There’s a lot of chatter about marketing and advertising, social media and seo programs… but what about PR? I just got off the phone with Carol Flammer, who is a Public Relations extraordinaire and Social Media smartypants! Carol is president of Flammer Relations, Inc., and managing partner of mRELEVANCE, LLC, an Internet Marketing, Social Media and Public Relations firm with offices in Atlanta and Chicago. She had so much great information to offer for all our “DIY-ers” out there, and I couldn’t wait to share it with you!

“PR is how you tell your company’s story. It could, and should be, the basis of your entire marketing program.”

So why is PR important to your company? PR is your on-going brand message. If you think about your social media efforts – like blogging – it can’t exist without stories! Your editorial calendar originates with your PR, and content is key! You don’t have to have a PR agency to start some simple PR efforts on your own, but there are some places where having an experienced PR agency or writer will make a big difference, and we’ll give you some of those pros and cons in just a bit. The key to having a successful PR campaign – either on your own, or with an agency – is that you have to be committed to it, just as much as you would be committed to your advertising campaign.

Carol shared with me that she gets approached by potential clients saying that they’d like to give it “one month to try it out”. Having a successful PR effort won’t happen in a month. To garner real results from PR efforts, you need to be open to using PR for 4-6 months. Public relations is an on-going effort.

Oh, the forgotten about “written word”. Carol says, “you can’t forget the power of the press release!” Print PR is much more measurable now because of the online community. You can easily measure results and tracking by having your releases turn up in online venues. Read more »