It can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking that your public relations (PR) strategy isn’t all that important anymore. After all, you’re likely using a range of opportunities — from social media platforms to podcasts and the like — to communicate with your audience. Do any of the following resonate with you regarding your PR efforts?
1. Little to No Return on Your Investment (ROI)
If you sometimes feel like your efforts aren’t translating into sales, you might need to do a PR shakeup. A simple way of looking at — and answering — this question is to take a look at how much time, money, and effort you’re devoting to PR and measure that against your growth expectations and results.
Tag links in releases and pitches with UTM parameters so you can trace coverage in your analytics platform. Review referral traffic, conversion events, and attribution reports from those links to see whether earned media is moving prospects toward purchase. Set a simple coverage-to-traffic ratio to watch trend lines over time.
2. Lack of Buzz
One of the most obvious signs that your need to change up your PR strategy is that your company simply isn’t in the news. The point of PR in the first place is to assist your company in helping you relate to your audience. If you aren’t seeing any reaction from your recent PR efforts, you need a change.
3. Who’s Your Target Audience?
When you do a PR blast, are you sending them out to every email address in your contact list and hoping for the best? This blanket strategy isn’t very effective because each of your PR efforts should be directed toward those people who are poised to make a purchase from you. Having a crystal clear understanding of who they are is crucial to an effective PR strategy.
Split your media list by beat, region, and format, and adjust pitches to match each group. Check audience demographics and interests in site and platform analytics to confirm you are reaching people who tend to engage and convert.
4. You’re Trailing Your Competition
If your competitors are frequently featured in the media and creating a lot of buzz, that’s a sure sign that your strategies are missing the mark. Delving into the strategies behind their efforts could go a long way toward providing you with the coverage you need.
Do you see your company in any of the points outlined above? If so, it might be time for you to adjust your companies PR strategy.
