No public-facing business can survive and grow without making a big effort to develop positive consumer Public Relations. Although the distinction between corporate and consumer relations has been criticized in recent years, most people still believe that the two fields are distinct. Consumer PR is all about how a company communicates and reacts to the intended purchasing audience that they are targeting. All consumer PR strategies should be planned and conducted with the aim of instilling confidence in the brand and company. Members of the public tend to purchase products from companies that they feel are trustworthy and responsible. A great deal of consumer PR is focused on developing a trustworthy and responsible image. This can sometimes fall flat if it is pursued dishonestly. Consumer PR efforts by oil companies such as BP, for instance, have clearly backfired due to the widespread acceptance of fossil fuels as a major polluter. Bungling relationships with the public is more common than you might think; it is easy to make a misstep. As a way of helping you to avoid such mishaps in your own business life, this article contains a series of tips for the development of positive consumer Public Relations.
1. Know Your Aims
You won’t be able to develop a coherent PR strategy or purchase the right consumer PR packages if you don’t clearly define your aims. Your aims should be defined early on and be the driving force behind the development of research goals and practical PR tactics. Common consumer Public Relations aims to include:
Increasing Customer Loyalty
PR strategies are often developed to retain existing customers through the development of positive relationships.
Supporting Marketing Campaigns
Marketing campaigns do not occur in a vacuum. They need to be backed up with positive consumer PR and overall messaging strategies.
Increasing Brand Awareness
Positive consumer PR can play a part in growing public awareness of a brand or product. Increased brand awareness is directly linked to financial growth and investor interest in the long run.
Managing Crisis
Companies need to prepare for the possibility of a crisis that can impact PR. PR strategy needs to account for this possibility and play a role in the containment of a disaster. Planning ahead is never a bad idea in business.
2. Know Your Audience
The audience is what differentiates consumer Public Relations from corporate PR or more general PR. Consumer PR strategies should be aimed squarely at your target consumer audience. This means that you have to really get to know these valuable people.
Truly knowing your consumer audience starts with data collection and analysis. In the internet era, this is becoming a task that is impossible to complete without the use of big data. Big data is a term used to describe big, often internet-derived, datasets that are so large and varied that they can only be effectively used with the help of intelligent algorithms.
Once you have enough data on your consumer audience, you are going to need to split them into identifiable profiled segments. Each consumer segment will, in theory, have different needs and desires. Your PR strategy needs to be based on the communication of your company’s responses to these needs and desires.
Segmenting your consumer audience is immensely useful: it allows you to develop strategies for the development of positive relationships based on the most common aspects of each group and helps a company to understand what strategic decisions may fall on deaf ears among their specific audience members.
3. Develop An Angle
Once you know your audience and you have split them into distinct groups, you can start to develop an interesting and engaging angle for your communications strategy. Think of an angle as a communicated perspective. A unique angle that fits into the aesthetic and moral wants of your audience will help your communications strategy unfold successfully in several ways:
Consumers Can Identify Your Communications
A unique angle will enable consumers to instantly recognize your communications and the ideas that lie behind them. This is a key part of building a brand identity.
You Can Identify Problems That Your Business Will Solve
PR strategy should be approached from a positive problem-solving angle. What problems do your consumers have? You need to develop communications that make it clear that your business understands these problems and is the provider of products or services that can help solve them.
Consumers Can Identify Your Principles
Consumers react positively to companies that they see as sharing their principles and values. Only by developing a coherent PR angle can a business truly communicate its intended values to consumers.
You Can Showcase Unique Concepts And Solutions
Finding a unique angle can help to convey the unique nature of the solutions that you are offering.