The great ‘Bill Gates’ is quoted as saying
“If I was down to my last dollar, I’d spend it on public relations.”
For a man who hasn’t done badly in this world, this ‘word-of-mouse’ advertising for PR is an authoritative endorsement to the power of PR and a business tip that MD’s and Marketing teams should take note of and react to, especially now.
We all appreciate that when the country is stretched and companies are tightening every belt possible, “Traditional PR” is usually one of the first few items on the budget that’s frozen or cut completely. It’s an easy target; because it’s difficult to track the full impact of “Traditional PR” in strict accounting terms, so if accountants consider it impossible to quantify, they feel totally justified in removing “Traditional PR” expenditures. To the accountants, it’s simple, if something fails to leave a trail on the spreadsheet, it is expendable!
So, when they cut the Traditional PR budget, it’s like tossing the toys, the pram and the baby out the window!
How many times have meetings then taken place after such PR cuts, to discuss the “inexplicable” drop in sales and sales leads…the answer is generally found to be that the company has become practically invisible to consumers and business-to-business customers alike? However, today’s digital marketers have now gained the ability to enhance, empower, interrupt, converse and otherwise live within ever deeper segments of consumer’s lives, well beyond the “fast forwarded” TV advert, the radio jingle or footballer’s branded shirt sponsorship.
But, that doesn’t overcome the fact that belts still need tightening and forward thinking, proactive companies are looking at more competitive Digital PR costs as a new route to market. “Social Media Marketing” is massive and is just one element in the Digital PR armoury; however it is emerging as one of the most important, if not the most important source of information for the consumer.”
“In the 21st century, the database is the marketplace.”
The fact that the traditional print and broadcast organisations have been pioneers in recognising the need for an “online mirror media” to totally fulfil their requirement to deliver their own information via the web, is a winning reason that Marketing Managers should now go all out to win or retain a budget for a Digital PR campaign. Digital PR delivers the double-whammy of information delivery AND search engine ‘juice’, gaining you higher positions in the free natural search rankings.
In today’s on-line digital world, Digital PR has emerged as “the cavalry on the horizon”, rushing to save the day for companies in the UK.
All the talk in today’s marketing world is how a professional Digital PR (DPR) campaign incorporating an optimum mix of Social Media Marketing, buzz monitoring and blogging will improve your online presence, enhance your brand reputation with customers and trade alike, not to mention the benefits it will bring to your website SEO, plus higher listings in natural search rankings.
Add to this the fact that Digital PR is measurable, through site visits, comments, and buzz monitoring and it is difficult to understand why only positive Marketing Managers have appointed Digital PR agencies to help implement these strategies within their company.
So, if engaging with your prospects and customers and tapping into their online activity is essential to the future success of your business, you need to put some thought into and implement a structured approach to Digital PR.
Digital PR is 21st Century “Word of Mouse” communications
At the end of the day, companies can’t survive the tough times without a steady stream of customers knocking on their door, and Digital PR can deliver them without breaking the bank.
