The Public Relations Blog

Use PR tools and tactics to fight back the right way

You Google your company name and one of the first things you find is a scathing review written by a disgruntled customer. Before you go into panic mode, stop and think.

For many people, the initial reaction is to strike back, maybe with a reply accusing the customer of not using the product properly. There are right ways and wrong (reputation-damaging) ways to respond to negative online reviews, and PR can serve as your guide.

Why a PR firm is a great inbound marketing partner

Traditionally, the sales, PR and marketing functions haven’t always gotten along. There are squabbles over budget dollars, arguments over territory and confusion about who can claim success for various initiatives. Now, with inbound marketing, all that can change.

Inbound marketing represents a new way of selling and conducting your business online. It involves engaging your target audiences, building relationships and making more conversions by using the right kind of value-added content. A PR firm can make this process much easier.

With help from PR, you can use inbound marketing to turn strangers into satisfied customers faster

You may remember the days when businesses opened at 9 and closed at 5 (maybe a bit later on the weekends). If a business was closed, no sales were made and that was that. Additionally, all it took to get a customer’s attention was a huge holiday event or cheesy gimmick like Christmas in July.

Thanks to social media, smart devices and constantly connected consumers, the concept of what it takes to attract a customer and close a sale has significantly changed. Audiences now expect 24-hour access and real connections. It can all be very bewildering if you don’t know how to maximize the potential. With help from PR, inbound marketing can help you take advantage for increased profitability.

Create mutually beneficial relationships using social media

Already this month, our team has blogged about social media and its role within an overall marketing communications program. To that end, comments have come in inquiring about how businesses can establish stronger ties with the local media through social media.

If you use Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook regularly, you immediately gain access to a large and varied population of journalists and news media outlets. Even a quick review of local media websites highlights that most news professionals maintain social media presences – with Twitter handles (@name) stashed within team bios, beneath photos or in news blog posts. Of course, if you aren’t yet comfortable with Twitter as a social media platform, you’ll first want to brush up on basic functionality and terms including “retweet” (RT), “hashtag” (#), “favorite,” “newsfeed,” “tweet,” etc. before proceeding.

In our experience, if businesses or individuals truly want to establish relationships using Twitter, they’ll want to consider these best practice tips:

Use the Axia PR social media e-book to ensure you’re doing everything to reach consumers

Social media is not just for college students anymore; it is big business. Understanding best practices for this tool and how it can affect your bottom line may help you jump ahead of the competition.

Axia PR’s e-bookThe Essential Social Media Management Guide can show you how to best utilize social media for reputation management, search results rankings and customer engagement. Download it today to help with your social media efforts.

Embrace, understand and leverage this important tool

Everyone reading this post likely has a general understanding of social media. Regardless of the platform, social media is about one thing and one thing only: social engagement.

All businesses should seriously consider at least a minimal social media presence. Unlike traditional public relations, social media is focused on creating brilliant content, sharing it, then listening and responding in an effort to take traditional PR efforts to the next level. Using advanced reporting, monitoring and structuring tools, public relations teams can further build brands and create a loyal, active following of customers and fans – all of whom can further extend your reach.

Don’t fear Googlebots and hashtags; use PR to help make the most of them

Just when you thought social media management couldn’t get any more complicated, up pops yet another potential fox in the henhouse. You’ve probably heard talk that Google and Twitter just renewed their relationship so that information shared in Tweets will appear in Google searches.

This news could either be a disaster for your company or another path to more profitability. It all depends on how well you’re able to manage these platforms, and the right PR firm can help ensure that your company handles it properly.

Take advantage of the profitability that comes from working together

Automotive pioneer Henry Ford said, “Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” This is especially true when it comes to all levels of your company working in conjunction with your PR team.

Unfortunately, at some companies, this is easier said than done. With everyone bumping heads, jockeying for position and fighting for their own pieces of the budget pie, some companies can seem more like a monster truck rally than a cohesive unit. However, for the sake of your profitability, it’s vital for your team to work together and for you to include your PR firm in your strategic plans.

Axia Public Relations Offers Four Guidelines

When consumers complain on social media, should a company apologize or seek a different solution instead? In an era of highly social, media-driven communication, it seems like every organization is on high alert in preparation for the uncomfortable, dissatisfied vocal minority. But the thing is, you just can't please everyone. Companies recognize that social media opens up a virtual world in which anyone can speak his or her mind — and do so anonymously. That creates fear that often drives the urge for organizations to apologize, sometimes when it isn't really warranted.

Let PR help you navigate the business world’s social network

Your company probably already has a Facebook page and maybe even a decent Twitter following. However, if you’re not taking full advantage of LinkedIn, your company could be missing out on making a good impression with potential business allies and prospects.

LinkedIn provides the most unique, effective method of branding your company within the business community and even finding top talent for open positions. Its research suggests that posting to LinkedIn frequently can significantly increase your chances of engaging your target audiences. Use the following tools and tips to get maximum impact from LinkedIn.