Why PR Remains the Most Important Marketing Tool
July 1st, 2009 |
The world of marketing and public relations is rapidly changing. We are going through some seismic shifts and it’s important to keep up with the changes and yet not be overwhelmed.
Still, with all the changes, there are still some constants. PR remains the only form of marketing that reaches your target market and offers you validation and credibility. For example, let’s say you read an ad for an attorney in your local newspaper. The ad tells you how wonderful the attorney is, what she specializes in, what services she offers, and how to contact her. Now let’s say you read an article about that same attorney. The article profiles her and tells you about a case she just won and the impact that case had. Both pieces you read are in the newspaper. Both have to do with the same attorney, but which one would impress you the most, which would you pay more attention to, the ad or the article? My bet is the article.
The same holds true for you, if you’re featured in a news paper or magazine feature story or interviewed on a TV news segment, you are suddenly the news. You are an expert being interviewed about your field. Unlike an ad or a commercial, a news story is a third person account. It has been vetted by a writer and an editor. That doesn’t necessarily make the article more factually accurate than the ad, but it is perceived differently. The media’s job is to tell a story and to give the reader information, whereas the ad is meant to sell.
For that reason media coverage offers you more validation and credibility. People tend to trust an expert who has been featured in the media more than one they see in an ad or a commercial. In a nutshell it’s the ability to offer that credibility to give the reader that sense of trust that makes PR is the most effective form of marketing and branding available.
