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The 3 Wrong Perceptions That Every Business has About PR Public Relations is one of the important components of marketing when it comes to building a brand and here are the things that one needs to know

By Sanya Bajaj

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

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Public Relations is the public perception of any business. However, Public relations as a business has always suffered through perception issues. For small businesses, it is just a business development tool and the medium enterprises consider them as a pathway to media publications.

For any successful business, good PR is essential. Public relations is all about managing the Goodwill and Communication between a company and its customers or various Public. PR professionals help the brands in building a positive reputation whether through - unpaid or earned communications in traditional or new media. Apart from building a new image, PR also help clients in defending their reputation during a crisis that may threaten their credibility.

Public Relations is one of the important components of marketing when it comes to building a brand. PR is often compared to Advertising or even considered as a part of it. However, the mandate of a PR team is to promote companies or individuals via editorial coverage which is also known as an "earned" or "free" media. Unlike the advertising or paid spaces, PR creates an impact through media stories appearing on websites, newspapers, magazines and TV programs.

In the past two decades, Public Relations industry in India has boomed significantly. However, the clarity on its relevance is still lacking among the companies or entrepreneurs starting up their businesses. Majority of entrepreneurs aren't PR experts, and many simply aren't aware about how to build and implement an impactful strategy for their business.

Let's talk about the three most common wrong perceptions that every business has about PR.

1. Hiring a PR Agency is a Waste of Resources:

Public Relations is a long term and deliberate process. Hiring a PR agency to manage any business reputation involves patience. The PR strategies that are being implemented in the business now gives the benefit in future. Many businessmen think that they don't need a Public Relations expert because their business is already flourishing. For them, hiring a PR agency is a waste of money and other resources.

However, Public Relations help startup and small businesses to get bigger and help big businesses avoid the stage of decline or saturation that is being witnessed in every business after establishing themselves. Public relations team or agency help businesses maintain good reputation and relations with their customers and various other important public of the business.

2. Press Release with No Purpose

In today's time, businesses focus more on winning traditional media coverage. Whether they are making an announcement or launching a product, businesses usually ask their PR teams to focus on disseminating a press release in media presuming that it would help them attain maximum visibility. However, the truth is that it does not create the impact that an idea of drawing a creative campaign may do.

Businesses considering traditional media coverage and spending more on digital advertising is not giving them the hype they want. Instead, considering more of digital media coverage helps the brand connect with the target audience that do not read print publications in today's time.

3. Sticking to Only Big Name Publications

Several entrepreneurs are fascinated with the all the biggies of financial and A grade media. Even when there is no talk point to be shared with the media, businesses work around tapping the big name media publications. However, staying inside the box results in the wastage of time and effort that could be invested in the right media targeting.

Therefore, every entrepreneur or business must keep in mind that too many attempts may ruin their reputation in media or even raise a big question on their credibility. So, businesses must understand that media mapping and planning is highly important for any PR team before pitching out the stories on the behalf of your business.

Sanya Bajaj

Co-founder, Column Inches

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