When thinking about your marketing budget for 2014 don’t forget to include Public Relations.  In the past many businesses have seen the benefits of PR but haven’t invested in it because the impact on the bottom line was hard to identify. Now with the growth of the Internet and social media the effects of PR are more measurable than they have ever been before with the ability to see exactly how much traction an article has had whether it has been viewed, liked or shared.

With a quote from the great Bill Gates and five good reasons why you should include PR in your 2014 marketing budget. Now there’s really no excuse.

“If I have one dollar left, I’d spend it on PR”

1. Public relations can be used as a content source for social media, as an approach to win over prospective customers, to position your business as an expert in your field, to increase the visibility of your business, and many more.
2. Public relations is hands down the most cost-effective tool you can use for your business. Consider your spend on trivial things like merchandise they doesn’t get much use and how you could reallocate those funds to developing a press release or boosting your social media reach.
3. Public relations works for your sales team by laying the foundations of your product or service as well as giving them direction. Good PR gives credibility not only to your business but also to the product/service you are selling.
4. Public relations increases awareness, which in turn enhances your bottom line.  No matter how amazing your product/service is, if no one knows about it, it can fail miserably. Public relations get the word out to make sure this doesn’t happen.
5. Last but not least, SEO. Search engine optimisation is the way of future. Search engines pick up online PR distribution, giving your business online coverage.