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Small companies: don't miss the PR boat
It often astounds me that a number of SMEs decline advertising because its “too expensive” but then completely miss the PR (editorial) boat when they look for marketing. Ultimately PR (public relations) can prove to be an extremely powerful way to kick start a new venture or a business operating on a tight budget.
If you've started an SME you've probably gone in with the thinking that you can better or at least match the service offered by your more “glamorous” counterparts with the bigger advertising and marketing budgets.
Using a really simplistic example – there are two Re-sellers of a particular IT widget in South Africa – UBERCorp and you. UBERCorp goes out and runs a small piece of editorial in three print publications with combined distribution of say 10000 and via an online platform with 10000 unique visitors. You run absolutely no editorial. With due respect who is going to get the business?!
Not hugely complicated
Writing a piece of editorial is not hugely complicated (settle down all the PR Agencies out there – I am not knocking your profession and you guys do play a vital role in brand development). But let's be honest – writing a 100 word piece on why your widget is the best of brand when you've got the marketing schpiel from the supplier is not exactly rocket science.
For an SME getting five sales leads out of a piece of editorial like that can be the difference between profit and loss in a month. Smaller businesses need to think about their PR activities and see if there are opportunities to brand themselves with minimal investment.
SMEs can't begrudge their bigger competitors and their lack of marketing budgets when they won't event give themselves a chance.
About Marc Ashton
Marc Ashton (marc@rival.co.za) is managing editor of local manufacturing publication - ManufacturingHub.co.za (www.manufacturinghub.co.za), which is aimed at the South African food, pharmaceutical, chemical and cosmetic manufacturing industries. The company also assists business with strategies for marketing of industrial type applications, particularly in the small to medium enterprise sector.
