Reports of the death of traditional media, and with this speculation predicting the decline of PR , have proved to be woefully premature. For various reasons, the pandemic saw a massive rise in subscriptions to both print and digital versions of magazines and newspapers – interestingly, print subscriptions has risen by at least twice as much as digital since the start of lockdown.
This is not solely because of Covid, there is rising concern about fake news circulating on social media and people are looking for sources of information they can trust. The acknowledged “echo chamber” effect of social media has been blamed for the rise of a less tolerant and kind society, leading many to seek out a greater range of reasonably expressed opinion.
Against this backdrop, the importance of good PR comes into sharp focus which explains why many professional services and b2b PR agencies – well certainly the good ones – have never been busier! So while many businesses are looking to cut costs, they are also looking for new ways to engage with their stakeholders and PR is proving to be a cost-effective way to do this.
Here are six reasons why PR is important again in 2022.
- PR builds trust – it relies on independent third-party endorsement from a journalist. This can’t be bought, and this is what makes it so valuable.
- PR builds reputation – with more eyeballs on good journalism, getting your (or your client’s) brand mentioned, getting your experts quoted and positive stories about your products or services featured is a sure fire-way to enhance reputation, and craft a positive narrative around your brand.
- PR keeps brands relevant – PR is quick to adapt to changing client and consumer demands. If your law firm or accountancy practice can be quick to provide comment in the media about issues that affect your clients, you are sending a strong signal to the marketplace that your firm is modern, relevant and “on the pulse.”
- PR is good for internal communications (IC) – good internal comms is crucial for any business but particularly in the professional services sector where a firm’s people are its most valuable asset. Done well and consistently, good IC will encourage staff to take a more holistic view of an organisation, encouraging the sharing of information and preventing teams becoming siloed. Frequent positive media coverage will support IC by creating a buzz in the workplace, fostering loyalty and productivity.
- PR is cost effective – compared to other forms of marketing such as advertising and big events, PR has always been cost effective and has become even more so during the pandemic with PR proving to work well in a remote working culture. PR agencies were already embracing the virtual model before Covid – back in 2017 I wrote this piece (link) for the CIPR’s Influence magazine back predicting the rise of flexible working in PR. Naturally, clients have also benefited from the lower overheads associated with the virtual model.
- PR boosts SEO and website traffic – being featured in an article or news item will boost traffic to your own website. If a news outlet includes a link to your website, then this increases domain authority – a measure of your site’s trustworthiness. This can push your site higher in Google search results, which ultimately results in more traffic to your website – a virtuous circle!
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Need some help with PR? Feel free to drop me an email to arrange a 30 minute complimentary call or take a look at some of the packages I offer law firms, accountancy practices and other b2b businesses.