To start PR for small business can be a complex process and an overwhelming task for someone with no experience. This is especially true when you’re running your own business, as there are so many other responsibilities vying for your attention. In this article, we’ll take a look at the basics of PR, as well as how to get started on the right track.

Why should my business be doing public relations?

There are many benefits to incorporating public relations into your business strategy. PR for small business can help them to build credibility and trust with the target audience, and it can also help improve brand image and reputation. Additionally, PR can help generate media coverage for your business, which can lead to increased visibility and awareness. Overall, public relations can be a powerful tool to help grow your business.

What are the steps you need to take to start PR for small business?

1. Research: To know what you want to accomplish
You need to know exactly what you want to accomplish before you start doing any public relations work. You may have a goal in mind, such as getting more customers, or increasing sales, or maybe you just want to get some press coverage. Whatever your goal is, make sure you understand it well enough to know if you’re accomplishing it. If not, then you’ll never know whether you’re succeeding or failing.

2. Define your audience
Once you’ve figured out what you want to accomplish, you need to define who your target audience is. Who is going to benefit from your PR? Are they people who already know about you? Or are they people who don’t yet know about you? Once you know who your audience is, you can decide how best to reach them.

3. Choose your strategy
Now that you know who you’re trying to reach, you need to choose a strategy. What’s the best way to reach those people? Is it social media? Newspapers? Which News wires? How much time should you spend on each method? These questions will help you determine the best strategy for reaching your audience.

4. Create content
The next step is to create content. Content marketing is basically anything you write or produce that helps promote your brand. That could mean writing blog posts, articles, videos, or even infographics. The point is, whatever you create, make sure it’s useful to your audience. And remember, it doesn’t have to be perfect; it just has to be good enough to attract their attention.

5. Connect with the media.
Contact the media house, journalists, influencers, etc. who will get your content to your audience through their channels. Building relationships with them, providing them with good content can give you coverage. 

How do I know if I’m doing a good job with this?

There’s no easy answer to this question – ultimately, you’ll need to rely on your own instincts and judgment to gauge whether or not your PR efforts are paying off. However, there are a few key indicators you can keep an eye out for that will help you get a sense of how well your campaign is performing: 

-Are you receiving positive feedback from clients, colleagues, and/or the media? 
-Is your target audience engaging with your content? 
-Are you seeing an uptick in sales or web traffic? 

If the answer to all of these questions is ‘yes’, then chances are good that you’re on the right track. Keep up the good work!

School of Communications & Reputation (SCoRe) — India’s only institute dedicated to public relations education. Know more about our PG programme in public relations , and other activities we do to share public relations Knowledge: www.scoreindia.org