Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | May 15, 2017 | Worcester Business Journal 19 How to view and use advertising and PR A dvertising and public relations – two important components in any company's positioning and sales efforts. So, how do you define them, how do they work together, and when is the best time to use them? Start with clarity – you need to be clear on who you are and what are you trying to communicate. Unless you know your message, the means doesn't matter. The primary message needs to be a clear definition of what makes you unique to the customers and prospects you are trying to reach. This is the foundation for your brand position. Once that is known, you can use adver- tising and PR to communicate your brand message and broadcast your suc- cesses. The challenge lies with knowing when to use each. Advertising is when a company pays to create awareness, generate brand rec- ognition, and generate revenue in spe- cific circumstances. Advertising to gen- erate revenue is best in business-to- consumer situations, e.g., holiday sales, weekly promotions, etc. However, in business-to-business environments, you may be disappointed if you look to advertising to generate immediate reve- nues. In business to business, it's best to consider advertising as a longer term investment promoting awareness and brand recognition. PR is unpaid promotion of who you are and what makes you unique. Hopefully your brand position has definable characteristics that illustrate your success. With PR, you communi- cate and broadcast your success. Effective PR tactics are many. Social media platforms are at the top of the list. And with any form of social media, the goal is to build your list. Get as many followers as possible, and com- municate with them with consistency. Don't neglect the often forgotten practice of press releases – write them well, get them to the right people, and work them with the right people. How does your story fit into their needs? Become an authority – Become the go-to person for your industry. Use arti- cles, e-newsletters, blogs, LinkedIn post- ings, etc. to share information and dem- onstrate your expertise. Be consistent in getting information out to your lists. When media is looking for input, position yourself to be quoted. Establish relationships with local, regional, industry-specific and national media outlets, more specifically the edi- tors. Let them know what your know, and that you are available as a source for information and expertise. The most important element that makes advertising and PR effective are the employees. Their activities on a daily basis define the brand because the employees are who the customers inter- act with and react to. Your brand are the values your com- pany embodies, the value you deliver, and what makes you unique. This is the clarity of messaging your advertising and PR communicates. These brand elements are also what employees need to embrace and practice every day. The goal with any marketing effort is to establish a leadership position. Leadership positioning is based on what others say about you. The employ- ees' daily practices define what others say about you. Therefore, when employees embody the brand, the cus- tomers succeed because of it, and you establish leadership positioning by broadcasting those successes. Use PR to establish credibility and a brand position. Use advertising to gen- erate awareness and a brand position. Lastly, from a marketing point of view, think of PR as the medium to communicate the brands foundation and infrastructure. Think of advertising as the paint and trim. Ken Cook is the co-founder of How to Who, an organization focused on helping people effectively build relationships and building business through those relationships. Learn more at www.howtowho.com. 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