By Cassy van Eeden
Ask any PR practitioner and they will tell you that a solid public relations strategy has the power to completely change your brand or business. But how effective do their clients find public relations?
It saves us time
One of the benefits of hiring a public relations agency to handle all your communications needs is that it leaves you with more time to focus on what’s really important to your business.
In order for
Danilo Acquisto to produce world-class work, he needs to be “completely focussed”, he says. The
Afternoon Express TV presenter,
voice of Good Hope FM’s #MusicLab and urban espresso client, says: “Having a publicist has allowed me to deliver quality work.”
Product of the Year CEO and chief innovation analyst, Preetesh Sewraj, a Headlines PR client, says that by making use of public relations services means that: “We have our time freed up to focus on our core business instead of our PR needs.”
But this is not to say that clients
can simply hire an agency and hope for the best Simon Colman, underwriting executive at SHA Specialist Underwriters says: “If a business outsources their PR, they still need a committed team internally that is prepared to comment and drive the brand, even if it means standing in your pyjamas doing a live radio interview on a Sunday morning.”
It changes people’s perception of us
Some industries are faced with a set of presumptions that the public makes about them. This is where PR is really powerful, says Colman. “Many people think insurers are dishonest and that the industry as a whole is quite boring,” he says. “The more we talk to the media, the more likely it is that we can get those stuffy old perceptions changed.”
EO of MUA Insurance Acceptances, Christelle Fourie, agrees. “As insurance is viewed by so many as a grudge purchase, I make use of the opportunity to debunk myths about insurance in general and also to educate consumers.” She adds: “PR gives our business a voice and a direct line of communication with our end-consumer.
They have existing relationships
By
having access to the best and most reliable media contacts, PR agencies give businesses the opportunity to establish themselves as authoritative voices in their field.
Joe Szemerei, executive director of Individual and Volume Business at Indwe Risk Services, one of Stratitude’s clients, says the multi-channel distribution of press releases that PR agencies are able to achieve is invaluable. “This has ensured that every press release or media interaction is amplified across our marketing channels,” he says.
Acquisto agrees: “In the PR world, relationships are everything and using an agency to assist with PR means you get to tap into their networks and not have to first build the relationship.”
“Our PR team have great relationships with the industry,” says Sewraj. “So instead of trying to create relationships when we require them, we rely on our PR team to maintain their relationships and bring us in when it is mutually beneficial to the media owner and our organisation.”
Do you have a PR agency catering to your communications needs? Do you believe in the power of public relations? Let us know in the comments below.