Understanding the Concept of Integrated PR

Friends, Thank you very much for taking out time from your busy schedule to read my blog(s). Sharing knowledge with you has become my passion now. I feel encouraged after reading your feedback in the comments column.  Today I’m very happy to present 107th Blog “Understanding the Concept of Integrated PR.”

Friends Integrated PR is the convergence of communications and brand activations across paid, earned, shared and owned media. Integrated Public Relations is where PR meets marketing. Aligned, effective, optimized, and synchronized are the words that come to mind when I think about integrated PR.

 

PR is called Integrated PR when it surrounds an organization’s marketing activities to create impact and effect.  It is a multi-channel approach that broadens the reach by delivering the communication through the channels that audiences consume most often. 

Friends, when the organizations decide to invest in increasing brand awareness, they usually choose between either implementing a PR and a marketing strategy to reach more of their desired audience. PR and marketing have existed as two different entities since ages, but the digital media has blurred the line.

Traditional forms of PR like TV, radio and newspapers. are taking a back seat today, since meeting with journalists and emailing pitches or press releases to the publications is no longer viable, unless you’re targeting the niche publications and journalists dealing with the subject of our interest. PR professionals have started looking towards blogging, social media management, search engine optimization (SEO) and contributing content to other platforms to meet the needs of their clients.

With both PR and marketing strategies having the same or similar goals, it only makes sense to combine the two, reaping the benefits of both tactics working together.

Now, whether you call it PR or marketing, success is more likely if you have a consistent, unified approach. The organizations must aim to build an inbound program that aligns their marketing and PR teams with common goals and success is likely to follow. Coordinating the brand’s social media, PR, inbound marketing and creative efforts can only lead to a stronger overall brand strategy. Incorporating the same strategy across platforms to achieve the same goals can supplement and support our efforts, and help us reach a wider audience.

Friends’ Inbound marketing is a strategic approach to creating valuable content that aligns with the needs of our target audiences and inspires long-term customer relationships. Inbound program is the method of growing the organization by building meaningful, lasting relationships with consumers, prospects, and customers. It's about valuing and empowering these people to reach their goals at any stage in their journey with us.

Our customers are our customers because we provide solutions to their problems, solutions that our target audiences are searching for and, that are what inbound marketing is all about. Those solutions can come in the form of many different types of content across all of our different platforms, designed to connect with potential buyers at different stages of the buying cycle.

Now the question is how to implement integrated public relations?

Once we have decided to take the route of integrating our marketing and public relations strategy, our first step should be that PR should have a seat at the head table and have the same goals as the rest of the company – goals that are tied to the success of various team e.g. finance, IT, sales, marketing, etc.. This would facilitate all communications from various departments to be coordinated and have “one voice” of customer communication.”

We have to ensure that our integrated strategy has a strong foundation of clear, cohesive messaging which is tailored specifically to our target audience personas. All areas of our strategy should be rooted in the same goals and objectives, and flow through both our public relations and marketing efforts. From there, we have to create content that will attract our target audiences and speak to their gentle points at every step of their journey with the company.

Now once we have our goals and messaging aligned, it’s time to plan actionable measures to reach our goals. Public relations professionals often use press releases, social media content, events, blogs, and curated content as media opportunities to place their brands in front of consumers. These tactics help establish the brand as an industry expert, and paints it in a positive light. Re-purposing marketing content into potential PR content can increase exposure for our brand and establish the company as a thought leader.

Social media has become a popular platform for PR initiatives, from adding social media sharing options to blogs to reaching out to reporters over various social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn and everything in between. Social media makes it easier to get consumers engaged with branded content.

Strategy like influencer marketing can also help PR professionals develop and maintain relationships with brand advocates who can reach an audience in an authentic, unique way. According to a survey done in the past, influencer marketing was rated the “fastest-growing online customer-acquisition channel, outpacing organic search and email marketing,” by professional marketers.

Establishing a brand as a reliable voice in the industry and building credibility is easier when integrating organization’s PR and marketing strategies. Consistent messaging, use of thoughtful tactics, and keeping track of results can help us reach a wider audience, get a higher return on investment, and achieve success.

Thank you for reading the blog.

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