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

Public Relations is one of the most effective ways to build on marketing strategies and create a solid online reputation. Companies that have caught onto that are investing a tremendous amount of time and effort into staying on top of their PR strategies, and they’re seeing even larger returns with better ROI.

Marketing has always revolved around storytelling. Meanwhile, that storytelling is created by first coming up with a solid communications plan.

That means developing a transparent understanding of the way in which the brand or the company will be reaching the target audiences with the right messages.

According to research, spending on podcast advertising increased by over 20% in the last year and is predicted to reach $1.6 billion this year. It’s estimated that about a third of all US citizens regularly listen to podcasts, so this is money well spent.

Some of the top ad spenders on podcasts include Amazon, Comcast, Capital One, and State Farm, who are all looking to insert 30 to 60-second clips in various types of podcasts.

We hear all the time how important public relations are, but are there reliable methods to gauge its effectiveness? After all, for an expensive service, it had better be providing something. Although its harder to measure the efficacy of PR efforts than it is to measure or the same statistics for say, advertising, there are many ways to measure PR interval, the reach and success of a Public Relations message.

The top ways of measuring PR interval success in are:

Key messages are an extremely important category of information that a company wants its target audience to hear, understand and remember. A key message articulates what a business does, why it does it, how it is different, and what value it brings to stakeholders. Key marketing messages should have certain traits, as enumerated below.

Shorter attention spans and the increasing use of mobile devices have made it necessary to create messages that are concise. To make sure that a message is received in the right way, the language used has to be simple and clear. A succinct message carries less risk of being misunderstood.

Companies and politicians aren’t the only people who need PR to help them build a reputation for themselves in today’s competitive marketplace. PR can also be a powerful tool for authors who want to share their words of wisdom with the world. Through the right PR promotion campaign, an author can not only attract the attention of their target audience, but also potentially get the attention of other media groups and publications that want to feature the title.

Here are just some of the steps that an author might need to take when they’re thinking of marketing their book with the help of a PR strategy.

The pandemic has changed the rules of PR. Traditional PR techniques are less effective now. The media landscape continues to evolve. COVID-19 has led media relations professionals to tell their clients stories during a pandemic-focused media cycle. The news cycle shows no signs of slowing down and the pandemic and the many challenges associated with it will dominate headlines.

1) Shorter leads – Journalists do not spend time writing long articles anymore. It is important not to beat around the bush and to get to the point immediately. The subject line of the pitch should be representative of the story, otherwise chances are that the pitch will never be opened.

Knowing what makes good PR coverage is key to key good storytelling and keeping clients engaged. PR coverage done well can be a powerful weapon to provide credibility and increase brand exposure to your target audience.

Good PR is more than press releases – it’s about providing value for your audience, building strong relationships, engaging your audience and telling the story of a brand. So what are the ingredients to creating coverage that will have journalists and customers sit up and pay attention?