• Swindon & Wiltshire Experts
• Wednesday January 10 2024
• Author Name: Emma Hart

PR your business on little to no budget – Resolution

Public relations budgets can often be the first slashed when business owners review their finances. However, that doesn’t mean shelving your PR plan says our Expert of the Week, Emma Hart, communications manager at creative marketing agency Resolution.

It is possible to PR your business and engage with the media without a million-dollar budget. Here are my actionable tips so you can aim to raise the profile of your business and generate brand awareness:

I prefer to switch out the word PR and replace it with storytelling. Become an expert in telling your business story by creating credible and captivating content. Write informative blogs, drive conversations within your industry, and share insights across multiple mediums to increase your exposure. Don’t be afraid of videos. They are easy to make and can enhance your key messages effectively.

Your online profile is essential for communicating with customers and consumers. It’s a cost-effective tool to maximise storytelling but it needs investment and hard work. Posting needs to be consistent, which can be every day depending on your business, and you need to create high-quality content to increase engagement.

You don’t need to be across all social media platforms. I would suggest picking one or two based on where your customers are and making those great. Keep the content informative, entertaining and visually appealing – this is important for organic growth.

Being topical will keep you and your business newsworthy. Consider what you offer and if there is a specific campaign or time of year you could capitalise on. It’s International Women’s Day in March. Do you have a strong female leader that has a big impact on the company?

Or do you have a charity event or fundraiser that you could coincide with a nationwide awareness week and shape it into a PR opportunity? Your local newspaper or radio may run the story for you if you accompany it with strong imagery or offer an interview.

How often are you speaking to publications? No matter what you may have heard, the press release still has a fundamental role in a PR strategy. It provides the what, who, where and when so anyone can pick up your press release and know what you are promoting. They need an expert quote, contact details for more information and a strong image. Don’t underestimate the value of a strong image. I know stories that have got media coverage because of the accompanying image.

There are plenty of blogs available online on how to write the perfect press release if you do not have PR representation doing it for you. However, a press release needs to contain news. You want to avoid a journalist or an influencer saying ‘so what’ when you tell them your company news. It may be important to you, but will someone want to read about it?

Keep an eye out for journalists’ requests on X. Follow accounts like @journo_request or #prrequests #giftguides and educate yourself on which writers are always looking for content. There are also media databases and journalist enquiry services. However, these can get expensive.

Scrolling through social media for opportunities and engaging with journalists and influencers is great for PR purposes. You can divert a journalist or influencer to your channels, where it is essential to have active and consistent social media accounts.

Make it memorable. We live in a digital world and most media like to communicate over email. I think a phone call is more personal or use tools like LinkedIn and Instagram if they are active on social media. Once you become reliable for stories, you may even find journalists come to you proactively for content – especially if you have a niche or a specialism.

Resolution is an integrated creative marketing agency based in Devizes, Wiltshire.