PR methods in a modern enterprise. Encyclopedia of Marketing PR Methods

PR, as a professional activity, interacts with other areas. The use of methodology from related fields allows us to effectively solve all the goals and objectives facing PR service specialists. PR can partially perform the functions of advertising and vice versa. PR is closely related to marketing and uses its tools in its activities.

Various methods and techniques are used in PR activities. Let's look at them below.

Using influence methods from the media

Note 1

PR, like other means of communication, influences the human psyche with information. The influence of information is very great. Using certain techniques, techniques and technologies, information is transferred to the end user. Media: television, radio and the press are the main tools for disseminating any information.

Public relations activities use the following methods from the mass media:

“Affirmative statements” are descriptions of facts that do not require any evidence.
“Use of slogans” - widely used in PR, allows you to create positive image product and company in the eyes of consumers.
“Focus on several features” - concentration on some features of the product image, for example, the image of the product creating great mood, contributing to the improvement of health, having high reliability and safety, etc.
“Use of influence groups” - use of references to authoritative and influential individuals or groups in PR materials target audience.
“Creating contrast” - demonstrating a product with an emotional emphasis as something radically different from others, having exceptional properties and benefiting consumers.
"Comparison". A clear demonstration of the product’s advantages over others.
“Promotion” of a favorable image of one product based on the image of another. This allows you to increase product recognition and psychologically simplifies the consumer’s perception of it.

Sociological methods of PR activities

Companies use methods from sociology in various functional areas of their activities, including PR.

Public relations applies:

Desk research. They are the simplest and least expensive, aimed at collecting and analyzing secondary information on issues of interest.
Field research involves direct contact with the target audience in order to study their opinions and requests, and attitudes towards certain problems.
The main method of conducting is a survey. The following types of surveys are distinguished:
Questionnaires. The respondent independently fills out the form with questions.
Expert interviews. It is aimed at finding out more specific specialized information.
An in-depth interview is a direct questioning of the respondent using additional clarifying questions.
A focus group is a group conversation aimed at finding out the opinions and attitudes of consumers on a specific issue. Conducted in the form of a discussion.

Methods from psychology

Note 2

The following psychological methods are used in PR activities:

Manipulation method. It consists of socio-psychological influence on a person in order to change his behavior, even if he does not want it.
Propaganda method. This is the impact on a person through the media. It is based on influencing the consciousness of the consumer, using the mechanisms of comparison and evaluation.

PR methods– these are the main tools of PR as an applied discipline, which are used by PR specialists to achieve their goals during PR campaigns.

The main PR methods, and there are five of them, can be defined as follows:

Publicity. This is a relationship with all available types of media, so that as much positive information as possible about the subject of PR appears in these sources.

Internal PR. A very important area of PR, which, by strengthening the internal culture and corporate connections of employees, seriously affects the efficiency of their work, and, as a result, the external well-being of the organization.

Establishing positive connections with financial and investment structures. A rather little-known PR method, but, nevertheless, it is one of the key sources of investment.

PR in the political sphere.

working directly with public opinion, where citizens become the target of PR.

13. Financing PR campaigns. Fundraising

Fundraising) - attraction process Money and other resources (human, material, information, etc.) that the organization cannot provide on its own and which are necessary for implementation specific project or its activities in general.

The main objectives of fundraising will be:

fundraising;
acquiring new partners and friends of the organization;
the opportunity to openly express yourself and inform about your goals.

Fundraising can be “internal” or “external” in terms of the method of implementation.

Internal fundraising is when the development and implementation of the search for funding is carried out by the organization’s employees independently.

External fundraising is a search for funding carried out through the involvement of professional fundraising consultants. In this case, both independent experts and specialized fundraising firms can play this role.

Telefundraising is an approach to potential donors and philanthropists by telephone and fax.

Postal fundraising is an appeal to potential donors and philanthropists by mail.

Individual fundraising is a personal appeal to donors and philanthropists in a personal conversation.

Event fundraising - holding various events (auctions, exhibitions, lotteries, presentations, dinners, etc.)

14. Black PR methods

“Black PR” is an activity to eliminate opponents (except for physical elimination), using forms and methods that go beyond moral standards and balance on the brink of prosecution.

Unethical methods and technologies (that is, not consistent with the ethical and moral standards of society),

Methods and technologies that are directly contrary to the law

Specific methods:

Incriminating evidence

Bribery of journalists and placement of information beneficial for the client/customer in the press on a paid basis.

Technologies aimed at deliberately denigrating a competitor and undermining his reputation

Bad praise method, Administrative resource method, Public outrage method

<<Привет, спасибо за приглашение =)
Maybe at the same time you could share the latest or most effective PR methods on the Internet? I will be very grateful =)
Thanks in advance.
Sincerely,
Ekaterina.>>

I'll be happy to share. A lot of materials are now being published on this topic. This, I think, is the most appropriate.
I propose to sort the methods in ascending order of implementation costs. This sorting is very conditional, because in one situation or another, the cost may change in the most dramatic way, but you can build on this ranking.

Communities (blogs, forums...)
Costs: completely free, because There are no costs for maintaining a website or blog.

Conditions: Will require time to live in the community.
Here we can solve two main tasks: to defend the good name of the company in a reasoned and calm manner if “attacks” are made on it and to show ourselves in the eyes of the audience as a knowledgeable and competent person.

Communicate with your audience on your own blog.
Costs: practically free, since creating a blog is an event that costs from 0 rubles.

Conditions: time to create a blog and a blog editor, preferably a PR secretary.
Recently, corporate blogs, written directly by company employees themselves, have become popular. Their advantage is that, firstly, it “humanizes” the company in the eyes of consumers, and secondly, it is preferable for people to communicate with other people rather than with faceless legal entities.

Email.
Costs: manual mailing is completely free, but you will have to pay the site developer to organize mailing on your website.

Conditions: of course, first you need to think about and create what you will send out: articles, news, reviews, press releases... Well, and have a database of addresses of the target recipients.
You can select a subscriber-client base of users your website, organize mailing on free mailing services, or simply select a database manually and use a regular “mailer”. And in order for your press releases to be published on websites, send your press releases to thematic websites. Of course, sometimes you may be asked for money for posting, but you may not be asked to do so.
(!) This is all possible provided that spam mailing lists are excluded from this list!

Work on your own corporate website
Costs: practically free, but keep in mind: all costs are hidden in payment for the employee’s work and website development.

Conditions: the presence of a website and the site must be manageable, the presence of a website editor, preferably in the person of a PR secretary.

If your company regularly generates various interesting and useful materials, and you want to attract the attention of the online community, then you can unleash a small but noisy information storm. Namely, do the following:

Create a separate press-room section where press releases and links to published materials about the company should be posted. If your company is socially active, then a calendar of public events in which the company participates, a schedule of press conferences, briefings, receptions, etc. can also be posted there.

Publishing on the website various analytical articles, expert advice and other materials that are interesting to your potential clients.
Make the “Feedback Form” convenient and understandable and promptly respond to messages.
Organize a subscription option for information company materials, using traditional e-mail newsletters or newfangled RSS feeds.
You can organize a forum, but you need to remember that this is a “double-edged sword” and be prepared for the fact that at your own forum you will have to defend the honor of your company, armed with convincing arguments and universal calm.
Organize an event or service that will be interesting to your target audience, and try to use the so-called. "Word of mouth" Enthusiastic users will give links to your site to their friends and girlfriends.
Appearance on popular and/or thematic sites

Costs: Posting articles sometimes costs nothing, but typically the costs of posting an article or conducting a consultation vary widely.

Conditions: you must have qualifications in a particular topic, and also be able to speak clearly about it to end consumers.

Articles about goods. A great way to interact with customers is to provide useful and interesting information about the products you sell. And here, it would be quite appropriate to indicate the name of your company and its contacts.

Specialist consultations. One of the most effective methods PR, in our opinion. You simply help people, answer their questions, and they naturally contact the company, with a representative which they already have experience of positive interaction.

P.S. Of course, it is more effective to apply everything together and do it constantly. Then the effect will be best.

Low-budget marketing... Every business owner's dream. And it would be even “dreamer” - if at the same time the recognition of the company (product) would grow exponentially... and the sales curve would bend steeper and steeper every day...

But the reality is that marketing budgets ( advertising, PR - highlight what is necessary) are laid out using methods known only to the “layout designer” himself ( read - marketer, advertiser...) laws... And, with rare exceptions, they are a weak reflection of the reality and the company’s need for contacts with the target audience.

They say that the real professionalism of a marketer lies in bringing a company (product) to the market without a budget... Well, or with the minimum necessary cash injections.

I don’t know how true or controversial this statement is - I can’t imagine Coca-Cola, Mars and Adidas in the market without budgets... but still. The fact remains, and the realities of the market are such that not everyone has the budget to pay for “multi-layered” advertising campaigns. In addition, due to the still prevailing mentality of Russian business owners, who are skeptical and distrustful of their own marketing services, small and medium-sized businesses are not yet ready to part with money for advertising and other Marketing communications (because there is no clear understanding of “how will all this come back to us...”).

So, what low-budget ways do you use to market a company or product?

I can offer you tools that I have used quite often in my practice, which have been tested by the market and have shown their effectiveness, and which have helped me out more than once.

1. Barter. Many people don't like this word. Especially in accounting departments. I don’t really like it myself. But I must admit that such a cooperation scheme is quite common in the Russian business segment, even among large and respected players (for example, such as Rosinter). Of course, if you have something to offer your potential partner. And, obviously, the value of your offer for your partner should be no less than what you expect (ask) from him.

2. Exhibitions. Yes, your industry exhibitions are a good reason to promote yourself in your own market among your partners and target audience. And no, you don’t have to buy an expensive place and set up a stand. Be more creative - push the boundaries of your imagination. There are many other ways to introduce yourself at the exhibition, distribute your contacts and collect the ones you need.

Carefully study the proposal of the exhibition organizer, the site where the exhibition will be held - look for opportunities for a low-budget “performance”.

This could be simply placement in the exhibition catalog, posting on the website, renting 2-3 square meters at the entrance to the exhibition, placing a girl/boy with the distribution of samples (or just some “goodies”-useful things with your contacts), investing in a package participant, organization of a photographer with instant printing of photographs against a press-wall background with your logos, and so on - think of it! (by the way, such participation can also be closed through barter)

3. Internal events. This means your personal events for your target audience, for your potential clients. Create some kind of useful event for your customers - what is their pressing problem? What critical question do they have that they typically pay money to answer?

Give them this answer for free! Perhaps in the form of a mini-seminar or micro-training for 4 hours, maybe together with a representative of an authoritative opinion for them (for example, if this is medicine, then this could be the head physician of a serious clinic, if trade - the manager large network, tax chief, bank top manager, etc.).

You can agree on holding such a seminar with the owner of the premises, who is also interested in the audience that overlaps with you, but is not a competitor to you in terms of services. For example, it could be a cafe, club or restaurant that is simply interested in visitors and sales of the kitchen and bar. In addition, in your pre-PR campaign to recruit participants for your event, you will promote them, as well as in post-releases and reports after the seminar. Don’t forget to mention this in negotiations with the site owner.

4. External events. Many people forget about the most useful semi-informal get-togethers or, conversely, professional “meetings” of their decision-makers (people who make decisions on cooperation) in the form of various chambers, clubs, communities, and so on.

Look for it - there’s probably a Chamber of Commerce and Industry in your city that periodically organizes parties for CEOs or financial directors. Look for different fashionable features, such as a mafia gaming club for HR directors. For accountants, these could be seminars conducted by the local Federal Tax Service. Find out where the marketing directors in your area hang out (if you offer printing, design, or advertising services, for example...). Find out where logistics directors live (if you are Courier service or transport company).

If it’s completely boring in your city and poor decision makers stupidly go home after work - see the point above: come up with it yourself! Your own events. Finally, create your own club of mafia players for ____ ( insert the position you need)! Your expenses include purchasing or ordering printing of special cards, blindfolds and beautiful rules on A4 sheets!

Any restaurant in the city will be happy to lend you space on Wednesday evenings for such a theme. In addition, it is not necessary to make such evenings free. Freebies are relaxing. And the mafia club requires discipline ( read the rules on the net). Therefore, take 100-500 rubles from the players. per evening (the amount should be such that it can be dealt with painlessly, and the value received in return will significantly cover such a “loss” from the wallet).

5. Press releases. Make it a habit to issue press releases about your company's activities every Tuesday. Releases should not be large and voluminous - make 1/2 of a printed page of text plus a couple of key sentences about the company.

Look for news updates within the company all week! Set up a system for collecting and processing news and, in general, everything that happens in the company. Any sneeze should flock to your department. And you can decide for yourself whether to air it or not ( together with the business owner, of course).

And regularly distribute your press releases online and through all communication channels available to you: website, corporate newspaper for clients, newsletter, notice board in trading floor or reception... Register your press releases in free catalogs press releases ( they can be easily found in any search engine). Send your news to interested publications in your region - both print newspapers and magazines, and online media.

6. Publications. The same goes for longer-form press publications—provide free content to journalists and media outlets. These could be interviews on your market, on some problem of your consumers, analytical reports and cross-sections, statistical data ( many media like different statistical collections), just interesting publications “on topic”. Invite the leading publication in your region to organize and maintain some special interesting section - and supply your section with relevant and fresh information on a weekly basis.

Everyone needs interesting and useful content! Finally, ask your customers or potential clients - what are they interested in about your topic, what do they want to know about?

7. Cases. Or case study. Or success story. The nature is slightly different, but the point is, in principle, one thing - to show your target segments, using an example, a solution to THEIR problems. Write stories using the formula “Problem - Solution - Result”, “how bad it was before - and how wonderful it was after”, the principle, I think, is clear. Stories in this vein are very attractive and attractive.

8. Reviews. Customer feedback is something you should collect from the time your company is still a business embryo. Especially if your client is a more or less well-known company in your region. On company colored letterhead, with beautiful print, with the signature of the first person or key top manager of your client.

Collect and store your reviews in a separate folder, each in a separate file, treat them with care and respect -) Well, without fanaticism, of course. You just have to understand that these are the results of your work. These are your “thank you, you helped us a lot” from your clients. And don't forget to digitize all your customer reviews. Only exactly, in color, with high resolution and readable text.

9. "Word of mouth". Involve the local population in promoting your company, products, brands. It’s no secret for a long time that “sundress” works best in the services market. But in order for your sundress to work, you need to work on it! What did you think? They just launched a rumor among the people - and they picked it up and carried it to the masses? Of course, it would be great if everything were so simple - no one would spend money on expensive TV and radio advertising, but would only be engaged in “injecting” rumors into the masses.

The simplest and most effective thing is to remember yourself. What information have you personally ever passed on “by word of mouth”? It was probably something shocking, out of the ordinary, or terribly funny, or curious, or disgusting, or improving some aspect of your life... Do you feel what I mean? Yes, that's right - it should be something that hooks.

But here, be careful - your legend should support and improve the image of your company/product, and not destroy it.

10. Free consultations, demonstrations, samples. The name speaks for itself. Don't be afraid to give! Nobody likes to buy a pig in a poke. Everyone wants to try first and then decide to buy.

Here your marketing must work more closely than ever with sales. Because it’s not enough to just give it a try - after that you need to constantly ask at a given frequency: “Well, did you like it? Let's buy the full version. Did not like? Why? and so on...". Keep in touch, monitor your potential client. Offer him special offers, inform him about new products, promotions, discounts.

But don’t be afraid to identify and cut off the “eternal tryers” - these are those who initially know that they will never buy, but will never refuse a freebie... You shouldn’t waste your precious time on such “under-customers”...

11. Atmosphere and design of the client office/service hall, reception area, meeting room/. In these premises, EVERYTHING should speak about your professionalism, the quality of your services and the specialists who, in fact, provide these services, inspire confidence in you, your company, your product - every little thing and every element.

Finally, remove all these antediluvian certificates and gratitude from 2003-2007, issued to you by someone for something! Leave just one - but a normal, fresh, up-to-date solid professional license, or certificate, or diploma, or whatever your specific requirement is...

No wobbly chairs, ragged tables, burnt sofas, cracked glass surfaces... Well, remove this piece of furniture if you don’t yet have the money to reupholster, repair, or buy a replacement. It’s better to throw in a couple of frameless “pears” for one and a half thousand rubles, if you need to somehow take up space - well, even if no one sits on them, but they will give a certain “your dude” freshness and dynamism to your office.

12. Gift certificates, loyalty programs. That is, do it so that the client wants not only to come to you again, but to bring someone else with him next time. WITH corporate clients By the way, this also works. You just need to think a little longer... And ask around/observe the clients to see what might stimulate them to take such an action.

An excellent example is large cosmetic chains, fitness clubs, mobile operators (least). Copy this ready-made and perfectly working model and apply it to your business - what exactly is stopping you? ( The first gift certificates can be printed on a color printer, if things are really difficult... if you get rich, you can print plastic, no big deal!)

In addition, if you have a representative office of any federal discount and coupon network in your city ( like Groupon, but there are a lot of them now), or perhaps there is a local company with this kind of operating principle, contact them and let them plan for you advertising campaign. They won’t take money from you for this, but you will clearly see how much you can earn in one day of such a promotion with zero investments in coverage and attraction. The decision is yours.

13. Cross-marketing promotions with partners. Organize joint promotions with your colleagues, with whom your products can complement each other for the same target audience ( “The printing house blah blah and the furniture salon blah blah are holding a joint promotion only from May 1 to May 20: buy office furniture and get an 80% discount on any advertising printing!”). Promote them well by region ( You can also take the media as partners), share contacts with each other, and work with the resulting client base, each in its own format.

14. Competitions, quizzes. This is about the same thing as cross-marketing, only in a more entertaining format. Each partner performs its own function, makes its contribution - provides prizes of different formats and nature, covers the event, prints banners, programs the web, handles logistics, takes photographs, shoots videos, feeds, clothes, etc. But someone must take on the role of organizer and coordinator. For example, you, as the initiator and creator of the concept ( which you pre-send to the partners you need for your contribution).

15. Cultivate feedback from your customers. Establish relationships with them. And develop them. Invite them to express their opinion on any matter - about your services, about the same services on the market in general, conduct surveys, call to action in your communications, provoke them to respond to your messages, conduct surveys on the website or jointly with partners, give them free advice and ask to rate them, get their consent to receive your marketing materials (only useful for them and not often!).

Final word

Of course, all these low-cost marketing methods do not require big money, but require the investment of other resources - time, effort, patience, energy, imagination and your knowledge.

Yes, and you shouldn’t be scattered about all of the described promotion methods - try each of them in turn, see - which works best for you, brings the most clients? Focus on the few that are most optimal for you in terms of the combination of time and labor costs/number of completed deals.

And one more tip that I would like to mention, but which everyone often forgets... Due to confusion and immersion in routine, probably...

Promote and sell not your company and your products, but the “emotion” and “result” of using your services and contacting your company!

Few people need the services of a beauty salon, but a beautiful haircut and a perfect manicure - yes! I am not at all interested in the services of an advertising agency, but an increase in sales by 20% in 6 weeks - let's discuss this soon! There are plenty of cheap tours to Egypt and Greece, but complete disconnection from current worries and immersion in absolute relaxation for two weeks – there are few such offers! (if they exist at all...)

So stop, colleagues, disconnect from the hustle and bustle, take a time out for the day, go to the park, turn off your cell phone, sit on a bench, relax, look at the fountains, watch people - low-budget ways to attract clients are on the market, you can come up with them. It's just that in pursuit of feverish sales and abstract results, we don't always see them.

P.S. And don’t forget that attracting a new client costs FIVE times more than retaining an old one. Therefore, you should not forget about your client after the first sale (obtained by one of the methods discussed in this report), in fact, this is where work with him is just beginning!

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