Public Relations: Key to Business Growth in the New Year – or Any Time of Year Marketing Expert Offers Tips For Using PR Effectively

The new year is here and everyone is making personal resolutions. But according to small business marketing expert Shannon Cherry, APR, companies should also be making resolutions in order to improve their business growth for the upcoming year.

Albany, NY (PRWEB) December 31, 2003 --The new year is here and everyone is making personal resolutions. But according to small business marketing expert Shannon Cherry, APR, companies should also be making resolutions in order to improve their business growth for the upcoming year.

Taking stock of where a company is and where it's headed is always good to do a couple of times a year," says Cherry, president of Cherry Communications (www.cherrycommunications.com), which helps businesses and nonprofit organizations to be heard through marketing communications. Businesses that want a leg up on their competition need to focus on boosting their public relations, or PR, efforts. This keeps them from going under when the economy is weak, and gets them ahead of their competitors when sales start picking up. With the economy emerging from recession, now is the perfect time to get a fresh start on your PR strategies."

According to Cherry, public relations is a strategic form of communication thats used to obtain positive exposure for your company and keep key publics informed. It's news releases, feature stories, interviews, analyst meetings, application stories, speaking engagements, newsletters, websites, product launches and events," she says. It's also developing a key message that differentiates you from your competition and selecting the mix of tactics that will get your message to the marketplace with the most impact."

She says that PR is different from advertising. Advertising and promotion are about salesmanship. Consumers know it and are on the defense against being sold something they don't want or need – especially when moneys tight," she explains. Public relations is about conveying information. By providing information to consumers directly or through trusted third parties, PR is a cost-effective marketing effort that has a big-payoff: credibility and visibility. That's why PR should play a key role in your business plans in the upcoming year."

Cherry offers some tips to use PR to kick-start a business into high gear:

Think of more than just a press release.
Media coverage can be an excellent way to influence public opinion, but today's media includes more than newspapers and television. Think outside the box to find the right medium for your message and your target audience," Cherry says. She points to handing out small gifts bearing a logo, maintaining a presence at trade shows or getting more links to the business website are effective ways to generate public relations.

Keep messages simple.
Surveys show that people in the US get bombarded with more than 4,000 marketing messages a day. Who has the time and energy to decipher complicated jargon? Stick to one message, and learn to tell it in various ways to make your point," she explains.

Position yourself as an expert.
Give advice on your business topic freely. When you consistently provide information of value, your reputation as an expert will make itself," she says.

Focus on people, not products.
‘Make the product the hero is an old expression that's not right today," explains Cherry. People want to connect with somebody, not something."

Cherry says successful companies make public relations a priority. Whether selling direct, through distribution channels or via e-commerce, a successful company must achieve and maintain a strong market presence through a continuous and effective public relations program."
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