The Public Relations Blog

Learn how you, too, can use PR to grow your business

In business, growth is the name of the game. Many small- and medium-sized companies look to large corporations to see how it’s done. Knowing this, you may be curious about how much large, billion-dollar global corporations invest in public relations.

Big companies invest heavily in PR firms, typically $250,000 to $25 million annually – often less than one percent of revenue – to achieve big results. Even if you don’t have that kind of revenue (yet), you can still take maximum advantage of smart public relations, if you know how.

When you compare cost to results, you will always come out ahead

As a medium-sized company, you have more resources than a small business, but can still maintain a level of flexibility not present in large corporations. Although you have more money to work with, you still need to ensure that you spend it wisely. So, are you spending enough on public relations?

When it comes to your growth and success, invest wisely

You have decided that your company needs the services of a public relations firm. Perhaps you already have in-house staff that could use an extra hand to get more done. Maybe you are looking to invest more resources and time in your company’s PR efforts for increased visibility and results, and you have determined that a PR agency is your best option. Whatever the reason, you first need to know how much hiring a PR firm will cost.

When your CEO creates a firestorm

An instance of self-induced crisis cleanup began on Wednesday when Verizon workers went on strike over several key issues – which, in itself, wasn’t the crisis.

In the presidential campaign events the next day, both Democratic candidates took to the stage to support various aspects of the Verizon workers’ decision. This is common for politicians; it only became an issue for Verizon when the company’s CEO chose to respond to only one candidate, Bernie Sanders, but remained silent regarding Hillary Clinton’s similar statements on the same day.

Don’t dig yourself into a hole during a PR crisis

Not having your customer’s pulse for your brand can hurt your business when the public is expecting a response from you, but so can a knee-jerk reaction. No matter what noise is in the background, responsible corporate statements always need to stay on message, on time and be delivered via the appropriate channels.

Learn how company culture can increase productivity and profitability

The Emmy-winning CBS network reality series Undercover Boss is one of the most popular shows on television. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a program where CEOs of medium and large corporations go in disguise as low-level employees at their own companies to find what’s really going on in their businesses. Along the way, they meet and are touched by the real employees who are helping (or sometimes not helping) the companies stay successful.

In the past, crisis communication was usually done on an ad hoc basis and in a relatively reactive manner. More recently, companies have realized that communicating messages during times of corporate stress should be carefully managed so that the right message is sent to both their customers and to their employees.

What you need to know before planning your next PR campaign

In public relations, we talk a lot about strategic plans and the advantages of various campaigns. However, very little is said about what a successful campaign actually looks like, how you measure its success and the benefits you can achieve.

Use PR to ensure your image remains intact

Ben Franklin once said, “It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.” Just look at some Google searches as proof. It seems the worst news always rises to the top. When it comes to online reputation, the stakes are high.

The first reaction to a company crisis is usually to speak out and defend yourself. In social media, this can be hazardous to your brand. So what is the best way to react during a corporate catastrophe? Should your social media firm respond or not? It depends on the situation. Here is a brief primer on how a social media firm should react during an emergency.