The Side Note

First lets clarify something. There is a difference between public relations and media relations. I define media relations as the actual process of developing relationships with reporters and media outlets to get your stories covered in the press. Public relations includes media relations but also includes the entire world of communicating with the public as well as creating and maintaining your public image.

If this economy is forcing you to deal with budget cuts and staff changes, stop spending money on media relations. Allocate, instead, money for public relations that will help drive lead generation and increase your business. Any PR pro that you consider working with should be able to tell you how public relations can help build business. If they can’t, you may need to reconsider working with that person or group.

Our major recommendation for using public relations to build leads is to let PR people do what they do best – write.

1. Write press releases. Think “search engine optimization” as you write them. Include key search terms in the headlines and throughout the release. If it’s not a story worth publicizing, don’t worry about it. Just get it posted on your Web site. Again, this is about lead generation, not media exposure.
2. Write white papers. Even if your target audience is not buying or looking for your services right now, they eventually will be. Get the papers posted on your site where people can find them.
3. Write research articles. Is your staff doing research? Make sure businesses know about the work you are doing and the results you are finding. If you are not doing research, there are lots of great ways to embark on research that are low-cost and easy to use. Get the research articles posted on your site.
4. Write case studies. Write about the work you have done, the successes you have made and the clients that believe in you. When possible, optimize the case studies so they can be found online.

I am a huge believer in public relations. I don’t think any company should embrace marketing without including a public relations component in the mix. But I will be the first one to tell companies in the business to business marketplace to quit doing media relations if they are having budget issues. Focus on public relations as a lead generation source and embrace what it can do for you.