Yesterday a Queen asked me what PR actually does, so I figured I’d break it down since it’s been a while. PR helps you create an experience of your brand that can amplify your impact, and it does so specifically by enhancing your efforts in these five areas:
1. PR Helps Create A Positive Public Image
PR is basically systems and strategies that you use to shape how people receive and feel about your brand. You can use it to shape public perception of your brand and create a positive image.
If you want to be seen as an authority in your space, you want to be the first brand that comes to mind when people think of a specific problem they need to solve, or if you want to be associated with a feeling, like comfort or care, you can use PR to curate both online and offline experiences of your brand that help create that impression.
2. PR Helps Build Brand Awareness
PR is also a great way to increase your brand awareness by getting your brand on bigger platforms, so more people learn about you and hear your message. For example, a feature in the top-selling magazine Woman's World, as seen in the video above, would place your brand in front of an audience of 4.62 million readers, according to Bauer Media Group.
And of course, the more people you get in front of, the more sales you're likely to make. Here’s a disclaimer though, even though sales isn't a direct result of PR, we know that the influx, if managed properly with a good marketing strategy that effectively captures that traffic, can actually convert to sales.
Email from Ria's Beauty Collection after being featured in Woman's World
3. PR Helps Boost Your Credibility
Image via Oberlo
PR is also a great way to boost your credibility. According to Oberlo, 81% of consumers feel that they need to actually trust a brand in order to buy, so the more we can do to build credibility the better.
And having your brand mentioned and spoken about by people, brands, and platforms that consumers trust is a good way to do that. For example, I was recently featured on a list of inspiring Black womxn marketers by LinkedIn.
LinkedIn is a well-known and trusted platform, even the government uses it to gather information. The article was written by the Editor in Chief, an expert whose opinion is worth more than her weight in gold. And the womxn on the list are pioneers like the Executive Director of the African American Marketing Association Michelle Ngome, Amazon Prime Video & Studios' Global Chief Marketing Officer Ukonwa Kuzi-Orizu Ojo, and Bozoma Saint John, former Global Chief Marketing Officer of Netflix.
Those are just three reasons that being named on this list is a massive credibility boost!
4. PR Helps You Manage Your Reputation
Reputation management is often something people only think about when things go bad and they're trying to do damage control. But if you’re consistently growing and managing your reputation by creating brand experiences on trusted platforms that:
- Add to your brand story
- Are positive and compelling
- Make people want to connect and fall more deeply in love with your brand
Then if something bad does happen, it probably won’t destroy you because when people actually look at your brand and see how much there is out there, they're more likely to view it within context, as opposed to only knowing you for this one thing because there isn’t really any information about your brand.
5. PR Helps Build Relationships
And finally, PR is excellent for building relationships:
- It's good for deepening your relationship with consumers because there’s information about you in different places, so they get to learn more about you, your story and what you bring.
- And of course you're building relationships with the media!
- It helps you build relationships within your community, especially if you're doing any kind of charity work or giving back.
- And then because of your increased visibility and the fact that you're also being placed in front of potential collaborators and brand partners, you can leverage PR to build relationships in that sense as well. Use it to open doors!
Curious about how to use PR for your business?
If you want to use PR in your business to create a positive image, boost your brand awareness and credibility, or to build relationships, take a look at our case study video on how to get publicity without breaking the bank.
ABOUT BLACK GIRL PR™
Black Girl PR™ is an award-winning consulting firm focused on elevating Black womxn across the diaspora and in Africa. Our specialty is helping Black womxn in ecommerce get publicity and media coverage, so they reach more people and have a bigger impact.
