Types and methods of PR. The most effective methods of PR on the Internet Word of mouth, viral marketing

Depending on what the goals of PR are and to whom it is directed, there are several varieties of it.

The main types of PR are commercial and political PR.

Initially, PR activities were aimed exclusively at consumers. Public relations programs aimed at creating a positive reputation for firms producing goods, and now remain the most important area of ​​PR. This is especially important when introducing new types of goods to the market, when it is necessary to assure wary consumers of the high reputation of the manufacturer. Nowadays, potential investors (financial PR), government agencies, employees of the company itself are also the object of PR companies. In addition to the usual PR activities, crisis PR is used when it is necessary to eliminate the negative consequences of the crisis that hit the company.

Political PR began to develop in the era of representative democracy, when it became necessary for political leaders to convince the widest circles of voters to vote for them. Modern political PR is no longer limited to creating a favorable image for individual politicians or political parties. In the era of globalization, international PR is developing, aimed at achieving mutual understanding between citizens different countries despite cultural differences. Its reputation depends on the image of the country, to which foreign investors react, public opinion other countries. Therefore, the activities of modern diplomats necessarily include the organization of public events that glorify the achievements and culture of their country.

There are five main areas of public relations activity:

Relations with the media (publicity) - creating news about a person, product or service that appears in the media (newspapers, TV shows, etc.);

Relationships with staff -- the company's internal communications with its employees. They are based on programs to motivate employees to perform their work in the best possible way;

Relations with the financial community -- interaction with state financial authorities, with private and corporate investors, with stock brokers and the financial press;

Relations with authorities -- close cooperation (including lobbying) with federal, regional, district and local authorities authorities;

Community Relations -- Maintaining positive ties with the local community includes sponsorship, such as helping to address environmental issues in the region.

An important feature of properly organized PR is that this work is aimed not so much at a momentary result as at achieving long-term benefits. For example, commercial PR brings results in the form of signed contracts, government benefits, new investments, and so on. after a long time after the campaigns that form the "good" image of the company.

Often the customer requires quick results from PR specialists. This is especially typical for politicians who urgently need to increase their popularity on the eve of elections. If you spend large funds and use manipulative technologies, you can dramatically increase the rating of even extremely unpopular figures. In this case, “black PR” is of great importance - “pouring mud” on opponents so that the voter votes for the “lesser evil”. However, such methods give only a short-term result and ultimately ruin the reputation of the customer.

Problems of PR development in Russia. In post-Soviet Russia, PR initially began to develop in relations not between business and the public, but between government structures and the public. In the 1990s, almost every federal government created its own public relations service in the form of a press service, a press center, a press agency, a press secretary, and so on. In the administration of the President of the Russian Federation in 1996, the Directorate for Public Relations was created. The Department of Public and Interregional Relations operates in the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation. Public relations departments also function in the administrative districts of the capital and in the Moscow Mayor's Office.

Commercial PR in Russia has so far received the greatest development in the banking and computer business. Representative offices of foreign PR companies have appeared in Russia. Many of the largest Western companies, having already settled in Russia, teach PR lessons in practice, actively conquering a new market. Their experience is adopted by Russian companies, which have specialists in this field, and sometimes entire departments.

In the sphere of average and even partly big business in Russia at the beginning of the 21st century. many still do not attach due importance to PR. Many entrepreneurs, in pursuit of momentary profit, believe that the use of PR technologies is a waste of money and time. According to numerous surveys, few people in modern Russia generally understands what PR is. Many tend to identify it with dirty pre-election technologies (“black PR”), when competitors are accused of all sins, silent about the shortcomings of the advertised candidate. Therefore, neither PR measures themselves are respected yet as a technology for managing a company's reputation.

“Reputation is a valuable intangible asset of a company that accumulates over the years and can be destroyed overnight” - this phrase in various variations, like a mantra, sounds at conferences, flashes on the pages of business publications, appears in corporate business plans.

Experts agree that good reputation makes the company more attractive to investors, increases its capitalization, allows you to increase income, provides a stronger position when entering new markets and support for the general population. Scientists publish the results of studies proving the positive impact of reputation on other parameters of the business model. There is no doubt that reputation needs to be managed. However, in staffing tables companies still do not have the position of "director of corporate reputation". This type of activity has not yet been singled out as an independent discipline, universities do not train appropriate specialists, there is no understanding of what and how to manage - how to organize the process, how to evaluate the result.

In Russia, in response to the trends of the times, they were the first to include a buzzword in their lexicons PR-specialists who often consider this concept as a synonym for the word "image", not particularly caring about a deep understanding of the differences. In the West, to whose experience we are accustomed to appeal, concern for corporate reputation is recognized as one of the most important tasks of the top management of companies.

Domestic business is still far from the first lines of world reputation ratings - we have something to work on, especially since in the light of all-consuming globalization there is every reason to talk about a further increase in the relevance of this task.

Russia is one of the four most promising countries for investment - almost a third of foreign top managers out of a little less than 1,500 respondents are going to develop their business in our country in the next three years.

Foreign firms plan to attract new customers, intensify work with existing ones, launch new products on the market, form partnership alliances, create local offices, and carry out mergers and acquisitions (Fig. 1, 2). For Russian market this may mean the following scenarios: a) increased competition; b) creation of new strategic partnerships; c) change of business owners.

In each of the three cases, a good reputation becomes a source of additional benefits for local players. First of all, combined with the advantage of knowing the specifics of the "home" market, it makes it possible to maintain customer loyalty both in the face of increased activity of foreign companies already operating in Russia, and when new competitors appear.

Secondly, a good reputation increases the chances of entering into profitable and promising partnerships and allows domestic companies that are involved in the process of mergers and acquisitions to sell their assets at a higher price.

Obviously, to achieve a noticeable effect, any management actions taken by the organization business reputation should be long-term and systemic, integrated into key business processes.

Rice. one. Purpose of investing in Russia.

Fig.2.

One of the obstacles to building a reputation management system is the lack of unambiguous terminology. Many difficulties arise from the erroneous confusion of the concepts of "reputation" and "image".

Over the past 20 years, the number of publications devoted to the topic of corporate reputation has increased exponentially. Theorists and practitioners have proposed many different definitions. Researchers at the University of South Florida College of Business Administration (USA) identified 49 original corporate reputation statements in books and articles published between 2000 and 2003. The analysis showed that, despite the apparent diversity of interpretations, all available interpretations can be divided into three groups that define reputation as:

General knowledge about the activities of the company, not involving deep analysis and evaluations;

Some knowledge obtained by directly involving target groups in assessing the state of the company - based on own experience or the opinions of third-party experts;

An intangible object that has a value expression, i.e., in fact, is a financial or economic asset.

This classification makes it possible to formulate three basic definitions, allowing to clearly separate the concepts and identify the managed object.

Corporate image is a stable emotionally colored image that is formed in the minds of the target groups as a result of the perception of information about the organization.

Corporate reputation-- this is a collective opinion about the company, formed over time in the minds of target groups based on an expert assessment of the economic, social and environmental aspects of its activities.

Reputational Capital is the monetary value of reputation as an intangible asset of the company.

Reputation is a purely rational category, formed on the basis of the actual experience of interaction between the target groups and the organization, on evidence-based arguments, conscious comparison, or on the assessments of authoritative experts. Image is a superficial emotional category based on impressions and does not require balanced assessments and conclusions.

Figuratively speaking, image is a mask, reputation is what is hidden behind it. When it comes to business, "mask" and "face" are designed to complement and reinforce, but not contradict each other. These are two sides of the same coin, each of which performs its own function and plays a special role.

Due to the indicated specificity, these objects require different approaches to management and, in particular, different use of communications as one of the basic levers of influence on target groups. Leaving the image "side of the coin" outside the scope of this article, let's focus on reputation and consider its constituent elements.

Table 2. Corporate reputation parameters

Financial condition	Corporate Governance	Quality of goods and services	Management quality
annual revenue, Profit, Use of corporate assets, long term investment, Brand value	Fulfillment of these obligations, Transparency, information openness, Following business ethics Fair competition	Satisfaction of consumers with the quality of goods and services, Compliance with requirements and regulations, for goods and services in this category	Clear understanding of the corporate strategy and following it, Business prospects - matching the degree of complexity of the business processes to the tasks of the company, Reputation of a top manager
Innovation	Personnel Management	Environmental responsibility	Social investment
Research and development, - First on the market Introduction of new technologies (including managerial ones), Ability to change quickly in response to environmental demands	Attracting and retaining professional staff, fair pay, caring for the staff, Corporate culture	Water use and pollution, Atmospheric pollution, including motor transport, waste generation, Disturbance of the lands	Support for local communities, Support for national social projects, Respect for human rights

Table 3

Reputation parameters classification

Reputation is value. The most obvious example of such an assessment is the existing global reputation ratings, in particular, such as:

Global Most Admired Companies, compiled and published annually by Fortune magazine;

World's Most Respected Companies, compiled by PriceWaterhouseCoopers until 2006 and published in the Financial Times newspaper; - World's Best Corporate Reputations, prepared by the Reputation Institute and "debuted" in November 2006 on the pages of Forbes magazine.

Behind each of the ratings is the serious work of analysts from well-known consulting groups, backed up by the authority of leading business publications. Despite the difference in approaches, the methods for compiling the three listed lists are based on an almost identical set of parameters, by combining and systematizing which we will get Table. 1. The eight parameters listed in it form the foundation of corporate reputation. The level of detail may vary depending on the type of business and its scale.

The presence in a detailed list of both quantitative and qualitative indicators makes it difficult to assess an already difficult to understand multidimensional intangible object. Unlike global ratings, where each participant is assigned one number, according to which the final ranking takes place, there is no need to apply a similar “point” model to assess the work for reputation within the company.

If a corporate system reputation management is working effectively, by the end of the year the company will inevitably have a set of assessments expressed in positions or points. This is not only about global reputation rankings, which only the largest corporations in the world have a chance to get into, but also about various local industry lists related to our eight criteria. As a rule, public companies do not lack external evaluations of their activities, so it makes sense to focus on building internal reporting on the results of the work done.

When developing a system of indicators, it is necessary to be guided by the principle of their long-term relevance, since corporate reputation is closely related to such a factor as time, and the dynamics of the development of the process in each of the areas is of great value for assessing the functioning of the reputation management system.

Such a differentiated evaluation of work requires an understanding of the degree of importance of each of the eight parameters. To prioritize, we classify them according to the three aspects mentioned in the above definition of reputation.

AT general case the process of building and maintaining corporate reputation high level can be described by the following formula:

Reputation = Actions + Communications

Here it is appropriate to recall the words of Henry Ford: "You can't build a reputation on intentions to do something." The current work, its achievements and results will determine what assessment will be given to the company by representatives of target audiences. When starting to develop a program of action, one should analyze the best experience of global companies and domestic players, regardless of industries.

This does not mean that this term loses its importance for monopoly companies. In this case, the main role is played by the argument from the contrary: a bad reputation is an incentive for the destruction of the monopoly under the influence of external forces. In addition, if competing players appear on the market, a high reputational status will keep the ex-monopolist's customers.

Another important component of the reputation formula is communications. Informing target groups about the results of the company's actions is an integral part of the process of forming a positive assessment of its activities.

Without belittling the importance of communications through the media, it is worth saying that in this case, the direct interaction of company employees with representatives of target groups is of great importance, since this is how audiences gain experience. Reputational communications should be built in accordance with the principles of transparency, openness and readiness for direct dialogue.

Today, much is said about the need for maximum information openness of business. From the point of view of the interests of the company, this trend may conflict with the requirements information security. It is enough to go back to the list of reputation parameters to see that some of them, such as innovation, are associated with data that is strategically important for the company, the disclosure of which can cause a decrease in the competitiveness of the business. Therefore, at the stage of organizing the reputation management process, it is important to create an information filter and, in particular, to separate reporting formats for internal use and for external audiences.

PR methods- these are the main tools of PR as an applied discipline, which are used by PR specialists to achieve their goals during PR campaigns.

The main PR methods, and there are five of them, can be defined as follows:

Publicity. These are relations with all available types of media, so that as many positive information as possible about the subject of PR appears in these sources.

Internal PR. A very important area of ​​PR, which, by strengthening the internal culture and corporate relations of employees, seriously affects the efficiency of their work, and, as a result, the external well-being of the organization.

Establishing positive relationships with financial and investment structures. A rather little-known PR method, but, nevertheless, it is one of the key sources of investment.

PR in the political sphere.

work directly with public opinion, where citizens become the object of PR.

13. Financing of PR campaigns. Fundraising

Fundraising) - the process of raising funds and other resources (human, material, informational, etc.) that the organization cannot provide on its own and which are necessary for the implementation of a particular project or its activities as a whole.

The main objectives of fundraising will be:

1. fundraising;
2. acquisition of new partners and friends of the organization;
3. the opportunity to openly declare yourself and inform about your goals.

Fundraising can be "internal" and "external" according to the method of implementation.

Internal fundraising is when the development and implementation of the search for funding is carried out by the employees of the organization on their own.

External fundraising is a search for funding carried out through the involvement of professional fundraising consultants. In this case, this role can be played by both independent experts and specialized fundraising firms.

Telefundraising is an appeal to potential donors and philanthropists by phone and fax.

Postal fundraising is an appeal to potential donors and philanthropists by mail.

Individual fundraising is a personal appeal to donors and philanthropists in a personal conversation.

Event fundraising - holding various events(auctions, exhibitions, lotteries, presentations, dinners, etc.)

14. Black PR techniques

"Black PR" is an activity to eliminate opponents (except for physical elimination), using forms and methods that go beyond the norms of morality and balance on the verge of prosecution.

Unethical methods and technologies (that is, not corresponding to the ethical and moral standards of society),

Methods and technologies that are directly contrary to the law

Specific methods:

Compromising evidence

Bribery of journalists and placement of information beneficial for the client/customer in the press on a paid basis.

Technologies aimed at deliberately denigrating a competitor, undermining his reputation

Bad praise method, Administrative resource method, Public outrage method

Today, the post-industrial society is rapidly developing, and every company understands that without using the methods and technologies of PR, you can say goodbye to the leading positions in the market.

PR methods are its main tools used by specialists to achieve their intended goals during PR campaigns. The application of these various methods by the enterprise depends on the activities, goals and objectives of the organization, which it sets for the long-term development in the future.

The main methods are cooperation with the media: holding press conferences, research, "black" and "white" PR. Each has its own distinctive features, making it possible to expand ideas about PR.

Let's take a closer look at each of them:

1. Interaction with funds mass media. There is an opinion that information is the “fourth” branch of power and therefore many areas of activity are subordinate to it. It is impossible to hide from her even the smallest detail that occurs both in the lives of people and in organizations in particular. One way or another, it falls under her sight everyday life displayed in magazines, newspapers, websites. It is not difficult to guess why organizations need to good articles more about them. But I would like to note that not all firms follow the right policy in this regard. Many, in my opinion, have a rather superficial idea of ​​how it is necessary to build such relations with the media.

The first thing they need to do is to establish trust relationships with various information services. You don't have to wait for a correspondent to call or show up at your firm in order to collect material for your publication. Go to meet him, tell the editors interesting facts related to the work of the organization, prepare some materials yourself. Thus, for journalists, an organization cooperating with them will “unintentionally” look “good”, attractive in the eyes of the public. And this is a certain guarantee that critical publications will not appear about the company during a difficult period. It is important to remember that any information should contain an interesting, memorable fact. This is her main condition for appearing in the media.

The second is holding press conferences. They increase contacts with the media. Such press conferences should be arranged by the organization itself. These events should not take place formally, the reason for their holding is a really significant event that is going to be held or is still being planned in the organization. Such an occasion, for example, may be the return of the head from a long trip, during which he held several serious negotiations, promising benefits not only for the company, but for the whole city. Occasionally, press conferences are accompanied by presentations, which have now become an integral part of modern enterprises.

About where, what time and on what occasion the press conference will take place, PR-organizers inform journalists a few days in advance. It's best to do this a week in advance to make sure coverage of the event gets into current editorial plans.

After a press conference with its official nature, the organizers often arrange a buffet table. The informal part can last from 2 to 2.5 hours. With this in mind, it is necessary to plan the time of its implementation. The preparation of the press conference falls entirely on those responsible for PR. And do not think that improvisation during a press conference can save the situation. Everything should be thought out to the smallest detail: who should speak, what should and should not be said, what counter questions are possible. Taking into account all factors will indicate that everything takes place at a professional level.

• 2. Conducting research. The practical implementation of various studies shows that the organization lives not only today. With their help, the previous experience of the team, the quality level of its work (products and services offered) are analyzed. At the same time, I would like to emphasize that conducting research requires deep preparation; only desire is not enough here. Because of this, consultations with outside experts will not interfere.
• 3. Participation in exhibitions, fairs. The general atmosphere of such events often creates good mood for the whole day: lively communication, business acquaintances, signing contracts ....

It all depends on pre-training. First you need to decide on what subject the exhibition will be held, what is its scale? Which firms will present their products there? How much will it cost your organization if it participates? Here is a basic list of questions to which clear, reasoned answers should be provided.

Also, the duties of the PR service include the preparation of printed materials that tell about the present day of the organization, the prospects for its development, etc. At the same time, this approach demonstrates the company's respect for itself and others.

With the spread of the Internet, PR departments can now also use tools such as blogs and social media to achieve goals.

• 4. It should be noted about the frequent use of brand promotion of a company with the involvement of a celebrity (Celebrity-PR) today. In the West, this method has been practiced for a long time, but in Russia it has just begun to gain momentum. Presence famous person in any PR campaign significantly affects its success. In most cases, the appearance of a star attracts the interest of journalists. At the same time, according to a study by the British agency GfK NOP, 40% of buyers purchase a product that brings positive feelings. "Stars" always evoke emotions, mostly positive ones.
• 5. To promote products or the organization itself, you can also use "black PR" - the targeted dissemination of negative information regarding any subject of communication in order to undermine the position of a competitor and achieve one's own superiority in the market. No matter how strange it may sound, it seems to me that doing “black PR” is much more interesting. By influencing the audience in a certain way, "black" PR forms social attitudes that distort the objectivity of education.

Here are some of his tricks:

Impact on the press and on public opinion using leading news - leading ratings predetermine the popularity of politicians, firms, goods, brands and other things in the mass consciousness.

Use of rumors, scandals. Such information is presented as quite reliable and credible, especially among the elderly population.

• - Compromising evidence - disclosure in the media of confidential, secret, intimate or other concealed information, exposing competitors in unfavorable deeds, crimes, moral vices and other "sins". As you understand, all this is done by the organization to attract the attention of customers to their products.
• 6. Along with the "black" PR, there is also a "white" one. "White" PR is a form of understanding, informational openness, providing indisputable informational reasons. But, unfortunately, this method Russian companies not the most common. Although it is possible that someday there will be clients who are interested in “white” PR. Its basis is the veracity of the information. This means that only truthful information about the PR object is given. At the same time, without affecting competitors. "White" PR focuses solely on the advantages of the company. Philippe Bouari, the winner of the French Academy of Political Science Prize, a classic of European PR, who hosted the first PR program documents, says: “The struggle in the market is now mainly not between companies and their products, but between the images of the enterprises themselves. An image is an image of an organization, product or service that is perceived by the public.

The purpose of "white" PR is to create a positive image of the company. Philippe Bouari recognizes that the main function of the image is to form a good attitude towards someone or something. An attractive image increases the competitiveness of the organization in the market and helps to increase prestige, authority and influence.

In addition, the activity of "white" PR allows you to reduce costs and coordinate activities to promote a product or service. New products or services are brought to market at a lower cost.

Summing up in the first chapter, I realized that PR activities are one of the main tools of organizations to promote products or services. Indeed, without the "promotion" of goods, enterprises will not be able to be realized on the market, no one will ever know about them, and the goals set by the company's management will not be achieved. And for me, as a future manager, this is very important.

Low-budget marketing… Every business owner's dream. And even “dreamer” - if, at the same time, the recognition of the company (product) would grow exponentially ... and the sales curve would bend more and more upward from day to day ..

But the reality is that marketing budgets ( advertising, PR - underline what is necessary) are made up according to known only to the "layout" himself ( read - marketer, advertiser ...) laws... And, with rare exceptions, they are a weak reflection of reality and the company's need for contacts with target audience.

They say that the true professionalism of a marketer is to bring a company (product) to the market without a budget ... Well, or with the minimum necessary cash injections.

I don’t know how true or controversial this statement is - I can hardly imagine Coca-Cola, Mars and Adidas on the market without budgets ... but still. The fact remains, and the reality of the market is that not everyone has the budget to pay for "multi-layered" advertising campaigns. In addition, due to the still prevailing mentality of Russian business owners, who are skeptical and distrustful of their own marketing services, small and medium-sized businesses are not yet ready to part with money for advertising and other Marketing communications (because there is no clear understanding, “how can we get all this back…”).

So, what low-budget ways do you use to market your company or product?

I can offer you tools that I have used quite often in my practice, which have been tested by the market and have shown their effectiveness, and which have helped me more than once.

1. Barter. A lot of people don't like this word. Especially in accounting. I don't like it very much myself. But I must admit that such a scheme of cooperation is quite common in the Russian business segment, even among large and respected players (for example, such as Rosinter). Of course, if you have something to offer your potential partner. And, obviously, the value of your proposal for a partner should be no less than what you expect (ask) from him.

2. Exhibitions. Yes, your industry exhibitions are a good opportunity to promote yourself in your own market among your partners and target audience. And no - it is not necessary to buy an expensive place and mount a stand. Be creative - push the boundaries of your imagination. There are many other ways to make yourself known at the exhibition, give away your contacts and collect the ones you need.

Carefully study the proposal of the exhibition organizer, the site where the exhibition will be held - look for opportunities for a low-budget "performance".

It can be just placement in the exhibition catalog, placement on the website, renting 2-3 square meters at the entrance to the exhibition, putting a girl / boy with the distribution of samples (or just some “goodies” - usefulness with your contacts), investing in a package participant, organization of a photographer with instant printing of photos on the background of a press-wall with your logos, and so on - think of it! (by the way, such participation can also be closed by barter)

3. Events are internal. Meaning - your personal events for your target audience, for your potential customers. Create some kind of useful event for your customers - what is their most pressing problem? What critical question do they have that they usually pay money to answer?

Give them this answer for free! Perhaps in the form of a mini-seminar or micro-training for 4 hours, maybe together with a representative of an authoritative opinion for them (for example, if this is medicine, then this can be the head physician of a serious clinic, if trade is the manager of a large network, the head of the tax, top - bank manager, etc.).

You can arrange such a seminar with the owner of the premises, who is also interested in an audience that intersects with you, but is not a competitor to you in terms of services. For example, it can be a cafe, club or restaurant that is simply interested in visitors and sales of the kitchen and bar. In addition, in your pre-PR campaign to recruit listeners for your event, you will promote them, as well as in post-releases and reports after the seminar. Do not forget to mention this in negotiations with the site owner.

4. Events external. Many people forget about the most useful semi-informal hangouts or, on the contrary, professional “meetings” of their decision makers (persons making decisions about cooperation) in the form of various chambers, clubs, communities, and so on.

Look - there is probably a Chamber of Commerce and Industry in your city, which periodically arranges parties for general or financial directors. Look for different trendy features, such as a mafia game club for HR directors. For accountants, these may be seminars conducted by the local IFTS. Find out where CMOs hang out in your area (if you offer printing, design, or advertising services, for example...). Find out where the logistics directors live (if you are delivery service or shipping company).

If it’s completely boring in your city and poor decision makers stupidly go home after work - see the paragraph above: think of it yourself! Your events. Finally create your club of mafia players for ____ ( insert the position you want)! Your costs are buying or ordering printing of special cards, blindfolds and beautiful rules on A4 sheets!

Any restaurant in the city will be happy to lend you space on Wednesday evenings with this theme. In addition, it is not necessary to make such evenings free. Freebie relaxes. And the mafia club requires discipline ( read the rules online). Therefore, take 100-500 rubles from the players. per evening (the amount should be such that it is dealt with painlessly, and the value received in return at times blocked such a “loss” from the wallet).

5. Press releases. Get in the habit of issuing press releases about your company every Tuesday. Releases should not be large and voluminous - make text on 1/2 printed sheet plus a couple of key sentences about the company.

Look for information breaks within the company all week long! Establish a system for collecting and processing news and, in general, everything that happens in the company. Any sneeze should flock to your department. And you yourself decide whether to air it or not ( together with the business owner, of course).

And distribute your press releases regularly across the network and through all communication channels available to you: a website, a corporate newspaper for clients, a newsletter, a bulletin board in a trading floor or a reception area… Register your press releases in free press release directories ( they are easily found in any search engine). Send your news to interested publications in your region - both print newspapers and magazines, and online media.

6. Publications. The same goes for larger press releases - provide free content to journalists and the media. These can be interviews on your market, on some problem of your consumers, analytical reports and sections, statistical data ( many media outlets love different statistical compilations), just interesting publications “in the subject”. Ask the leading publication in your area to organize and run a special interesting rubric— and deliver relevant and fresh information to your rubric weekly.

Everyone needs interesting and useful content! Finally, ask your buyers or potential clients - what is THEM interested in your topic, what do they want to know about?

7. Cases. Or case studies. Or success-story. The character is slightly different, but the meaning, in principle, in one thing - to show your target segments on the example of solving THEIR problems. Write stories according to the formula "Problem - Solution - Result", "how bad it was before - and how wonderful it became after", the principle, I think, is clear. Stories in this vein are very attractive and have.

8. Reviews. Customer feedback is something you should collect from when your company was still a baby business. Especially if your client is a more or less well-known company in your region. On corporate color forms, with a beautiful seal, signed by the first person or a key top manager of your client.

Collect and store your reviews in a separate folder, each in a separate file, treat them carefully and with respect -) Well, without fanaticism, of course. You just have to understand that these are the results of your work. These are your "thank you, you helped us a lot" from your customers. And don't forget to digitize all your customer testimonials. Only evenly, in color, with high resolution and readable text.

9. « word of mouth» . Involve local population in promoting your company, products, brands. It has long been no secret to anyone that the “dress” works best in the service market. But in order for your “dress” to work, you need to work on it! What did you think? They just launched a rumor to the people - and he picked it up and carried it to the masses? Of course, it would be great if everything was so simple - no one would spend money on expensive TV and radio advertising, but only would be engaged in “injecting” rumors into the masses.

The simplest and most effective thing is to remember yourself. What information have you personally ever transmitted by word of mouth? It was probably something shocking, out of the ordinary, or terribly funny, or curious, or disgusting, or improving some aspect of your life ... Feel what I mean? Yes, that's right - it should be something that will hook.

But here, be careful - your legend should support and enhance your company/product image, not destroy it.

10. Free consultations, demonstrations, samples. The name speaks for itself. Don't be afraid to give! Nobody likes to buy a pig in a poke. Everyone wants to try first, and then make a buying decision.

Here your marketing should work in close connection with sales as never before. Because it’s not enough just to give a try - after that you need to constantly ask at a given frequency - “Well, how did you like it? Let's buy full version. Did not like? Why? etc...". Keep in touch, monitor your potential client. Offer him special offers, inform about new products, promotions, discounts.

But at the same time, do not be afraid to calculate and cut off “eternal tasters” - these are those who initially know that they will never buy, but they will never refuse a freebie ... Do not waste your precious time on such "non-clients" ...

11. Atmosphere and design of the client office/service hall, reception, meeting room/. In these rooms, EVERYTHING should speak about your professionalism, the quality of your services and the specialists who, in fact, provide these services, inspire confidence in you, your company, your product - every little thing and every element.

Remove already, finally, all these antediluvian letters and thanks of 2003-2007, issued to you by someone for something! Leave one - but a normal, fresh, up-to-date solid professional license, or a certificate, or a diploma, or whatever you need according to the specifics ...

No wobbly chairs, tattered tables, scorched sofas, cracked glass surfaces… Well, you remove this piece of furniture if you don’t have money yet to reupholster, repair, buy a replacement. It’s better to throw a couple of frameless “pears” for one and a half thousand rubles, if you need to somehow take up space - well, let no one sit on them, but they will give some kind of “their dude” - freshness and dynamism to your office.

12. Gift certificates, loyalty programs. That is, make sure that the client wants to not only come to you again, but bring someone else with him next time. With corporate clients By the way, this also works. You just need to think a little longer ... And ask around / observe clients, what can stimulate them to such an action.

A perfect example is large cosmetic chains, fitness clubs, mobile operators (least). Copy this ready-made and perfectly working model and apply it to your business - what exactly is stopping you? ( the first gift certificates can also be printed on a color printer, if it’s really tight ... get rich - print plastic, that’s okay!)

In addition, if you have a representative office of some federal discount coupon network in your city ( like Groupon, but there are a lot of them now), or perhaps there is a local company with this kind of working principle, contact them, let them plan for you advertising campaign. They won’t take money from you for this, but on the other hand, you will clearly see how much you can earn in one day of such a promotion with zero investment in reach and attraction. The decision is yours.

13. Cross marketing promotions with partners. Organize joint promotions with your colleagues, with whom your products can complement each other for the same target audience ( “Blah blah printing house and blah blah furniture salon — only from May 1 to May 20 they are holding a joint promotion: buy office furniture and get 80% discount on any advertising printing!”). Promote them well in the region ( You can also partner with the media), share contacts with each other, and work with the resulting client base, each in its own format.

14. Contests, quizzes. This is about the same as cross-marketing, only a more entertaining format. Each partner performs its own function, makes its contribution - provides prizes of various formats and nature, covers the event, prints banners, programs the web, deals with logistics, photographs, shoots videos, feeds, clothes, etc. But someone has to take on the role of organizer and coordinator. For example, you are the initiator and creator of the concept ( which you pre-send to the partners you need for your contribution).

15. Cultivate feedback from your clients. Build relationships with them. And develop them. Invite them to express their opinion on any occasion - about your services, about the same services on the market in general, conduct surveys, call to action in your communications, provoke them to respond to your messages, conduct surveys on the website or together with partners, give them free advice and ask them to evaluate them, get their consent to receive your marketing materials (only useful to them and not often!).

Final word

Of course, all these low-cost marketing methods do not require a lot of money, but they require the investment of other resources - this is time, effort, patience, energy, imagination and your knowledge.

Yes, and you should not be scattered on all of the methods of promotion described - try each of them in turn, see - which works best for you, brings the most customers? Focus on the few that are most optimal for you in terms of time and labor costs / number of deals closed.

And one more piece of advice that I would like to mention, but which everyone often forgets about ... Due to blurryness and immersion in routine, probably ...

Promote and sell not your company and your products, but the "emotion" and "result" from using your services and contacting your company!

The services of a beauty salon are few people need, but a beautiful haircut and a perfect manicure - yes! I'm not interested in services at all. advertising agency, but here's a 20% increase in sales in 6 weeks - let's discuss this soon! There are plenty of tours to Egypt and Greece for cheap, but a complete disconnection from current worries and immersion in absolute relaxation for two weeks - there are few such offers! (if they exist at all...)

So stop, colleagues, disconnect from the hustle and bustle, take a time out for the day, go to the park, turn off your mobile phone, sit on a bench, relax, look at the fountains, people watch - there are low-budget ways to attract customers on the market, you can think of them. Just in pursuit of frenetic sales and abstract results, we don't always see them.

P.S. And don't forget that acquiring a new customer costs FIVE times as much as keeping an old one. Therefore, do not forget about your client after the first sale (obtained by one of the methods discussed in this report), in fact, work with him is just beginning here!

PR, as a professional activity, interacts with other areas. The use of methodology from related areas allows you to effectively solve all the goals and objectives facing PR specialists. PR can partially perform the functions of advertising and vice versa. PR is closely related to marketing and uses its tools in its activities.

In PR activities they use various methods and tricks. Let's consider them below.

Using methods of influence from the media

Remark 1

PR, like other means of communication, affects the human psyche with information. The influence of information is very great. With the help of certain techniques, techniques and technologies, information is transferred to the end user. Media: television, radio and press are the main tools for disseminating any information.

Public relations activities use the following methods from the mass media:

• "Affirmative statements" - a description of facts that do not require any evidence.
• "Application of slogans" - widely used in PR, allows you to create a positive image of the product and the company in the eyes of consumers.
• "Focus on a few features" - focusing on some features of the product image, for example, the image of a product that creates a great mood, promotes health, has high reliability and safety, etc.
• "Use of groups of influence" - the use of references in PR materials to authoritative and influential individuals or groups of the target audience.
• "Creating Contrast" - Demonstrating a product with an emotional focus as something radically different from others, with exceptional properties and benefiting consumers.
• "Comparison". A clear demonstration of the advantages of the product in comparison with others.
• "Promotion" of a favorable image of one product on the basis of the image of another. This allows you to increase the recognition of the product and psychologically simplifies the perception of it by the consumer.

Sociological methods of PR activity

Companies use methods from sociology in various functional areas activities, including PR.

Public Relations apply:

• Desk research. They are the simplest and least costly; they are aimed at collecting and analyzing secondary information on issues of interest.
• Field research involves direct contact with the target audience in order to study their opinions and requests, attitudes towards certain problems.
• The main method of conducting is a survey. There are the following types of surveys:
• Questionnaires. The respondent fills in the form with questions.
• Expert interviews. It is aimed at finding out more specific specialized information.
• An in-depth interview is a direct survey of the respondent using additional clarifying questions.
• Focus group - a group conversation aimed at clarifying the opinions and attitudes of consumers to a particular issue. It is carried out in the form of a discussion.

Methods from psychology

Remark 2

In PR activities, the following methods of psychology are used:

• manipulation method. It consists in the socio-psychological impact on a person in order to change his behavior, even if he does not want it.
• propaganda method. This is the impact on a person through the media. It is based on the influence on the mind of the consumer, using the mechanisms of comparison and evaluation.