Authority, transparency, and trust are all intertwined with credibility. You cannot gain credibility if you fail to prove yourself to your customers with your credible service. However, in marketing words, credibility extends beyond the usual definition. For buying behaviour, credibility means that your prospect not only believes you are trustworthy but also that the information you are offering is worthwhile.
Companies spend a lot of money on paid advertising to develop brand credibility and recognition. They still don’t understand the power of public relations. Public relations are one of the most powerful tactics that are often underestimated and completely free.
Public relations can help to shape and frame public perception to establish a trustworthy reputation. The question is how to achieve it without spending any money. Here are some suggestions for putting a program in place:
Build your Media database:
Build a database with key media contacts who cover your industry sector or location (such as a trade journal or news site) (such as a newspaper or TV station). Get in touch with the media person directly and get your updates published. The media source’s website will have the contact information.
Media relations:
Send a press release to the database when you have important information to share with your key stakeholders. Major contracts signed by new senior employees, or financial success in the preceding quarter or year could all be part of the news.
Media outreach:
Today’s newsrooms are around a quarter of what they were ten years ago. Reporters are searching for firms to provide them story ideas to cover because they have less staff to find new stories on their own.
By-lined articles for brand visibility:
Trade journals provide a fantastic venue for business-to-business (B2B) enterprises to share their expertise on specific topics relating to their industry. Journals offer an editorial calendar of their topics for each issue they publish each year. If you see a topic that you are knowledgeable about, you can approach the journal’s editor and offer to write the article yourself. The author receives a byline and a picture in exchange for a work that gives insight, trends, and industry statistics, but more crucially, readers of that article will see the author as a subject matter expert. This boosts the brand’s credibility.
Start blogging:
While most corporate websites are meant to market and sell a product, the blog area of the site can be used to educate, inspire, and engage stakeholders on topics essential to your business. Blog articles on relevant trends, statistics, headlines, government legislation, and innovations may position your business as a source of industry information by enticing critical audiences to return to discover what’s new on your site. Each time a new blog article is published, share it on your social media platforms to notify readers of the new content.
Conclusion:
Public relations are a widely misunderstood, low-cost marketing technique that can have a significant impact on your brand’s trustworthiness, reputation, and value among important stakeholders. Invest your time in PR and gain brand credibility.