The Value of PR in a Recession
Posted by Ann-Marie O'Sullivan on April 07, 2010 in with 0 CommentsDon't "go dark" during a recession, says Ann-Marie O'Sullivan, Director of H+A Marketing + PR, or you'll never see the light at the end of the tunnel.
2009 was a challenging year for anyone in business and the signs are that 2010 will provide us all with more of the same. Regardless of the state of the economy, however, we all need to buy good and services. When times are tough, the natural reaction is to stick with what you know and manage your costs. We don't instinctively think that now is the time to be out there raising your company's profile. But consider this, if your customers don't know that your company exists, how can you expect them to buy from you?
PR is all about reputation management. It's a strategic management function that defines your key messages and the ways of communicating these messages to your target audiences including your employees, your customers and the general public. If your competitors are adopting the "keep your head down and ride out the storm" approach, the opportunity exists for your company to stand out from the crowd.
When a company cuts its PR and marketing budget its known as "going dark". If you "go dark" your company and products will have little or no exposure. Once the economy begins to recover - and it will - you'll be playing catch up and will find yourself having to spend a lot of effort and money to rebuild your company and brand profile and reputation. If your competitors continue to invest in PR and marketing, you can't afford to be left out; if they don't, then you should make the most of the opportunity - vacuums exist to be filled.
In a recession we're all looking for trustworthy sources and we tend to be influenced by unbiased decision makers. PR will help to raise the profile of your organisation which provides you with a clear advantage, particularly if your competitors are cutting their PR and marketing budgets.
From a cost perspective, PR provides a better return on investment than other forms of communication. A story that gets media or online coverage can reach thousands of readers, viewers and listeners where it will resonate far more than an ad or a piece of direct of mail will, for example. Remember, no other type of communication - marketing, advertising or direct mail to mention a few - can influence and change public opinion like PR can.
Consider the world of social media. Accessing online users is a relatively inexpensive form of PR. Facebook offers the facility for companies to create their own profiles where you can send out newsletters which are fully customisable, for example. Mildly interesting until you consider that 1.2 million Irish people are on Facebook, and 900,000 of these users log onto Facebook every day. Now, consider the impact of your message getting directly to your target audience which you can target by age, gender, location, nationality, etc.
We will come out of this recession, economies will stabilise globally and nationally and markets will return. Nobody knows when that will be or, indeed, what the new reality will look like. However, those companies that emerge from this recession stronger and better off will be those that continued to maintain a meaningful dialogue with their target audiences through the downturn by investing in strategic and creative PR.
Ann-Marie O'Sullivan is a communications professional with over twenty years of experience in providing strategic communications counsel to large and small organisations across a broad spectrum of industry sectors.Find out more at Ann-Marie O'Sullivan's Profile. Don't forget to subscribe if you'd like to hear more!
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