ChicExecs Senior VP of Elevate Lydia Vargo shares the the ultimate checklist to see if your brand is ready for PR on Forbes blog. Enjoy this highlight from the piece.
Many brands believe they are ready for press and yearn to increase sales and overall buzz, so therefore feel that PR is the natural next step. It is critical, however, that you manage expectations and enter the PR investment carefully. Follow this quick checklist to evaluate if your brand is ready to take on the exciting world of earned media:
1. A Newsworthy Story
Sometimes brands get lucky and earn media features without any work, but 99% of companies have to work really hard for earned coverage. If you want a PR mention, your brand has to do a lot more than just fulfill orders.
What makes your company unique? What is it about your business that’s different? Journalists love a good product line; however, if there is also a juicy and newsworthy story to tell, then your pitch will go to the top of the list.
2. Your Brand Is Consistent
Even if you have the most riveting story, you will still need a way to clearly communicate it to the world. If your brand does not have a clear message, style, mission or values, journalists won’t give you a second glance.
3. You Have A Funding Plan
It’s wonderful to have big ideas, but do you have a way to support them financially if they come to fruition? Without funding, you’re going to be disappointed in your PR efforts.
4. You’re Ready To Scale
Let’s say you score a huge feature and you become a viral sensation tomorrow. That’s the PR jackpot and, although it’s rare, it does happen.
Before you invest in PR, ask yourself if your business can handle the consequences that come with recognition. Media features are amazing, however, the increased exposure means you’ll need to keep up with the additional attention.
5. Have The Right Reasons
Why do you want to do PR, anyway? There are plenty of good reasons for you to start promoting your business.
With that said, you need to remember that the main goal of PR is brand awareness and credibility building; everything else is a cherry on top. Brand awareness can certainly bring in more sales (no one can invest if they don’t know you’re there), but you shouldn’t evaluate your PR results in terms of sales. Your main KPI should be the number of organic press mentions your brand receives.
Read Lydia’s entire blog here.
