Digital PR · Published November 2, 2016

Founder & Chairman, 5W

Shopper PR: Target Customers with Public Relations

shopper pr marketing strategy with people shopping

Most businesses think that marketing is the best way to target customers. However, PR is one of the best tools to target your shoppers and jump-start your sales. Here are just a few ways you can use public relations to drive more traffic to your store.

Attract attention

Public relations takes a lot of time, effort, and persistence. In marketing terms, this is known as “earned media,” which holds more weight than other types of media. Putting in the energy, however, is worth it at the end of the day and can put your business on equal footing with companies that have big marketing budgets. Maximizing PR efforts is especially important for new businesses that are looking to attract the attention of potential shoppers, partly because PR typically uses more credible outlets. Consider whether your shoppers are more inclined to trust a banner ad on a random webpage or an article or ad for your brand in a trusted publication like Forbes or Entrepreneur.

Stir up interest

Once you’ve got people’s attention, PR can help you increase their level of interest in your business. PR is great for stirring up interest because the mediums it uses are considered more credible. As online marketing continues to blow up, the average customer is learning to tune out all the ads they are exposed to, with some shoppers being bombarded by up to 5,000 ads a day. With most of these ads being ignored, companies have to find other ways to target their shoppers. PR does not sell a product or service, it sells a story, which helps shoppers better connect with the product or service.

Position Your Brand As An Industry Leader

Elevating your brand to be perceived as an industry leader is a nuanced but powerful outcome of strategic public relations. Through targeted PR programs, your business can showcase its expertise, innovative thinking, and leadership in the field, setting you apart from competitors. This isn’t about touting product features; it's about sharing insights, foresight, and stories that resonate with your audience and the industry at large. By consistently contributing valuable content—such as thought leadership articles, engaging in speaking opportunities, or participating in industry panels—you demonstrate not just your business’s depth of knowledge, but also its commitment to advancing the industry. This kind of engagement enriches the community and positions your brand at the forefront of innovation and thought leadership. Moreover, leveraging media relationships to share your business’s milestones, research findings, or unique perspectives helps cement your position as a go-to authority. The objective is to create a narrative that your company doesn’t just participate in the industry, but it shapes and leads it. This proactive approach to PR can attract not only potential shoppers but also collaborators, investors, and talent who want to be associated with a leading brand. Remember, becoming an industry leader through PR is a marathon, not a sprint. It requires a consistent, strategic effort to contribute meaningfully to conversations in your space. By doing so, you’ll not only build a strong reputation but also create a durable competitive advantage that can significantly impact your business's growth and success.

Amp up desire

Crafting stories using PR techniques is a great way to increase shopper desire because it can use principles that drive purchases like prestige, scarcity, and herd mentality. PR is also ideal for releasing case studies and testimonials that highlight how others have benefited by using your product or have used your product in a new, innovative way. You can use it to highlight the benefits of your product, rather than the features, which is a common mistake. For example, an oven may be self-cleaning and preheat in under five minutes. Those are features. Turn those into benefits. Shoppers will no longer have to clean their ovens and food will get to the table faster.

Encourage shoppers to take action

It’s a common fallacy that PR is great for increasing brand awareness but not so great for actually converting people into shoppers. Which is fine, that is not the main point of PR. But when paired with other advertising methods, PR is a great way to leverage those marketing strategy efforts. For instance, partner PR with content marketing. Produce a whitepaper that highlights the results of a shopper survey, promote the whitepaper with PR, and use it to generate new leads.

It’s free evergreen content

If your marketing budget is not very big, you will not be able to maintain paid campaigns or get the level of exposure you really need. However, a news story, well-written white paper, or a relevant infographic will remain posted on credible sites and circulated for many years, each time driving shoppers back to your business. More importantly, this also helps build your business’s long-term credibility and reassures customers that your company is here to stay. Even better, evergreen content helps you get a foot in the door with prospective customers who stumble across your content months or even years after it was posted.

Highlight company achievements

Ultimately, PR is self-serving. Use PR to promote positive things your company has done in the community and highlight employee achievements that have a direct impact on the company. Part of the current struggle for many companies is humanizing their brand. Putting out press releases about the food drive you just held, the day the company spent volunteering or doing a beach cleanup, or the donation you made to a local charity will help shoppers see your company as more than a business looking to turn a profit. It is also an opportunity to promote the press release on other avenues like your company blog and social media accounts.

Build a strong media network

One of the often overlooked benefits of using PR to attract new shoppers is building a strong media network. You might not think this offers an immediate benefit to your business, but growing a strong media network will make it easier to disseminate relevant content and information in the future. And the bigger the network, the more shoppers you will be able to reach. So as you reach out to potential media outlets, remember to be professional, nice, and keep the lines of communication open. Of course, PR is no replacement for traditional marketing efforts. Use PR as part of a comprehensive strategy to attain new shoppers and watch your business boom.

Written by

Ronn Torossian

Ronn Torossian is Founder and Chairman of 5W , the AI Communications Firm. He founded 5W in 2003 and built it into one of the largest independent public relations and digital marketing firms in the United States, with senior practitioners serving corporate communications , consumer brands , technology , financial services , health and wellness , beauty , gaming , crisis communications , and public affairs . Under his leadership, 5W defined AI Communications, building brand authority across ChatGPT , Claude , Perplexity , Gemini , and Google AI Overviews, alongside earned media, digital, GEO, and influencer channels. Industry Recognition 5W has been recognized as a top U.S. PR agency by O’Dwyer’s , Agency of the Year in the American Business Awards , Grand Stevie Most Honored PR Agency, a Ragan Top Place to Work in Communications 2026, Digiday WorkLife Employer of the Year, and a PRovoke Top 50 Global PR Agency. Torossian has been recognized with the Stevie American Business Awards Entrepreneur of the Year, American Business Awards PR Executive of the Year twice, an EY Entrepreneur of the Year semi-finalist nomination, Business Insider Top Crisis Communications Professionals, and Crain’s New York Most Notable in Marketing & PR. Research Franchise 5W’s research franchise has become an industry reference for measuring brand visibility inside AI-generated answers, including the AI Visibility Index Series , The GEO Reckoning , The Missing Rung Report, and the 5W AI Power User Study , which identified a 99-point AI favorability gap. Crisis Communications Torossian is one of the world’s foremost crisis communications experts. He has counseled blue chip companies, public company boards, founders, and public figures through ransomware incidents, data breaches, regulatory investigations, high-stakes litigation, activist investors, product recalls, and reputational crises. He has taught crisis communications at Harvard University . Media & Commentary Torossian appears on CNN and CNBC . He is a contributing columnist for Forbes and the New York Observer , his writing on AI communications and brand reputation is published on his personal site, and his commentary has appeared in the Wall Street Journal , Entrepreneur , Adweek , PRWeek , and O’Dwyer’s . Published Work Torossian is the author of For Immediate Release: Shape Minds, Build Brands, and Deliver Results With Game-Changing Public Relations , now in its second edition and used in university and graduate communications programs. He continues that commentary on his own publishing platform , where he writes about reputation, crisis, and AI-mediated discovery. Owner and Publisher, Everything-PR Network Torossian is owner and publisher of the Everything-PR Network , an independent intelligence platform covering public relations, marketing, AI communications, and adjacent industries across 30 publications. Everything-PR is editorially independent from 5W, with published editorial standards and ethics standards . The network is one of the most-cited sources inside ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini for PR and marketing queries. He is also an active investor and advisor, a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization (YPO) , and serves on nonprofit boards.

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