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5 Ways a Public Relations Specialist Can Help Your Business Grow in Austin, TX
Austin is home to one of the most diverse groups of residents, organizations, and businesses in the United States. The city has developed an appeal over the last several years that has helped long time Austinites to grow their roots deeper into the community, while also fostering a welcoming environment that has attracted businesses and individuals to set up shop there. With a city that has an unofficial motto of ‘Keep Austin Weird’, it is easily understandable that businesses and individuals that call Austin home are constantly looking for ways that they can stand out and attract more visibility that can develop relationships with third parties. If you and your business are located in Austin and you are looking to learn how you can stand out more, it is recommended to hire a public relations specialist that can help you craft your image for the Austin public.
Public relations is a focus within businesses that primarily works to form relationships between the business and parties that may be interested in what your business has to offer. This relationship is critical for long term partnerships and business growth. In industries where the target audience is more consumer-focused, public relations plays a critical role in how your business can connect with your audience through announcements and news that highlights what you are currently doing. For businesses that operate in more of a B2B environment, public relations is a key component in connecting your business to interested stakeholders and partners that can help your business grow. Public relations professionals will primarily work to get the word out about what you care about, what you are doing, and why your audience should care about your business.
There is no such thing as a universal approach to public relations. Given that public relations is very dependent on relationships, each business may have a different approach to how they connect with their audience through their messaging. Businesses that operate in a very public and well known matter will have to put significant effort and investment into their public relations strategy because their image is a critical component to their business health. Regardless of your company size and history, public relations is the key to fostering your necessary relationships. For example, if you are a new and upcoming business, you will need to leverage public relations to get the word out as you try to grow your business and acquire customers. If your business already has an established history and an already formed relationship with your audience, public relations can play a role in keeping your interested audience with what’s new with you.
Public relations approaches can differ from business to business, but the consistency in PR messaging comes down to the public relations specialist that can connect your business to your audience. A public relations specialist is someone that oversees that creation, execution, and proliferation of your messaging that is designed with public interest in mind. They play a critical role in how your business develops and fosters a relationship with relevant third parties and knows when your audience is looking to hear from you. Businesses need to be able to foster these relationships in order to grow, so it is extremely vital for businesses to be able to have a public relations specialist that can get the word out and form these important relationships. A good public relations specialist has a keen ability to craft the right message that can resonate with your audience and help them develop interest in your brand. Public relation professionals work with relevant and interested third parties, such as media and news outlets, to get out the word on what’s new and exciting about your brand. Areas that may require public relations focus include:
- Newsletters and press releases detailing recent announcements
- Interviews between your business and interested parties
- Press conferences that can amplify your message across a variety of media outlets
- Events that attract large audiences that are there with a specific interest in mind
Below you will find a breakdown of some of the critical areas that public relations specialists can benefit your business in Austin.
Event Publicity and PR Support
Austin is home to a large number of well known events, including trade shows such as SXSW and music festivals such as Austin City Limits Music Festival. These are events that attract a large number of attendees each year and have a reach that pulls in an audience from throughout the United States and the world. These events, particular the music festivals, are so important to Austin’s economy that the city actually bills itself as “The Live Music Capital of the World”. With a name like that, it’s easy to understand why Austin businesses will need to significantly invest into public relations to foster audience interest in these events. While these events are regularly occurring, they are constantly adapting to new trends and have evolved over time to be increasingly more successful with their intended audience. While the general public may have an established idea of when these events may be happening, public relations plays a critical role in how these events can market themselves and show what changes are happening for each new iteration of the event.
Austin-based businesses may need to rely on these steady streams of events to get the word about their business and to consistently grow over time. With that in mind, a public relations specialist can play an extremely important role to help you develop your approach to these events and how you get the word out to attract attendees. These specialists can work with you to find the right time to make your announcement, so that potential event attendees can know what to expect when they attend. Leading up to the event, a public relations specialist can work with your business on the messaging to prepare your audience, while also helping with the content of what you will be presenting during these particular events. After the event is over, public relations specialists can work with third parties to understand what was impactful and what resonated with the audience to understand your strengths and weaknesses, so that you can adapt your future events accordingly.
PR Content Development and Marketing
Do you find that you know the value of your business and the product or service that it offers, but you can’t seem to find the right words on how you can communicate this value to interested parties? A public relations specialist is a professional that can identify the right message, at the right time, and for the right audience. As the name may suggest, these are professionals that specialize in your relationships with the public, and therefore, they have a keen mind for developing the messaging that will be impactful for your relationships.
Consider hiring a public relations specialist if you find that your business has an upcoming announcement to make and need to find a professional that can help you craft this message. A public relation specialist can help with the creation of marketing content and can work from there to circulate this messaging out into the public, so that the messaging finds the right audience. After information has been made public, a PR specialist can work with you and interested third parties to continue the conversation and can provide insights into what really was effective in your announcement. This type of analysis is critical to understand what works with your content and what you can improve upon in the future.
PR Social Media Strategy and Execution
Nowadays, social media plays an almost primary role in the proliferation of announcements and connecting companies to their targeted audience. While traditional PR may focus its efforts into media and news outlets, social media public relations can get your messaging directly in front of your audience that is already connected with you on a social media platform, such as Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook. If you find that your business is looking to implement a more effective social media messaging strategy, consider hiring a public relations professional that has a keen mind for social media audience and what type of content can inspire engagement.
One of the unique attributes of social media compared to traditional forms of media is its ability for brands to have a direct line of communication with their audiences, who can then amplify your messaging when they find it of interest. Social media usage has become a daily task for a larger number of people and given its constant ability to tap into audiences, brands are beginning to focus their public relation efforts into platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. In this digital environment, public relation professionals have adapted their practices to the reality of social media and your customers that use it. As many people are aware of, social media plays an important role in exponentially increasing the reach of a message, particularly if it is a message that consumers will want to circulate to their own followers after being exposed to them. The power of social media and public relations has never been stronger, so as you look for a public relation specialist for your business, try to understand their ability to implement social media strategy into a larger public relations initiative.
PR Crisis Management
Sometimes getting a message out isn’t always done with an intention to help grow your business and foster a positive relationship. In certain cases, public relations may need to be agile when a business is going through a crisis or their reputation is at risk due to something recent that is public facing. While it may seem disheartening to see your business in a situation where you may be facing public backlash and scrutiny, a well balanced public relations specialist can help to navigate your business and its messaging during this turbulent time.
Crisis management is an area with public relations that aims to improve a business’ image and reputation as a result of a current or recent event that may have looked bad. These public relation professionals are well adapted to navigating tough times and know how you can put out the word to resolve concerns and to turn the page on this difficult time. If your business is currently going through an issue with your image or the perception of your brand, it is critical to work closely with a public relations specialist to determine your plan for smoothing things over with your audience. In a difficult situation, you do not want to go about resolving it on your own. Considering hiring a public relation specialist that has extensive experience in managing these difficult situations.
PR Corporate Communications
Public relations isn’t something that can just focus on things that the general public may be interested in. In today’s environment, public relations plays an important role in B2B relationships and how your business can connect with partner companies that you need to have a balanced relationship with. The corporate environment facilitates the need for businesses to work with relevant stakeholders to operate efficiently and effectively. If you operate in one of these environments that is more B2B focused, consider the importance of working with a public relations professional that has corporate communications experience.
These PR professionals know what works best within the business community and have strengths in developing relationships amongst different businesses and stakeholders. Messaging within the corporate, B2B environment may be more technical and specifically focused in comparison to consumer messaging that may be done with layman’s terms. If you find that your business is in need of someone that can help to foster your B2B relationships and craft the messaging to build these relationships, consider hiring a public relations professional with strong corporate communication experience.