It takes a lot to run a business. Loyal employees, a solid business plan, reliable IT systems, you name it. However, the one aspect of building a memorable brand which is often ignored by CEOs is brand communications and PR.
This is a complete and utter rookie mistake.
It’s often due to the bad rep which the PR profession gets from those who work in certain sectors. PR executives are often viewed as spin doctors or media manipulators, creating campaigns to promote a falsely positive image of a certain organisation. It leads business owners to avoid the idea and rely on traditional advertising and marketing strategies. And although media spin does occur in certain sectors, the actions of a small minority should lead you to paint the rest of the industry with the one brush.
When coupled with brand storytelling, good public relations campaigns can really help boost your brand image get your business the recognition it deserves. How you may ask? Well, we here at All Good Tales believe that great stories get more of everything; more sales; more funding and particularly, more media attention. So why should you put brand communications at the top of your company’s to-do list?
Ads can only get you so far
When it comes to getting more people to notice your brand, traditional advertising methods can only do so much for you. You have to be more proactive and especially more creative when it comes to getting your brand to stand out. Just take a look at some of your favourite brands. Do you think they just rely on ads to grab your attention? They of course, do not.
Brand communications is all about working the different angles available. Along with advertising and digital marketing, you should be creating your own content, reaching out to influencers, rubbing elbows with journalists, drafting press releases, etc. Getting your business into the national newspapers or popular blog sites can unveil your brand to the eyes of a whole new clientele, those who are generally ignorant of spray campaigns or visible advertising. You can shape the image of your business through carefully crafted words and images. And it’s never as hard as it seems.
Authenticity is the future
There’s just something a little bit impersonal about static advertising. Whether it be in a newsletter, a newspaper, or on a website banner ad, these types of advertising don’t really show much about who you are and what you want your brand to achieve.
We here at All Good Tales believe that the next big thing for both PR and digital marketing is Authenticity. The ability for a brand to show a personal, authentic side to what they do much more for business than a plaster ad campaign. It creates a positive, lingering connection between you and your audience. Emotion trumps visual stimulation every time, hence why brand storytelling has become increasingly popular in recent years.
Need some tips to help tell your brand story? Click here for an extremely useful blog post.
Be your best digital self
As much as we lament the days of traditional print media ruling the roost, we can’t ignore the immediate shift to digital which has overtaken the industry. Everyone wants information to be freely available online and easily consumable.
PR companies can nowadays help step in and guide you along the way to establishing your online presence. They can also draft quick press releases and responses in the middle of a crisis and have them sent to journalists in a moments notice.
Brand storytelling is mainly done online through the creation of branded content, all contained within a single brand newsroom. By doing something as simple as this, you are already going to be leaps and bounds above your competitors. So put your money where your mouth is and start putting your brand’s image first!
Here at All Good Tales, we believe that storytelling can help your business succeed. We’ve worked with the likes of Ancestry.com, Kingspan and DAA in helping them tell their story. We’d love to help you with a free consultation. You can call Gaye on (01) 254 1845 to organise yours today. Alternatively, you can get in touch here.
