The Public Relations Blog

Let PR show you how to use them for maximum advantage.

In the past, when customers were unhappy with your company, they simply let their wallets do the talking. Today’s consumers have numerous ways to let you know how they feel about your company, products and people. One of the most popular methods is online consumer and product reviews.

How your company handles these opinions can mean the difference between generating consumer loyalty and delivering customers directly to your competition.

This is one story in our series on how you can save money with a PR firm. Read about fourteen ways you can save with a PR firm as well.

Saving money is important, and you don’t have to sacrifice results to do it

I recently wrote an expert column for bizjournals.com and its network of 43 print and online business journals across the U.S. about how American companies can save money on their PR agency bills. These tips are very popular and I wanted to share a few more to provide additional special value for our blog readers.

Hint: You may need PR more than you realize

Today, your time will likely be filled with meetings with your direct reports to discuss matters of company performance, sales and finance. You may meet with prospective clients, sit in on a team-building session and try to squeeze in some personal and family time. This doesn’t leave much time to focus on PR.

If you think your business-to-business tech company doesn’t need PR, you are missing out on key opportunities to boost your visibility and grow your business.

Keep your LinkedIn page active

In the past, people treated LinkedIn simply as a tool for professionals to network with each other. Times are changing. Business pages are now important tools for sharing news about a company and for attracting professionals – as supporters, employees or potential employees – to the company.

In addition to September’s status as Ethics Awareness Month, the arrival of fall signals the beginning of professional and collegiate football, tailgating and, of course, the return of the NFL to news headlines. However, those headlines aren’t exclusively focused on superstars, injuries and scores; rather, the spotlight illuminates a 2015 scandal (“Deflate-gate”) that rocked the NFL mere months after several players’ public domestic violence incidences.

Media fame, whether or not it’s the result of a scandal, acts like a proverbial carrot dangled before business owners and investors who flock to it like moths to a flame. Intense paparazzi-style blitzes follow, especially when an ordinary organization takes on a high-profile staff member. Many companies fall prey to “hiring stunts” with very little actual return on investment beyond initial get-it-quick publicity.

Axia Public Relations’ guide is a must for anyone who works with or uses PR

Is your PR firm doing everything possible to contribute to your company’s success? You may have garnered a few media hits or organized a sensational event, but surely there must be more you can do. With the Axia Public Relations’ e-bookMaximizing Your Public Relations Investment, you can learn how to use PR for all its worth.

PR initiatives can help you at every stage of the sales cycle and assist in getting a jump on the competition, especially when you know how to use every possible tool and tactic. This helpful e-book is full of strategies and tips to help you keep up the momentum and extend the reach of your PR efforts.

In the world of art, every picture tells a story. In the world of business, every company has a story to tell. Successful companies know how to distill their narratives into compelling, brand-defining messages as artfully as a master storyteller.

In the crowded marketplace, companies that enlist the help of PR pros to strategically craft their messages increase their chances of standing out among competitors. But it’s not enough to print these key messages on marketing materials and publish them on web sites.

Meeting and exceeding your customers’ digital expectations is crucial to the future and success of your business. Metadescription tags are your final lifeline in your efforts to attract users to your website. The best creative in the world won’t get you anywhere if you don’t have the right strategy supporting it.

The right response can turn complaints into kudos.

Often, customers will leave online reviews that are unwarranted or over the top. Something about the experience they had with a company gets under their skin and they are overcome with anger toward the company.

They might decide to leave a review in which they exaggerate the negative experience they had or they might even leave a review that is a downright lie. No matter what an angry customer writes, companies need to be ready to address these reviews.

When responding to a negative review, there are right ways and wrong ways to do it. Here are some tips for responding in a way that keeps the peace with your upset customers: