Top 10 Tactical Tools Of Consumer PR

Top 10 Tactical Tools of Consumer PR

Introduction As companies embrace public relations as a means of positively influencing a brand’s perception by managing communications with the media and influencers and the public, it’s important to continually review the tools that have proven to be most effective in consumer public relations.

I will highlight 10 top tactical tools for companies and public relations professionals to consider when embarking on a consumer public relations campaign.

Tools 1: Understand Your Audience

Too often this is overlooked but is the most important first step in developing a strategy and executing a plan that will generate results by engaging with our target audience. You can use the consumer research but also spend time to challenge assumptions and commonly help perceptions to truly understand the audiences to be targeted.

Tools 2: Customized List of Press and Influencer Targets Once there’s a clear understanding and agreement on targeted audiences, the next step is to develop a customized list of media and influencer targets.

Additionally, conduct a media and influencer audit to determine the outlets that have written about competitors or topics that are of interest and relevant to our outreach.

Tools 3: A Strategic Plan That Aligns With Goals Public relations campaigns have been about tactics. And yes, the successful execution of tactics is a mainstay of all consumer media and influencer programs. Also take into consideration the latest communications vehicles to allow for effective communications with consumer audiences as a means of building frequency and reach for your brand.

Tools 4: News to Promote Your Brand One of the best tactics to drive awareness is using news from your brand to generate articles, broadcast segments, and reviews. Typically, many embrace the use of a press release to distribute news and garner editorial news coverage. Using news announcements keep your brand front and center with consumers.

Tools 5: Newsjacking

This is a tactic that is a mainstay of any consumer public relations campaign. This involves active, daily monitoring of news and industry developments to spot opportunities to put your brand at the center of conversations that are of strategic importance. The key to success with this tactic is to have identified your brand spokesperson and relevant topics and once an opportunity is presented to act quickly.

Tools 6: Promote Linkable Assets A linkable asset is content that journalists and online influencers tend to refer to as part of their news coverage and reviews. It also easily earns backlinks which are important as part of the overall marketing and communications campaign. This is a consistent tactic and one in which brands can continually use to create content that can translate into news coverage and blogger reviews.

Tools 7: Leverage Seasonal Opportunities A central aspect of every consumer public relations campaign should be the opportunity to leverage seasonal opportunities to generate awareness through editorial news coverage and influencer reviews. These seasonal opportunities should be customized based on audience and sales cycles but remain a critical means to build awareness through news coverage and product reviews.

Tools 8: Influencer Marketing and Partnerships

There is not a consumer brand today that isn’t working with online influencers (across multiple social platforms) as a means of communicating and engaging with consumers.

The growing influence and reach of these influencers continue to offer brands a means to communicate with consumers and motivate them to action. Increasingly, brands are recognizing that influencers with a significant following, engagement and influence are requiring payment.

Tools 9: Build Brand Ambassadors Establishing brand ambassadors is one of the best approaches to be used as part of influencer marketing. And don’t think of only bloggers or social influencers as a brand ambassador as very often actual consumers – satisfied and loyal customers – make for a great endorser of the brand. Once vetted to make sure their reputation is solid you can leverage each as on ongoing brand ambassador to spread your brand message in an authentic manner.

Tools 10: PR Stunts and Guerilla Marketing Like many, I debated whether to include PR stunts or not. They have been getting quite a bit of negative press in recent years as brands use such stunts purely for shock value and nothing more. The tools listed here should surely be considered as integral tactics as part of a comprehensive consumer public relations campaign but are not the only ones to consider.

Contact us contact@prgn.com www.prgn.com

Thank You