BRAND POSITIONING: THE TRUE PURPOSE OF PR (AND WHAT SCAM PR AGENCIES WILL NEVER REVEAL)

​I have been asked many times why the first step while opening a company is starting with a consistent PR campaign.

Indeed, what is the main purpose of a PR?

Let’s start by saying what the most immediate are first.

They are two, actually:

1. getting the attention that is taken away from someone else as a consequence;
2. building your credibility by having someone who is willing to consider the utmost urgency to give you attention at that specific moment.

However, the real purpose of PR goes far beyond these two purposes.

The real function of PR is what Robert Cialdini would call pre-suasion,

“Anything that draws focused attention to itself can lead observers to overestimate its importance” Pre-Suasion, P. 32

“Clearly, the amount of news coverage can make a big difference in the perceived significance of an issue among observers as they are exposed to coverage”. Pre-Suasion, P. 35

Where does pre-suasion come from?

Pre-suasion resides in the authoritative position of your communication:

“Communicators stand to be more effective by highlighting the idea of authority not just inside their message but inside the moment before their message. In this pre-suasive way, audicences will become sensitized to (and thus readied for) the coming authoritative evidence in the message, making them more likely to pay attention to it, assign it importance, and, consequently, be influenced by it” Pre-Suasion, P. 153

If the overall scope of marketing is branding, the instrument marketing uses to build brand positioning is influence.

PR is the most powerful weapon of influence a business can rely upon to become slowly but a consistently a brand.

When I talk about a brand I do not necessarily mean being in a dominant position on a global scale.

A company can become a brand which is the FIRST on a local or regional basis.

Of course anyone would love to be the next Apple, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Amazon and so on…

But it is not always possible for a variety of reasons that might be structural, cultural, organizationals or simply related to the business model.

What does this last conclusion should suggest you?

1. Your PR campaign once decided that should be lead through the media should send out a targeted message;
2. the targeted message should be conveyed on media that reach your audience.

TO BE NOTICED 1:

PR is not just appearing on online or broadcast media.

PR is also the testimonials your customers enthusiastically leave both on your website and on your social media with their full consent to let you use them in any future promotional activity you will be involved with.


TO BE NOTICED 2:

How should a testimonial be written?

Like…

“The service is funny and enjoyable. The owner is a nice person”?

No…

Not at all…

A testimonial should contain:

1. the difference between a situation before and the situation after your client has purchased your service and/or trusted your organisation,
2. how you have helped him solve his problem
3. why you have been the only one doing it professionally with your actions matching your promises
4. what results have your client being able to achieve thanks to your prompt intermediation?

“Funny” and “Enjoyable” are not credible attributes that remind to specific actions.

However, let’s get back to the purpose of PR.

As I have stated multiple times (even in this article), the widely accepted purpose of PR (that includes your client’s testimonials) is to build your credibility.

However, there is an upper purpose in doing PR, which is building your credibility to increase the sales by amplifying your margins in the market you operate.

The true purpose of PR is to sell.


How does PR sell?

PR sells by pre-suading your target audience that you are the right person or corporation to solve a specific practical or cultural problem.

Why pre-suasion is paramount in today marketplace?

Pre-suasion, which is a different word to call brand positioning, is made on the researches your prospect will make before purchasing from you.

The online world is the most used channel where your target audience will find out if your reputation is good enough or you are just a scam.

That’s why you should consider GOOGLE as part of your brand positioning and find out a strategy to create relevant positive content that can be positioned at least in the first 5 pages.

GOOGLE, which is the most spread search engine, is where your ghosts resides.

Search engines are part of your environment.

The cleaner is your environment, the better is for you to get successful in what you do.

A bad review in a forum exposed to a countless number of viewers can cost you countless sales.

Your online reputation management should be part of your marketing strategy and in your PR future campaigns.

The real purpose of PR is to sell.

This is a principle you should never forget.

I repeat it.

The real purpose of PR is to sell.

Thus. there is a problem here that needs to be solved.

Many of the companies do not have a PR department with a PR manager who gets contacts with relevant journalists.

However, if they want to let people know they do exist without excessively bothering them with massive advertising, they will need to integrate their marketing strategy with a few PR campaigns.

As a consequence, they will be compelled to outsource the service to external agencies that has the ability to get the company a bit of coverage but do not have any clue about their business.

How can an entrepreneur discover if he is dealing with a scam PR agency or a very professional one that is not going to collect the money of the company as a free risk donation instead of a real investment with short, medium, long terms benefits?

Here we go:

1.  According to the sales person you are dealing with, what is the ultimate purpose of PR? 

2. If the ultimate purpose of PR how can you sell your proposition without a sales pitch? Do they have a method in place that can allow you to use an interview to replenish your pipe line with ready-to-buy potential customers?  

3.  On the premise that you know very well the avatar of your potential customer and where he spends most of his time so that you can reach him properly, does the PR agency knows what specific media can be used to convey your message?  

4.  Does the PR Agency have a Payment By Results operational strategy?  

5.  Does the PR Agency have a few cases written in testimonials where it explains how they previously solved the same problem?  

6.  Can the PR Agency provide you with a credible number of its customer retention?  

7.   What the online environment has to say mostly on that PR Agency?  

8.  Has the PR Agency a method in place that can allow you to dilationate your PR budget in multiple on target campaigns during the year rather than spending it all in one single campaign just to reach the monthly sales target that it would never achieve otherwise?

These are questions you should carefully consider before allocating your budget to a third party intermediation that is just behaving as a charity for itself rather than being interested in providing you with a very valuable consistent return on investment (ROI).

The true purpose of PR is to sell.
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That's it.