The irony of public relations is that it often gets a bad rep when being considered as a service within a company’s marketing mix.

PR is often misunderstood – perhaps because there a so many different types of PR, and the role itself is made up of lots of different facets, or in most cases companies just feel more comfortable with ‘tangible’ marketing activities.

It is no surprise that myths about PR have developed. Milton Keynes’ leading full service agency, Interdirect, reconsiders some of the myths and provides a few home truths – in today’s media age, public relations really should be a ‘must have’ on every business leaders marketing list.

Myth: PR is easy, and can be done by anyone.
Truth: You wouldn’t get someone without experience in sales to sell your home? So why would you trust someone with no industry knowledge to generate a rewarding PR strategy for your business? Expertise matter, and Interdirect’s dedicated PR team is made up of experienced PR professionals, a combined knowledge of more than 20 years in both agency and client side PR.

Myth: PR agencies “make stuff up”.
Truth: Making false claims doesn’t benefit anyone, so no good PR agency will tell lies. ID:PR believes in finding the best possible angles to showcase your products and services.

Myth: You need to be a big company to afford PR.
Truth: ID:PR’s diverse range of clients include national standards approvals services and local charities right through to financial services training providers each with their own objectives, but with one aim: to get results. We know that in today’s economic climate no organisation can afford not to stick to budget, and we understand that you want bang for your buck.
    
Myth: To get good PR, you need a big agency.
Truth: The saying ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ applies here. A big agency with glamorous offices and A-list clients may be impressive, but a smaller agency, like Interdirect, guarantees you a closer relationship, enabling us to understand exactly what each client wants.

Myth: Only PR agencies with vast experience in your field can achieve results.
Truth: ID:PR boasts clients in a variety of sectors and with our knowledge, experience and attention to detail, our PR team can adapt its exciting and innovative ideas to suit your business; whatever sector you are in.

Myth: Getting good PR is about wining and dining journalists.
Truth: PR is about communicating with the press in an effective way to build long term relationships. For ID:PR, it’s about having the journalist on board with your client’s products and service through journalist ‘meet and greets’, media research and  monitoring, not through a three course meal. You can’t control the press; instead you can work alongside journalists to put your organisation in the eye of the media storm.

Myth: PR is about who you know, not what you know.
Truth: Yes, it’s important to build long terms relationships with journalists, but without valuable content these relationships are worthless. If your story isn’t newsworthy, the journalist isn’t going to run your story just because they like you...

Myth: The media is only interested in negative stories.
Truth: Stories that are interesting to readers are ones that offer an insight and get the facts across in an interesting way. These are the stories that will go to press, and ID:PR knows how to write them.

Myth: Digital PR is an excuse to jump on the social media bandwagon.
Truth: Digital media has given PR professionals a new platform that’s 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to directly engage with customers and drive marketing campaigns like never before. With a background in digital solutions, ID:PR understands that social media isn’t going anywhere and cannot be ignored, but it’s also about  careful management, monitoring and support.

Myth: PR will generate instant sales.
Truth: One-hit-wonders are common in PR; they are at the top of the hot-topics list once their video goes viral but just as quickly, they crash back down to earth. PR is a long term commitment not a short term solution and it does take time. The key for any organisation is steady success through a well planned and thought out PR strategy, which is unique to the client, and gets results.
    
To find out more about how ID:PR can work for your business cal 0845 121 5566 or email pr@interdirect.co.uk.