The power of Public Relations

Public relations agencies such as Rea-TMA Marketing can help your business because one of the most important assets of a London or other UK business is its reputation. The goodwill and trust associated with its name and brand to a large degree influences the value attributed by customers to the products and services of the business. This can be a major determinant of the success of the business in attracting and retaining customers.

The reputation of a UK business is founded upon a number of factors - some of which are firmly under its control, others less so. The former includes the quality of its products and services, as well as the communication of the business with the market – such as in sales contact and marketing activity – and the latter factors might relate to any comments on the business either in the press and other media, by customers, suppliers – and indeed competitors or other third parties.

PR, Public Relations agencies like Rea-TMA Marketing practice the marketing discipline which is concerned with planning and managing communication with customers and the London, UK or wider market that will influence the perceived reputation of the business. PR is used by small, medium and large businesses alike to develop positive awareness in targeted industry markets and geographic regions. Every business needs to establish a good reputation to succeed. Regular and consistent communication is required with as many active and potential customers as possible, either directly or through intermediaries, such as the media.

Rea-TMA and other Public Relations agencies develop strategy that is concerned with the planning and implementation of activity that cost-effectively communicates the product and service values, benefits and features that are most likely to influence the awareness, opinion and behavior of a targeted audience. This must be a two-way process, that also requires the business to understand the wants and needs of its customers and to measure their awareness, perceptions and opinions of the business and its competitors. The results of this measurement then enable the business to regularly adapt and realign its PR strategy to great effect.

The role of Public Relations agencies is therefore critical within the sales process – that is the successive stages by which a business progresses a sales enquiry, from developing the awareness of your business by a sales prospect, through to presenting your solution, understanding customer needs, and then closing the sale. The reputation of your business in London, the UK and beyond is a major determinant of success at each stage, and most particularly when generating initial awareness and sales enquiries.

PR can be the most cost-effective marketing tool for informing the market of the existence of your business and its product and service offerings. The messages you communicate in a PR programme – particularly through editorial PR in the media - will have much greater credibility with sales prospects than when delivered through advertising or direct marketing alone. This is because any media coverage of your products and services will be perceived generally as more impartial than any advert or direct mail literature which you may issue.

In fact each of these, and other marketing tools have an important role to play in the ‘marketing mix’. Advertising ensures you of complete control of the presentation of your business and any messages you want to communicate within the chosen medium, across a wide audience. Whilst direct mail enables you to deliver the presentation and message to a highly targeted audience, perhaps with an accompanying letter personalised for each recipient, to gain attention.

Public Relations agencies like Rea-TMA Marketing can offer immediate benefits in the short term, by generating new sales enquiries. Over a longer period, in addition to the initial direct response, a successful programme will influence the reputation of your business. Because of the growing awareness in the London, UK or wider market and more favorable opinion of your business, there will be an increasing probability that prospects are more responsive to other activities in the ‘marketing mix’, such as advertising, direct marketing, exhibition presence, web strategy and others.

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