The Ultimate Public Relations Guide for Small Businesses

One of the biggest differentiators between a small business and a large corporation is brand recognition. Big companies have the budget to promote their brand through expensive campaigns or invest in celebrity endorsements to get a ton of publicity.

However, small businesses need to be more creative in how they approach brand recognition. You want people to know you for something. The Harvard Business Review found that for most businesses, this ”something” is a promise. In fact, 89% of branding campaigns contain a promise, whether emotional or functional.

For example, your brand recognition could stem from the promise of being healthy or eco-friendly. Ideally, it should be something that sets you apart from the competition.

The Sill, a plant delivery service, does this wonderfully. Their branding is positioned to make gardening look cool. Unlike competitors that focus on the practicality and health factor of plants, The Sill promotes the aesthetic benefits of having plants in your home.

When you have a distinct brand recognition, it serves as your business’s foundation. It’s what makes you memorable and keeps customers coming back.

With nearly 98% of people reading reviews before buying something, it’s easy to see why customer testimonials are so beneficial for your PR efforts. People are more likely to trust other customers than your marketing efforts.

The concept is called social proof, which simply means that people are more likely to do something if others have already done it. If others have bought and enjoyed your product or service, a prospect looking to buy will be more inclined to do so as well.

Encourage your satisfied customers to leave reviews on your website, social media pages, and review websites like Yelp or Google Business Profile. You can then embed these testimonials on your website or share them on social media.

For example, Marveta, a small SEO agency, has displayed client testimonials on its website. Now, when new visitors land on their site, they see glowing reviews from satisfied clients and are more likely to trust them.  

Have you ever noticed how iPhone users are often die-hard fans of the brand? Despite having issues with a product, they are quick to defend it and its reputation. That’s because Apple has built a strong community around its brand, with loyal customers who feel connected and invested in the brand’s success.

You need to do the same with your small business. The people in your community will be loyal customers and advocates. They are also likely to spread the word about your business on social media and engage with your posts regularly.

To build a community, you have to give people something they can bond on. For Apple users, it’s a sense of luxury and exclusivity. Find something similar for your business.
For example, Death Wish Coffee has built a community of coffee lovers who take pride in drinking really strong coffee. Their Facebook page has over 715k followers, which is massive for a small business. Besides social media, you can also create a community through a newsletter, a Discord channel, and so on.

As a small business, you might not have many followers on social media. But influencers do. So, you can collaborate with them to spread the word about your products or services.

A common misconception in this regard is that you’ll have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to work with influencers. While mega-influencers do charge exorbitant fees, their micro and nano-counterparts are much more affordable.

The Influencer Marketing Hub reports that 44% of brands are now working with nano-influencers and 26% with micro-influencers. These influencers have smaller following sizes but highly engaged audiences. So you know that your message will reach the right people.
You can use influencer marketing tools to find the best creators for your niche and target audience. Then, work with them to promote a new product or simply expand your brand’s reach.

For example, McKenna Goddard, a micro-influencer, was approached by Evry Jewels, a small brand, to promote their products. They also gave her a discount count for her followers to further incentivize them to make a purchase.

Earned media refers to any mention, feature, or review of your business by a third party. It could be in the form of press coverage or social media posts.

You can score earned media by sending out press releases and reaching out to journalists or bloggers in your industry. Collaborate with them to generate positive reviews or features about your business.

Being a small business, this may be a bit tricky since you don’t have established industry connections. A PR agency like Maximatic Media can act as your ally in this regard.

We specialize in PR for small businesses, so you can get featured in any publication you want. Our expertise spans across industries, including fashion, news, crypto, retail, and more.

Whether you’ve launched a new product or simply want to show your brand story, we can get the news published in publications like the US News, Forbes, and more. This way, you get well-deserved exposure and build trust with potential customers.

A press release is a formal statement that gets sent out to the media and published on various platforms. It could contain anything, like a new business milestone or a noteworthy addition to your team.

The idea behind a press release is to tell as many people as possible about this new development. For example, if you’ve partnered with a charity organization, a press release can let the community know about your philanthropic efforts.
The best part is you don’t even have to spend a lot on sending out a press release. With Maximatic Media, you can get your press releases published in industry-relevant publications for as little as $300.

When writing a press release, steer away from making it sales-y. It should be informative and newsworthy so the media outlets are interested in publishing it.

We’ve already discussed influencer collaborations. But don’t only rely on them for your online presence. Be active on social media yourself, too.

If resources allow, create a small social media team that can create content regularly and engage with the community you’ve built online. You can also use social media tools to schedule content and monitor conversations about your brand.

There are many ways for small businesses to use social media for PR. Some include:

• Sharing Media Coverage: If you’ve been featured in a news article or TV segment, share it on your social media channels. It will show your followers that you’ve been covered by credible sources.
• Announcing New Products: Be strategic when announcing new products or services on social media. Be subtle at first. Release sneak peeks and create anticipation before the big reveal.
• Celebrating Milestones: Be it your brand’s anniversary or you hitting a certain number of followers, use social media to celebrate milestones. Your customers will feel like they’re a part of the journey.
• Engaging With Journalists: You can also use social media platforms like LinkedIn to build connections with journalists and reporters. B2B brands will find this particularly useful.

In addition, you may livestream content and share behind-the-scenes information about your brand. Just be mindful that social media is a public platform, so any content you share should go with your brand values.