When people think of public relations, typically what comes to mind is damage control, gaining media coverage and building trust. Although these are part of the package publicists provide, many people are unaware of the immensely impactful services skilled PR practitioners provide their clients. Public relations can be confusing, but it doesn’t have to be. Below are some of the many benefits businesses can gain when working with PR professionals. 

1. Breaking through the clutter with quality, not quantity

Navigating through the clutter of today’s media landscape is no easy task. You could spend top dollars in advertising to get your message seen across the web, but how many people truly read and resonated with the message? You can pay to advertise with the hope that your target audience will see it through the clutter, or you can pay a publicist to carefully tailor your message to cater to exactly who you want to reach. Just because a million people scrolled past your ad does not guarantee that your message resonated with any of your target audience. Quality is much more impactful than quantity and PR pros are skilled in attaining quality coverage for their clients.

2. Breathing life into the brand

People connect with brands, whether the brand is an influential figure, a product, a service, or an event. Public Relations builds brands and helps them tell their stories authentically. Through the art of storytelling, publicists breathe life into the brand and align it with the appropriate audience. Humans are social beings by nature with a desire to be understood. People seek friendship and connection with brands and publicists know how to build a brand their target audience can identify with.

3. Climbing up the Google ranks

SEO, or search engine optimization, determines where one’s brand will land when searching on Google. People typically want to get on or remain on the first page of their Google search. It is every brand’s goal to be the top result on Google and PR can help one achieve this. Links are an important ranking factor, so the more a brand is talked about online and featured on third-party sites with linkbacks to the brand’s site, the higher it rises and the easier it will be found by future and current customers.

Public Relations is a vital component in building a brand and staying relevant in the constantly changing media landscape. Although it is more difficult to calculate the return on investment PR practices provide, the return is there as the story of your brand will become known and the results will follow. It’s no surprise that Bill Gates once said “If I was down to the last dollar of my marketing budget I’d spend it on PR!”