An inexpensive and practical means to gain credibility for products or services delivered by your business is simply this: earn an award. Industry awards, recognition from chambers of commerce or related small-business organizations or a stamp of approval from a well-known review outfit can provide visibility and improve a business’ reputation. But locating appropriate opportunities and awards takes time, effort and consideration, often causing business owners to abandon the process before it even begins.

Seasoned public relations professionals, however, know exactly where to find the information, how to properly submit it and the deadlines by which it all needs to be done. Here are a few reasons businesses enlist PR support to secure these fantastic business-boosters

Crunch the numbers and figure out what’s best for your company

When it comes to PR work, you have a big decision to make. You could hire one or two PR professionals to work in-house or utilize the services of a PR firm.

The choice you make could have a huge impact on your company’s visibility and profitability for years to come. Once you’ve done your homework and crunched the numbers, you may find that a PR firm will serve you better in the long run.

What you’re really getting from a full-time, in-house employee

While Facebook and Twitter continue to receive a considerable amount of attention in the world of social media, other platforms are rapidly gaining popularity and becoming great places for businesses to promote their brands. Pinterest is a relative newcomer to social media (it was launched in March 2010), but it has certainly made a name for itself as a power player in the social media arena. Pinterest is a wonderful virtual venue for companies to showcase their products and generate interest in their brands. Setting up a Pinterest business account is free and simple to do.

With help from PR, you can be sure you have what it takes

Kickstarter is the go-to source for businesses that want to take a creative idea and make it a reality. Numerous companies have found success for their projects on the site, but many more have failed.

If you’ve been considering Kickstarter for one of your company’s initiatives, you definitely want to be among the group of success stories. However, first you need to know what makes a great Kickstarter campaign; PR can help.

How media networks draw the public in

Within the last decade, businesses around the globe have turned to social media outlets to publish content and to promote their brands, products and services. Social media is an extremely effective and efficient way to spread direct information to a global population in real time. HubSpot’s Inbound Certification Course explains how companies can use social media to ultimately gain more customers.

According to HubSpot, an astounding 70 percent of the world’s Internet population is active on social media. These days, business prospects spend more of their free time on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ than they do shopping in a store or searching the Internet. That is why it is crucial for businesses to embrace this technological shift and use social media to their advantage.

Keep track of what they’re saying about you on this vital site.

A candidate who didn’t get the job trashes your company on Glassdoor. He’s just bitter, so it’s no big deal. A former employee does the same, but people don’t really pay attention to that kind of thing. Or do they?

Some companies don’t take Glassdoor reviews seriously. Others have no idea what it says or how their companies appear. Both attitudes can have lasting, negative consequences for your company. 

Why sending the right email to the right person still matters

Have you heard anyone recently say “email is dead,” “all marketing emails are spam,” or other similar phrases? If so, let me tell you that email is not dead and is in fact still a very important factor in successful inbound marketing. Many traditional marketers have long used and abused email’s purpose by sending obnoxious messages to people who don’t want to receive them and who have learned how to tune them out. Nevertheless, email can still be extremely effective if marketers use proper inbound strategies to send the right email to the right person.

How to properly use social media channels

Companies that use social media properly distribute content to their consumers differently, depending on the platform. In other words, it doesn’t make sense to share content through a LinkedIn post in the same manner you would in a tweet.

Each social media outlet has a different audience with a specific agenda. While LinkedIn and Google+ are targeted at much more professional audiences, Facebook and Twitter are far more casual.

By using each of the four major social media outlets appropriately, businesses can most effectively reach their target buyer personas.

Why inbound is the way to go

PR explains the importance of using videos for increased visibility

How will you introduce your next new product to the world? Will it be a voice-over actor in an advertisement, a newscaster reading from a script on the news or one of your salespeople? These are the routes most modern companies take.