PR has evolved in many ways over the last decade or two, and – although any consultant worth their Bollinger will have upskilled their offering to meet growing digital demands – traditional PR skills and services are still required for many clients as part of their comms strategy.
What’s more, traditional PR skills can still bring a lot to the table and bolster digital-first campaigns with solid writing skills, networking expertise and much more.
Here are four reasons why traditional PR skills can enrich your digital marketing strategy.
1. We are expert storytellers
As content is king, solid writing skills are an absolute must.
Well written and optimised content shared across your online platforms can give you a regular voice. It can also communicate your key messages and news directly to your stakeholders. And more importantly in today’s digital-first landscape, it boost SEO rankings to push you up the ladder on Google.
PR specialists are expert storytellers, and years of working closely with journalists and sniffing out strong story angles means that we are well-placed to deliver snappy, informative and influential copy that will grab attention and change hearts and minds.
2. We are great at relationship building
In today’s digital world, the age-old art of networking and forming personal relationships has been somewhat lost. But despite many business transactions taking place entirely online, people ultimately still buy into other people.
If you’ve ever studied PR as an academic discipline, you may recall this definition from Effective Public Relations by Cutlip, Center and Broom, in 1952:
“Public relations is the management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the publics on whom its success or failure depends.”
Nowadays, this definition is still just as valid for any PR professional. Forming valid and long-term relationships with journalists, influencers, bloggers, experts and even opinion formers in the local community will vastly benefit any client’s communications strategy.
PRs have spent years picking up the phone to pitch stories to journalists, attending trade shows and events, and enlisting the services of psychologists, thought leaders and other experts to bolster press stories. This means that the average PR is extremely adept at forming meaningful, long-lasting personal relationships. As a result, the contacts you’ll have access to will benefit your business.
3. Traditional PR builds trust and authority for your brand
Thought leadership and profile building are tools used by PRs to build trust and authority for brands and their people. We do this by securing interviews and profile pieces for business leaders. They supply comment for forthcoming features. They also comment on and sometimes lead the news agenda with informative insights and commentary.
In today’s digital world, online attention spans are tiny. Brand loyalty is sometimes considered a thing of the past. However, traditional PR can position a brand or business founder as an expert in their field. By telling their background story, we can provide another touchpoint for consumers and ultimately build trust.
Nowadays, any digital press coverage generated as a result of this traditional form of media outreach can be shared across digital channels and social platforms and repurposed as part of your content strategy.
4. We are the go-to guys for crisis management
Crisis management is a stalwart of the traditional PR remit. PR is all about preserving the reputation of a business or brand. Therefore, having a robust crisis strategy in place is common sense.
But although traditional crisis management centres around briefing employees, nominating a spokesperson, drafting holding statements and dealing with media queries on the phone to ensure the correct messages are communicated, today’s digital age has presented us with a whole new world when it comes to issues that could affect your business and become crises.
Social media sites provide a great way for companies to engage with their customers, but the same sites also present customers with a platform to post negative comments and reviews, and we’ve all seen how brand reputations can be damaged by detrimental Tweets or behind-the-scenes video footage.
The new digital age calls for a fresh approach to crisis management. However, the fundamentals are still rooted in traditional PR. Any issue needs to be dealt with swiftly and calmly, reducing or negating any negative impact upon the business.
We always tailor any strategy to meet a client’s overall aims and objectives. Our range of services can be cherry-picked to provide the best approach. Find out how you can Jam with us here.
