It’s cheaper than advertising

Well-done public relations that are optimized with appropriate keywords can get better placement and rank longer than advertising. Plus, it can be done at no cost, or low cost! I have press releases ranking on page one, two years after they were issued…imagine the savings in PPC or even SEO.

2. More Credible than Advertising

It’s not what you say about you, it’s what they say about you!

According to the Nielsen Trust in Advertising Study, consumers now trust 3rd party recommendations over advertising. The Top 3 most trusted sources:

1. Recommendations from family and friends

2. Online Reviews

3. Editorial content – newspaper article or other media coverage [TV, Radio, Blog..]

3. Content Is King

In a world that is hungry for content, fresh content on a regular basis – and expects it, you need to be generating news about your company, products and services. Publicity in your business  - or news stories are a great way to create content for your own site; its also really easy to get your press release distributed across the web.

4. Public Relations is easy – you don’t need an expensive PR Firm

It’s easier than you think to do your own Public Relations, without a PR firm.  You just need to create interesting and compelling stories that are focused on your target audience, and what would be of interest to them, and use proper formatting. You can do this in-house or outsource the writing and distribution to freelancers found on Odesk or Elance.

5. Publicity attracts better, high paying clients.

Getting Publicity gives you instant expert status. It also makes you a bit of a celebrity. It gives you more visibility and puts you in front of more prospects.   These prospects, will seek you out because businesses want to work with top experts; they also expect to pay more for working with you, the expert.

Are you using PR in your business today?

With the adoption of the Internet, the Reputation Economy was born. Amazon, Zagat and Health Grades began offering online reviews by consumers. We have grown accustomed to seeing these reviews and begun to seek them out when making any kind of major purchase or healthcare decision.

Consumer acceptance and trust of reviews continues to grow on a daily basis.  Google acknowledged this trend. They recently made changes to their organic and paid search results to show online reviews directly under your website or ads.

Consumers now trust 3^rd party recommendations over advertising.

According to Nielsen trust in advertising survey, here are the Top 3 most trusted sources:

1. Recommendations from family and friends
2. Online Reviews
3. Editorial content – newspaper article or other media coverage [TV, Radio, Blog..]

Trust in advertising on the other hand has dropped significantly. It falls below the top 3, as well as your branded website and opt in company emails. Within the trust in advertising, online ads are less trusted than TV and newspaper ads.

Which brings me back to Public Relations, which can provide similar if not better placement in most media outlets, with a higher trust factor, and lower costs. A media mention implies endorsement by said media outlet.

Press Releases also have a high credibility factor, even if the release is issued by you about your own company or news- it still conveys a third party endorsement. Use a good press release distribution service and your release will get picked up and posted on numerous sites, lending additional credibility.

How are you using PR in your business today?

Here are the findings from a 2012 survey of journalists:

~ 98% think it is somewhat important for a company or organization to have an online newsroom available to the press

~ 28% of working journalists visit an online newsroom every week

If you are looking for media coverage, an online newsroom seems like an easy way to increase your chances.

To read the full survey