You’d be crazy not to read this!

We monitor the news constantly (and we mean constantly!), so there’s nobody more tired of hearing downbeat headlines about the UK economy than we are. We see a lot of negativity in the news, but not a lot of answers about what this means for businesses. We wanted to take a look at PR in a challenging economy, and shine a light on why it’s not all doom and gloom. 

After seeing the pound fall off a cliff, it’s easy to feel like we should react quickly – but what does this look like? Acting from a place of panic doesn’t serve anyone, especially your customers. Just like any business planning, operating in a challenging economy should be well thought out and future-proof.

The crash in 2008 means we’ve been in rehearsal mode for this. The advantage here is a whole bag of lessons (and mistakes) we don’t want anyone to repeat. Times like this don’t have to be about surviving, they can be about continuing to thrive too, if we get it right. 

The elephant in the room here is that people tend to pull spending on PR, but hang on a second and let us explain why keeping your PR in place in difficult times is essential for your future. 

PR is what makes you visible. During a poor economy, your business priorities will be to keep making money – that means retaining customers and attracting new ones. You do this by being a visible business – take away that visibility and, you guessed it, nobody can find you. If customers, new and old, aren’t reminded of your presence, they’ll go elsewhere.  

Cutting spending on essential services is always a short-term fix, but strong business decisions are made with long-term thinking in place. Do you want to look after the next few weeks, or the next few years? 

There’s also a huge opportunity here. PR is about communicating our best messages. If we pull it, that’s a message in itself. We go silent. We get forgotten about. But standing up and saying, ‘We’re still here, and we believe in our future’, speaks volumes. It catapults you to the top of your game, and your competitors’. It’s a sure-fire way to stand out, stand proud, and secure your place in the market. 

Let’s get specific though. Let’s say your competitors are opting to reduce their marketing. That leaves a gap in the places they hang out for you to jump straight into. If the media that serves your industry knows you’re still there, and still focused on PR, guess who they’re going to turn to for coverage? Opportunities for forward features, comments and coverage of your press releases could increase where others pull back.

Your relationship with the media could benefit by keeping your PR eyes on the road, but what about your customers? People ultimately want businesses they can rely on. Everyone is feeling the squeeze – not just the cost of living, but the relentlessness of unpredictability. Businesses that will appear the strongest are the ones that offer their audiences a sense of reliability and continuity, and reduce the challenges faced by their customers. Your product or service is there to solve a problem for customers – now is the time to communicate that.  

But why PR?

We talked in one of our recent blogs, ‘Why good PR is as important as a digital strategy’ about how digital marketing can work well for getting in front of new crowds, but PR is what backs up that core feeling of trust that’s so necessary:

Consider the last few ads from unknown brands on social media. Did you click on them? Did you buy? Were you unsure or left with a feeling of doubt because the brands didn’t have a history with you? 

Now consider how you would have felt having seen the ads after a big feature in a national publication, backed up with radio coverage, or even a mention on the local news? Better, right? Digital campaigns often lead people to seek out the reassurance that PR content provides. When your audience Googles you, they need more than your Instagram account to build trust.

If you’re still in doubt, take it from one of the business greats – Bill Gates famously said, “If I was down to my last dollar, I’d spend it on PR.” It speaks volumes, doesn’t it?!

We know the value of PR, and we don’t have a shadow of doubt about what it adds in uncertain times, but we know not everyone has the same experience and knowledge we do. If you’re thinking about how PR could serve your business in the next year, come and chat to us – we’ll give you our thoughts on what it could do for you. 

Get in touch, we don’t bite.