Public Relations Proves Contrary to "A Penny Saved, a Penny Earned"

By Jennifer Cornell

In lean economic conditions, it's tempting to view marketing as a dispensable luxury expense, an unnecessary tax on your company's bottom line. It's true that marketing, advertising and public relations don’t directly contribute to the development or improvement of your signature product, but their effect on your ability to sell that product in unmatched.

Public relations' return-on-investment proves its value to the most lean operation because of its high success rate in increasing sales. Public relations' effectiveness in raising awareness of your company, generating name recognition, and helping to build credibility for your company and your product make it a particularly wise investment.

Awareness
It's much like the "tree falls in the woods…" paradox: You may have the best company, best product, best employees, best potential for success, but if no one notices, are you truly successful? For your company to be in position to "sell," potential buyers must be aware of your company and the product you offer. With its ability to literally place you on the front cover of business publications, public relations builds awareness.

Name recognition
Public relations not only generates awareness of your company, but also name recognition. Name recognition is the priceless association between your company name and its expertise. Name recognition facilitates sales efforts by making you, and your expertise known to potential customers, creating a valuable differentiation of your company from its competitors.

Credibility
Public relations has the unique ability to build credibility. Unlike advertising, where your company makes claims to potential customers, successful public relations generates factual information about your company from a trusted, reliable third party: Journalists. Which is more credible: An advertisement claiming your expertise or an article positioning your company as expert in its field in The Wall Street Journal?

Strategic public relations can be an excellent sales tool, extending your reach into a target market, generating awareness, name recognition and credibility for your company. The most savvy business minds agree that money spent on public relations is a wise investment: It's most certainly coming back to you the next time you make a sale.

EILER COMMUNICATIONS ANNOUNCES
NEW VICE PRESIDENT

ANN ARBOR, MI – Eiler Communications, the public, investor and marketing communications firm headquartered here, named Jennifer Cornell as a vice president. She has been with the firm since 1999 and has directed its work in the financial services and technology areas as well as been a leader in the development of new business, staff training and survey work with the pharmaceutical and high tech areas.

A graduate of Alma College, Cornell has been an account supervisor and earlier was an account executive for the firm. She earned the firm's President’s Award for 2001.

Eiler was founded in 1987 and serves clients in six states, primarily focusing on companies in financial services, healthcare and high tech that are headquartered in the Midwest.

Cornell is marketing chair of the Automation Alley's Technology Business Committee for Emerging Businesses and has served in a wide range of marketing and PR activities for the Ann Arbor IT Zone and the Ann Arbor Art Center.

How does Eiler Communications work with its clients?

At Eiler Communications, we believe that a PR firm and its client must take a team approach to implementing a successful PR program. Both members are key to the team's success. The client provides the product or technology expertise and Eiler provides the public relations expertise.

To make the relationship an effective one, team members agree to accept certain responsibilities:

Agency responsibilities

A client expects results. To deliver on these expectations an agency must . . .

Work with the client to set clear expectations for the PR program up front.

Spend time with the client at the beginning of the relationship to gain understanding of the client's sales and marketing messages - Who uses the technology or product? What is the buyer's incentive to purchase the product? How does the technology/product compare to others in the market?

Identify influencers in the client's market - Who are the market leaders? What influences purchasers' decisions? What publications do customers read? Who writes about the market?

Maintain on-going contact with media and analysts covering the client's industry or market in order to remain up-to-date on key issues and opportunities.

Provide the client with a constant flow of new ideas and strategies.

Maintain consistant communication with the client to exchange ideas, address issues and adapt the PR program to meet market changes.

Provide expertise in media relations, positioning and related activities that will benefit the client's marketing plan and support sales efforts.

Provide the client with deliverables and results in a proficient, timely manner.

Client responsibilities

An effective PR campaign is not executed in a vacuum. Constant communication and dissemination of information between the agency and the client are vital to success. For the PR program to achieve its goal a client must . . .

Work with the agency from the beginning to establish clear expectations for the PR program and a clearly defined and timely approval process for materials.

Provide the agency, in a timely manner, information needed to obtain results - access to company executives and referenceable customers, information on the customer's application of the technology, information on new products, new business relationships and other newsworthy events and functions.

Include the agency as a strategic member of the sales and marketing team - include agency members in sales and marketing meetings, copy the agency on sales and marketing materials to be used with customers or that reference important events which may influence the company.

Maintain a constant flow of open, honest communication between the agency and the client in order to address opportunities and problems, as well as successes and concerns.

Work with the agency in a collaborative relationship, with the client as the technology expert and the agency as the public relations expert.