Why the Biggest Myths About Public Relations May Actually Be Right
Tags: Startup Marketing, Public Relations, Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Pr

Why the Biggest Myths About Public Relations May Actually Be Right PRontheGO Follow Sep 10 · 4 min read

PRontheGO: Why the Biggest Myths About Public Relations May Actually Be Right

We asked our PR and growth experts to advise entrepreneurs on the biggest myths about Public Relations, and why they may actually be right. A reality check for legends about PR work, real behind-the-scenes insights and processes for PR success.

PR Myth: Media Placements equate to an increase in sales.

Chandra Gore, Publicist & Principal Consultant of Chandra Gore Consulting:

“This can be true in some instances based on the placement and timing. If you are using the strategy of holiday guides or if you have secured placements before the holidays to help your customers become aware of your brand. This method can boost sales — you can maximize these placements by creating a social media presence around the placement that will drive traffic to your website. This takes proper planning and most importantly strategy.”

PR Myth: PR is free

Paige Arnof-Fenn, Founder & CEO of Mavens & Moguls:

“The myth that you don’t need to pay for PR / publicity can be free is true if you want to do it on your own for lack of a budget. It is possible to develop a strategy/key messages, leverage the communication/idea generation/audience identification/smart targeting/curate a story/convey it to the media directly but time is money too so unless you have the talent/skill/patience it can still be worth hiring a professional. Just because you can do it yourself does not make it bad/wrong to pay for it. For many it is worth it, a great investment.”

PR Myth: PR is not measurable

Eden Cheng, Co-Founder at PeopleFinderFree:

“A common myth about PR is the idea that it is impossible to measure the effectiveness of public relations. And to some extent that is true because PR campaigns cannot be tracked in the same way that one measures the success of an inbound marketing campaign, for example. After all, unlike other brand promotion methods like online advertising, PR has no specific analytic metric that can be used to accurately validate the achievement of PR goals.”

PR Myth: There’s No Such Thing as Bad Publicity.

Jennifer L. Horspool, Global Brand Specialist and Founder, Engagement PR & Marketing:

“OK. There IS such thing as bad publicity, and it can rock your company to the ground. But it’s also an opportunity to turn the crisis into a good thing for your longevity. How you handle crises and poor publicity in the public’s eye is powerful. Do it right and your brand value escalates; do it wrong and you sink. Show you care about people and the perceived victims. Show empathy for others. You don’t have admit guilt to show you have heart. Care first. And now that your name is out there, show the world how great you really are.”

PR myth: You need to be friends with reporters

Jonathon Narvey, Founder & CEO at Mind Meld PR Inc.:

“The number-1 myth about public relations: you need to build relationships with reporters to get them to accept your pitch.. Most prospects who wind up working with us first ask if we have good connections with reporters (What do they expect us to say? “Nope?”). A killer pitch that’s well-timed can work just fine even the first time you reach out to a reporter. Now, are relationships with reporters ever useful? Sure. If it requires a quick judgement call and it’s a friend, maybe you get the edge you need. Never rely on it.”

PR myth: There is no ROI

Jonathan Zacharias, Founder of GR0:

“Perhaps the biggest myth about PR is that there is no ROI. Certainly, some articles will generate immediate revenue, while others simply will not. However, regardless of your immediate sales numbers, PR serves an intrinsic purpose: it validates your brand and creates legitimacy in the eyes of the customer. Haven’t had any sales from your published links? Try incorporating an “As Featured In” section on your homepage that outlines where you have been published. Indeed, as it takes 6–9 touchpoints to generate one sale, explicitly showcasing your press mentions is sure to improve your conversion numbers.”

PR myth: You have no control

Christian Velitchkov, Co-Founder at Twiz LLC:

“It might be true to the extent where you won’t have direct control. Unlike advertising, you can’t control how your business is portrayed by the media, when your message will appear, and where it will be placed. Yes, there are no guaranteed results in anything, and the same goes for PR. you may spend time and money on PR, but you can never guarantee your story will be published. This can result in a poor return on investment.”

Thank you!

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PRontheGO.com — The Creative Entrepreneur’s source for PR hacks.

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