As we stare down the barrel of anther calendar year, many senior executives, business owners, CMOs and head of communications are looking at new ways to invigorate their businesses and build visibility. As we’ve touched on before, advertising doesn’t work in the same way as it once did, it doesn’t resonate with target audiences and businesses need to look at new ways of achieving cut through. PR can achieve this and though it’s entirely possible to orchestrate a successful PR campaign internally, let’s discuss the benefits of investing in an external expert to manage your PR operations.

Objectivity and the Diversification of Industry and Specialty
One of the primary benefits of hiring an external agency is the objectivity it offers. Unclouded by a singular corporate rhetoric, an external consultant can enter into a professional relationship with a fresh perspective. This is important as it’s often difficult to judge objectively if a piece of company news or content is indeed newsworthy.
The additional benefit an external consultant brings is a wealth of experience in multiple different industries and specalisations. A single, internal PR manager wouldn’t have the ability to be across all the different possible verticals and communications vehicles. Hiring an agency brings with it the benefit of objectivity, diversification of industry, platforms and the ability to solve PR conundrums in a time efficient and agile way.

Media Contacts and Knowledge of the Media Landscape
A good practitioner has deep rooted knowledge of specific journalists, outlets and industry trends worth tapping into. PRs speak constantly to different media personnel and have relationships that can, when required, be leveraged to attain that all important media coverage.
A PR’s media knowledge goes well beyond this, however. Every geographic area and the different verticals within that geographic area operate differently and a PR agency is able to help clients navigate through different sensitivities, quirks and nuances of different media landscapes with the deftness of a practitioner with years of experience behind them. This allows clients to be at the forefront of the news cycle.

Expedited growth of market share
The importance of market share is something every marketer knows all too well, as one misstep can pave the way for direct competitors to take market share away from you. How do brands not just grow but preserve what market share they have? Getting their name out there in the press. Most industries are saturated, competitive and noisy and the only way to achieve cut through is to get ahead of your competitors through media coverage.

Contribution to New Business Development

This is where the link between brand visibility and business development comes into play. Having a specialist actively building trust in your target audience through promoting the visibility and credibility of your brand in market will inevitably lead to increased sales in a variety of different ways. A more publicly visible brand will drive inbound sales to your website, a credible and trusted brand will help decision makers over the line when converting a prospect to a new client.

Influence of Perception

Last but certainly not least, we have the crux of the PR agenda: influencing external perception. A good PR campaign has the ability to influence the perception and subsequent behaviour of a range of different stakeholders, including but not limited to end users, buyers, clients, investors and the wider public. Irrespective of the final outcome, the method to achieving a financial or commercial objective lies in the influence of perception and a powerful PR and communications strategy can achieve that.
Contact christopher@pearscroftcommunications.com.au for a consultation about how PR can change the trajectory of your brand in 2025.

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