide how much money is needed to work. This is the second extreme - to give "reins" in the hands of your managers, who themselves will determine their own budget. Believe me, an experienced and creative specialist can, without a twinge of conscience, spend an amount equal to your annual gross income on advertising.
Pr-manager of a small company: payment for his work
The development of public relations, as you already understood, is that item of expenses that should be immediately included in the budget of the enterprise. The manager does not ask how expensive the maintenance of the accounting department will cost him, but pr still seems to many to be something superfluous, not very necessary. This is a big mistake, remember that without advertising you simply remain at the same level as you are today.
How much does the maintenance of a staff of public relations managers cost? It depends on the size of your business.
If you work at the city level, you will not need many employees. One or two people who know the job will be enough. Remember that an experienced pr-manager is a “human orchestra”. He himself knows what to do, where to run and with whom to negotiate. If the hired manager is sitting thoughtlessly at the computer, then such a "specialist" is not suitable for you. A month after you have a public relations service, even if it is in the person of one person, you should have your own website, information about you should appear in local newspapers, and your company must be heard by citizens. How much to pay such a manager? Of course, the specialist considers himself simply priceless, but in general, his salary should not be inferior to the salary of the leading managers of your enterprise. Remember that it is this person who represents you in the market and “makes” the face of your company.
Organization of pr-service for a large organization
If your company has branches in many cities, then you need to think about creating a small public relations department in each city. In each city, the audience has its own expectations and preferences.
Organization of an advertising service can be carried out in the form of creating a common coordinating promotion department, as well as attracting brand managers to promote your brand at the national level and go beyond the country into the international arena.