As a small business owner in Destin, you want to do whatever you can to help your company succeed and grow. You’re already doing a great job of creating stellar products and services for your customers, but you can’t forget about the importance of marketing and advertising.
Do you want a way to spread the word about your business? Are you interested in finding different ways to promote your products and services? If so, you need to focus on developing some PR strategies.
PR isn’t just something for big corporations. New PR strategies could be just what you need to breathe new life into your business.
Are you not convinced that PR is right for your small business? After we teach you why PR matters for small business owners and give you some tips to start building your own strategy, you’ll be convinced that you need to devote more attention to PR.
Why You Should Care About PR
The average small business owner is busy enough during their time at work. When you already have a lot of different duties on your plate, caring about something like PR may seem like the last thing you want to do.
If you care about building a strong business, you’ll make PR one of your focuses for 2021. After you see all of the ways a strong PR strategy can help your company, you’ll be eager to start giving it the attention it needs.
Manage Your Reputation
You never know when one bad review could cause trouble for your business. You could provide excellent products and services but still find yourself in trouble because of one off day.
Instead of having to worry about letting the public decide how to feel about you, make the decision yourself. A positive ongoing PR strategy can help give your business the reputation you want it to have.
When you focus on putting out positive press about your business you can preemptively protect yourself. It’s harder to deal with negative press when it hits, so take the time to build up a great defense now with PR.
Establish Yourself Online
If you’re a small business owner, the only online presence you may have could be your website and few profiles on review sites.
Having a strong online presence can do a lot to help your business. Positive stories about your business on other websites could increase your online footprint and help with SEO.
PR is a great way to establish your business online if you don’t have a lot of content to work with. Eventually, you’ll have a presence outside of your website and could reach even more customers.
Establish Yourself in Your Community
If you’re a small business owner, you can’t afford to not have a positive presence in the community. Your community members have the potential to become your best customers and a secret weapon for attracting new business.
PR is a great way to spread the word about your products and services. That can help you not just find more customers but can also be an important tool in building connections with other business owners.
Networking is important for businesses of every size, and PR is a great way to help you build more bonds locally. A member of the chamber of commerce could read about your business and extend an invite to their next meeting.
Increase Your Sales
It’s important to remember that PR is a lot more than just written press releases. A true PR strategy will involve written content on news sites and blogs, social media, speaking engagements, and more.
The more you’re able to spread the word about your business, the better chance you’ll have at attracting more customers. Supplementing your ongoing advertising efforts with a healthy dose of PR can help you get the attention you’ve been waiting for.
Top PR Strategies and Tips for Savvy Small Business Owners
When you’re building your PR strategy it’s important to think of it as an ever-growing plan. Some of the techniques you follow may not work out and could use some adjusting. Other ideas could end up paying off for your business and could use more attention.
If you want to build a solid strategy, you’re going to have to think about the best ways to utilize different media and resources. When you’re thinking about how you want to approach PR, think about making these strategies a bigger part of your overall plan.
1. Get Help
You see the value in PR and want to create your own strategy, but the truth is that you’re just too busy to focus on anything but your business. Another possibility is you have some ideas around PR, but you don’t know if you’re on the right track.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you’re serious about PR. Reach out to an agency that can help you develop a PR strategy from scratch or can help validate some of your ideas.
2. Acquaint Yourself with Local Destin News
If you want to find someone that loves showcasing businesses, look no further than some of your favorite local news anchors and reporters.
Destin news stations and newspapers are great places to get positive PR. They can help establish your presence in the community, and their reporters are almost always eager for a story.
Start paying attention to stories and reporters from local news sources like The Destin Log and pay attention to which reporters cover local businesses. Don’t be afraid to reach out to introduce yourself and let them know that you’d love to be a source on any local news stories they have about small business owners.
3. Consider Using Influencers
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that only big brands or certain kinds of businesses can benefit from influencers. Influencer marketing has quickly become a go to strategy for businesses of all sizes. If you find the right influencer for your brand, almost anything is possible.
Do a quick search on Instagram for keywords related to your business, then throw in Destin. You’d be surprised at how many people could already be posting about topics related to your business.
The key to utilizing influencer marketing is to make it mutually beneficial for everyone involved. Don’t think that you have to spend big bucks either. Giving someone some free products or services could be a fair exchange for some positive press.
4. Create Original Content
Content is going to play an important role in your PR strategy. Instead of waiting for reporters to cover your business, start creating content on your own that you put on your website or social media profiles.
Creating content serves two purposes in PR. The right content can help create a buzz about your business and could get people curious about your company. Content can also help you create a solid brand voice and establish you as a thought leader in your industry.
If you’re new to the world of content creation, focus on how-to’s. They’re easy to write and film and they provide value to the reader.
5. Establish PR Helpers
Small business owners already do a lot to help their business, but they can’t do it all. Instead of trying to carry your PR strategy on your own, consider involving other employees.
Do you have someone that’s a great public speaker? See if they’re interested in giving talks or spreading the word about your business at networking events. Is there a talented writer on staff? They could help you write blog posts, website content, and social media posts.
Remember, the top talent you hire can help establish your presence in the local community and beyond. Don’t be afraid to tap into them.
6. Participate in Twitter Chats
You need a way to showcase your professional expertise, but you don’t like writing or being on camera. You’re also looking for a way to grow your social presence and engage with people online.
If you want to meet both of your goals, consider participating in Twitter chats. Twitter chats are public group discussions that happen on Twitter, and they’re the perfect way to do some passive PR.
Some of your favorite professional accounts could be putting on regular chats. Do a quick search to learn about popular chats and try to participate in one at least once a month.
7. Sponsor a Local Destin Event
Does your son or daughter play on a little league team? Is the Destin Chamber of Commerce putting on a fundraiser for local businesses? Are some local schools looking for sponsors for upcoming plays?
If you’re looking for a simple way to promote your brand and do some passive PR, do a little charity. Sometimes all it takes is a small donation to include your logo in a program or a banner.
Sponsoring local events can help establish your business in your community. It also gives you a new way to find potential customers and drum up more business.
8. Talk at Industry Events
Public speaking can be a great way to do some passive PR and also establish yourself as a thought leader in your community. If you’re comfortable talking to large groups of people, consider looking into speaking engagements.
Industry conferences are the top tier of potential speaking engagements but can be tough to book for beginners. Instead of focusing on big events, look for small engagements through meet up groups and special interest clubs.
9. Become a Thought Leader in Forums
Establishing yourself as a thought leader is important if you want to make an impact in your industry. If you don’t like the idea of writing long-form content or interviewing, you could demonstrate your expertise by becoming a source on poplar question and answer forums.
Sites like Quora are filled with millions of questions from users. People can search for specific topics and could even narrow their search through locations. Demonstrate your expertise and help out a few people by answering questions.
These forums aren’t just helpful sources of information. If you create a professional profile that’s tied to your business, you’ll expand your digital footprint and could even improve SEO.
10. Provide Current Commentary
What can’t people stop talking about in your industry? Did the mayor announce local legislation that could affect small businesses? Can you not believe that your favorite local sports team lost another game?
Let your voice be heard and start putting out your company’s opinions on popular news stories.
Instead of waiting for the news to come to you, consider making some news of your own. If you want to improve your PR strategy and get people talking about your business, stay on top of trends in your industry, and comment on them. It’ll give you great content for your website and could open up opportunities for guest posting on other sites.
11. Track Your Mentions
Sometimes PR opportunities can come by without you even knowing they happened. If a local reporter mentions your business or an influencer raves about your products, you’re going to want to ensure you know.
Start off by setting up Google alerts for your business. Anytime someone mentions your business in online stories you’ll get an alert from Google.
If you don’t already pay attention to mentions on social media, have someone start to monitor your channels. Simply logging in and checking things once a day can ensure that you don’t miss out on any posts.
Manage Destin PR the Right Way
The right PR strategies can be what you need to take your business to the next level. Even if you follow just a few of the things we mentioned in this post, you’ll be well on your way to developing a strong strategy.
Do you want help bringing your PR vision to life? We’re always happy to talk about ways Destin businesses can grow. Be sure to reach out to us so we can start talking about a plan for your company. Take the first step by filling out our form for a free digital marketing review.
Owner and Chief Marketing Officer, Jason Hall, and his team specialize in creating brand awareness / traffic and lead generation / marketing funnel and conversion optimization, while utilizing the appropriate marketing channels available within your industry. With diverse clients throughout the world, Jason's team is well connected within many industries to assist with your marketing strategies. With no long term contracts and various levels of service, Jason's team will increase the quality of your online traffic, leads, and sales.
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About the author...
Located in the heart of the Emerald Coast - Destin, FL, founder and Chief Marketing Officer, Jason Hall, and his team specialize in creating brand awareness / traffic and lead generation / marketing funnel and conversion optimization / and PR campaigns, while utilizing the appropriate marketing channels available within your industry.
With diverse clients throughout the world, Jason's team is well connected within many industries to assist with your marketing strategies. With no long term contracts and various levels of service, Jason's team will increase the quality of your online traffic, leads, and sales.
Request a digital marketing strategy session today and we'll show you what you've been missing!
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