The BCS Championship game tonight between two SEC rivals, the LSU Tigers (#1) and Alabama  Crimson Tide (#2), is going to be a tough battle after the 9 – 6 game back in November 2011. Getting to this game did not happen with a one game effort, nor was it determined because they ran one play extremely well; instead, it was a continual effort week in and week out. Public relations happens to be the same way.

To really do great things for your business, PR cannot be considered just a “one and done item” that is simply checked off your company’s to-do list. Proper public relations is a plan of action carried out over months and even spans over years. There are a lot of different avenues that can be used in your public relations campaign and you are probably using many of them including social media, blog writing, press releases, guest posting, email marketing, affiliate banners, videos, and infographics. It is nice to have these in your playbook but what makes them most effective is when they are used in a strategy that is specific for what you are trying to accomplish. A press release may be viewed by thousands of people, but that is not enough to get people talking about you day-in and day-out months later.

The purpose of a public relations campaign is to get your name out there in front of people again and again so they’ll remember you when they need your product or service. Repetition is the key to building true brand awareness.

Great PR Takes Time

A goal for most companies is to be a household name. AFLAC accomplished this in 2010 after a decade long advertising campaign involving the famous duck screaming “Aaafff-lllaaacc” at people. Although 93 percent of American’s knew the name AFLAC by the end of the campaign, only 5% knew what the company did. This is a perfect example of being too one-dimensional. Alongside those marketing efforts, a solid public relations campaign would have helped gain proper publicity to really solidify the brand.

Effective Use of Public Relations

Many people misunderstand public relations. They assume that they always need to be the lead or that the topic needs to be about them. While they do need to remain the central focus, sometimes it pays off to comment on something another company is doing, even if it is a competitor. It can be beneficial to come at people from different angles. This approach can be taken extremely well and can give you more opportunities to get your name out there.

Tonight I would be very surprised if we see the offense and defense line up the same way for every play. You can bet there will be times that they will line up in the i-formation and everyone knows it will be a running play. There will also be other times that they will line up in the option, there may even be a trick play here and there. Something that I once heard a football announcer say should sum up the game and your PR campaign is, “As long as they score more points than the other team they’ll win.”

All work aside, who is your favorite to win and by how much?

About the author

Brad Smith

Brad's obsession to make everything neat and orderly didn't manifest itself until he left his childhood home and ventured into a house full of miscreants who couldn't cook, clean or keep mushrooms from growing on the side of the bathtub. Since that day he has spent over nine years with companies helping them improve their processes, work more efficiently and return better results to customers. To date Brad's tally for increased revenue totals over 3 million dollars. Brad's work experience includes Fortune 500 companies such as Morgan Stanley, Discover Card and Aflac. Besides saving the world one client at a time, Brad teaches his wife and four month old son how to play baseball. One of his proudest moments was when someone asked about a baseball rule and his wife knew the answer. Score.