Toot your own horn

For some of us, it can be uncomfortable to talk about ourselves. We do not like to broadcast our accomplishments because it may seem like bragging or we’ll be tagged as having a big ego.  I get that.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of companies out there that, for whatever reason, act the same way. They go about their day-to-day plugging along and trying to move their business forward, but it never dawns on them to put public relations into the mix.

“Integrated marketing,” the latest industry buzzword, means taking an overall approach when developing your company’s marketing plan. Buying advertising (paid media) is one thing, but thinking consciously about how to promote your company by leveraging public relations (earned media) gets you something paid media can’t: influence over what others say and think about you, particularly the media.

Take control of what people are saying about you — don’t leave it to chance. Putting forth a good, consistent corporate image and being a good corporate citizen of the community can go a long way to keeping you top of mind should a prospective customer need your services now or in the future.

Remember this: the media are looking for stories to tell, especially good stories, particularly when most of the news these days is such a downer. So consider this:

• Are you promoting someone?
• Have you developed a new product?
• Have you made a contribution to a charity?
• Did you hire a new employee?
• Have you won an award?

Let the public know about it!

Just one word of caution — don’t become the boy who cried wolf too many times. Space out your announcements, press releases and interviews, or it may quickly become overkill. Knowing the right balance of advertising, PR and promotions within an integrated marketing plan is key to developing an effective strategic plan, but make sure you do consciously think through the PR piece of it. Plan it out, don’t just let it occur by happenstance, or worse yet, ignore the opportunity to leverage this important element of marketing.

Tell someone, and toot your own horn!