Many people only know what PR is from Mad Men. Most have a vague understanding of what public relations means. Some might even understand what PR firms and PR agencies do, and might even have a slight idea of what goes into it and the benefits it offers businesses. Very few, however, understand the true impact of an effective PR strategy.

Public relations is a critical component of any strategic communication process for organizations of all sizes and industries. At its core, public relations is the management of information distribution on behalf of businesses or individuals, with the goal of building strong relationships and positively shaping public perception. To efficiently achieve its goals, a PR professional can use a variety of media outlets to broadcast carefully produced messages, frequently in close conjunction with marketing, communications, and advertising teams.

Public relations, as an industry itself, falls under the umbrella of marketing. PR is used to connect a business to a target audience, by communicating with that audience through media outlets, speaker opportunities, and influencer marketing.

It’s up to public relations professionals to spread the key messages from a business for their products and services, as a way to drive traffic to the business website, increase awareness or social media presence, or even change the behavior of the target audience.

Every day, reporters and other media gatekeepers are inundated with press releases, emails, and social media messages, each one vying for attention. When a brand is part of that massive submission blizzard, they need a way to stand out. But how? Is there a sure-fire way to know you will get the attention of the right media gatekeeper at the right time?

Well, nothing is entirely foolproof and there are no guarantees, but there are a few steps that, when put into consistent practice, will certainly increase the odds of a release getting notice and not getting permanently shelved.

Wondering if it’s worth the time and effort to build a business account on Instagram? According to cision.com, Instagram gets 4.21 percent engagement per post compared to .07 percent for Facebook. It’s also the fastest growing among the larger social media platforms.

That is because a picture has always been worth a thousand words – who doesn’t love a good story told almost exclusively with pictures?

Influencer marketing is actually fairly easy to understand. You find influencers who are popular with your target audience, and they spread the word about your products or services, for a fee.

There’s usually either a social media element or a content marketing element when it comes to influencer marketing, or sometimes even both. One of the most common ways for influencers to market your business is through their own media influencer accounts. As far as content marketing is concerned, an influencer may create content to spread the word about your business, or you may create that content for them.

Now would be the ideal time for brands to check out and test TikTok, according to Al Zaccaria, co-founder of Linktree, an Instagram bio link personalization platform. Zaccaria’s rationale is that many brands are still thinking about checking out this increasingly popular platform.

As of November 2019, TikTok had already exceeded 1.5 billion downloads, as per Sensor-Tower. The app analytics provider added that TikTok was ranked third in downloads and even beat Facebook and Instagram, which finished fourth and fifth to end the year.

In today’s competitive brick-and-mortar and digital marketplaces, a strong public relations strategy has never been more important for small businesses.

As the social web expands and the power of consumers continues to grow, small businesses that want to stay relevant, attract customers, and retain their loyal followings must find new, compelling ways of communicating their brand messages.

Carving out a niche market and positioning yourself as the go-to brand for a specific audience and a specific product is a great way to ensure success when selling online. Not only does doing so establish your credibility over competing brands, but it also results in a more focused business; from your unique value marketing to carefully thought out content marketing, niche marketing makes it easier for the right customers to think, “this brand is for me.”

If you’re still on stage one struggling to think of your first product idea, starting with a niche is a great place to start. There are countless niches across limitless industries you can pursue, with the chance to narrow down your specialism as you go. The key is to identify a niche market that you feel you can master, and one that has a viable audience and group of consumers.