How to Use Public Relations to Benefit Your Business

How Public Relations Can Benefit Your Business

As a Chicago Franchise Public Relations firm, we truly understand the importance of helping brand your company’s name.  We have developed effective PR campaigns that are completely aligned with our clients needs.  Our franchise PR consulting. helps connect the vision of our clients with strategic communication plans.  We ensure our PR agency takes a personal and professional approach to all business.

Public relations is of growing importance in today’s day in age.  It should be used for both large and small Chicago PR firms.  The main uses of PR for Chicago Public Relations consist of increasing the company’s profile in nearby communities, increasing awareness of the company’s services or products in comparison to its competitors, and lastly, to help truly brand the company so that it becomes the favorable choice of society.  When working with our franchise public relations agency, we can guarantee that a variety of strategies will be used to encompass your needs in the most dynamic way possible. 

We help you stand out- We do not want our clients to blend in with their competitors.  We know that our PR campaigns set our clients apart and give them a greater edge in their industry.  All Points Public Relations will better define your company’s purpose, what you do, why you do it and what exactly makes you unique and the better company to align with.  We are a ChicagoPR firm with seasoned professionals who will help you communicate to your audience in the effective way possible.

We are PR experts- All Points Public Relations knows the best ways to help create brand awareness for any company.  We become experts on your company, the way your brand stands to your target audience, the public, and in the market.  Whatever needs to be incorporated, whether it be advertising or marketing, we will provide our clients with the most effective plan and PR campaign.

We make the bad better- Lastly, if you need help with crisis management, we promise we provide the greatest assistance as your Chicagocrisis communication agency.  No matter the crisis, we do our best in helping companies diffuse bad situations and help companies to best articulate answers and information to the public.  

Promoting Your Business or Franchise During the Holidays

The holidays are once again upon us and with that in mind you and your franchise are probably gearing up to heavily promote your business or franchise's services and products.  A big part of franchise PR is preparation for the holiday season.  Whether your franchise or business is promoting a service or product, the holidays make for great opportunities to grab press attention.   Grabbing headlines during the holiday months can be a little more difficult, but keep the following tips in mind to get some great recognition for your franchise or company:  

1- Holiday news cycle: Before you try to take the holiday angle when promoting your business or franchise's service or products, make sure you know the holiday news cycle.  The holiday news cycle gives loads of opportunities for all organizations and whatever product or service they sell.  Publications everywhere are filled with special features on all sorts of topics ranging from holiday outfits on a budget to finding the perfect gift for $50 or under.  If you are looking to target a weekly or monthly publication you need to begin pitching in advance to secure your spot in your desired publications.  

2- Deck out your press releases during the holidays:  Press releases sent out during the holidays, whether your company does them in house or is working with a franchise public relations firm, need to have that holiday slant.  The holidays provide a great time to start creative campaigns which could include an online contest or video creation contest.  Whatever you choose to do, it needs to be fun, exciting and needs to snag some holiday headlines.  Press releases that surround your holiday PR tactics should be as fun and exciting as the holiday contests you are running.  The point is you have to have your press releases truly stand out during the holiday season in order to stand out from the rest of the crowd also trying to grab headlines during the holiday season.  The goal is to make your press releases the ones journalists want to feature.  

3- Getting some visibility:  As we said before, getting some attention from the media during the holiday season can prove to be quite difficult, so in order to be seen and get some visibility you must be willing to think outside of the box.  That is the nature of public relations.  To get some visibility consider gaining additional exposure by creating a feature news release.  A feature news release is typically written like a news article and are used by various media outlets as source material.  Newswires have feature news calendars that cover a variety topics, which includes holiday themes.  The themes correspond with publication dates.  Distributing your feature news release to the appropriate editors in advance of the deadline is a great way to increase your business or franchise's visibility during the holiday season.

As a franchise PR firm we know that getting great press can be difficult during the holiday season.  If you are looking for more tips and tricks on promoting your business or franchise during the holiday season feel free to comment below or contact us.  

Handling Bad Publicity

Unfortunately, bad publicity happens.  You and your franchise or company are not perfect.  How many times have we all heard the old adage, "there's no such things as bad press," or at least some spin off of that phrase?  Is that true?  Well, perhaps, but as a Franchise Public Relations Agency, we try our best to keep our clients out of any bad publicity.  If you find yourself or your franchise catching some backlash for a bad move, consider the following steps to help recover:

(1) Develop a plan: Developing a plan should come before you ever encounter a crisis.  You should always be prepared for battle.  Have a step by step strategy outlined and when the time comes and you need to implement it, you will know exactly what steps to take.  Always plan ahead!

(2) Choose a spokesperson:  Appointing a spokesperson is another step that should probably be taken before your franchise or company receives bad press.  Your franchise or company's spokesperson should be someone that is capable of staying calm during media enquiries, can handle pressure and will respond well to difficult questions.  

(3) Keep people informed (to a point!):  This is a tough one!  You've got one of two options typically: A- to speak out or B- stay silent.  The tough part is knowing which way to go.  If you're facing extremely bad publicity for something major, you may want to stay quiet until you've thoroughly thought about how you will address the media and the public.  Typically speaking out is the best way.  Speaking out gives you the ability to try and put out the fire surrounding your franchise or company.  Saying the wrong thing could seal your fate, so proceed with caution.  

(4) Press statement: Preparing a well-thoughtout press statement could really serve you and your franchise or company well during times of crisis.  Why?  Reporters have a knack for finding a story with or without explanation from key members of the company they are writing the story about, so take the initiative to get them the information they are looking for before they create a story with incorrect information.  

(5) Post an explanation: If you feel that it is safe to take matters into your own hands, then use your website to post an explanation.  This will allow you to get your side of the story across to the public directly.  Let the public hear your side of the story.

(6) Find some positive in the negative: While enduring bad publicity, try and find some positive through all the negative.  Perhaps there's a good news angle waiting to be uncovered.  

(7) Consider a PR Firm:  If you and your franchise or company are not currently working with a great public relations company, consider doing so.  A great public relations firm can help you successfully navigate the waters of both good and bad press.  A PR agency can help you complete all of the steps listed above.  

Looking for more tips on how you and your franchise or company should handle bad press?  Feel free to leave a comment or contact us.  

Reporters and Experts: A Win Win Situation

I have the utmost respect for the brainpower contained within the leadership teams at my clients' organizations. Many have either launched the enterprise, worked within the organization for decades, or have contributed significantly to the industries in which they work.

In fact, by most standards, they've achieved expert status in their given fields. They've written books, given powerful presentations, taught at universities, mentored and launched careers for others, and do all they can to stay up on the industry by constantly reading.

Knowing that they have a wealth of expertise and experience, as public relations specialists, we can leverage their intimate knowledge on a subject and position them for interviews more easily. It is helpful in both proactive media pitching, as well as reactive. In the first instance we are pitching reporters on ideas, in the latter, reporters have already began working on a story and are seeking experts for their piece.

Now, it should be said that these expert opinion/quote opportunities rarely result in full-feature stories on our clients. Rather, our clients are quoted as an expert, with their companies and specialties noted.

Nonetheless, it is a great way to build awareness and maintain visibility in an industry and reinforce the expert status. Expert positioning isn't the only way to get the good word out for our clients, but it is a tactic that provides benefits on many levels.

PR Firm USA, National Public Relations Firm, Franchise PR Agency

Public Relations & The Media: Understanding the Reporter's Mindset

Chicago PR Firm

National Media Coverage with All Points PR

I tuned in to CNN the other night to find myself once again captivated by the storm Penn State University officials have created for themselves.

What caught my attention this time though was the reporter in the field relaying her perspective back to the anchor in the studio. The journalist in the segment was on Penn State's campus. It was Sara Ganim, the local newspaper crime beat reporter who broke the story.

She's now become a contributing reporter for CNN. A small market newspaper reporter in central Pennsylvania is on CNN in just her mid-20s, leading the coverage of one of the year's biggest stories. It honestly elicits a rage of goose bumps.