When I started in #publicrelations 20 years ago, it was a much different playing field than it is now. We had to mail or fax everything over to a reporter to get them to pay attention to our press releases and my days were spent talking on the phone pitching my clients. People paid huge retainer fees for PR, but it was typically more for glam back then and advertising held a much bigger stake in the consumer world.

Since then with the digital media age being what it is, advertising has taken a back seat to the need for public relations. When people can search online for anything and everything, your story needs to be told again and again in order for it to resonate with a consumer wether it be for a good or a service. That being said one must have a strong, smart and creative #PR team pushing their story out to the media.

You need a smart public relations team to help with your social media posts, your blog write ups as well as constant pitching to television, radio, newspapers and magazines. Your story needs to be creative and told in a way that reporters want to write the story. It is also important to be consistent, which means 3 to 4 social media posts a week, following up and pitching journalists daily and blog posts on your site publishing each week.

The good news is public relations doesn’t need to cost as much as it did back 20 years ago. A good firm understands that you need them as much as they need you as a client. Most will be willing to take a retainer that is just a few thousand dollars and not the $20k a month that clients used to pay. The overall goal for a PR platform to work for you is consistency. It won’t happen overnight, but with daily outreach on your behalf, your message will get out their and be branded in the publics.

Veronica Welch is co-founder and owner of CWR & Partners, LLP. a public relations firm with clients all over the globe. Veronica and her team have helped clients successfully tell their story to their local media, national media and when needed to the global media platform. CWR which started in the summer of 2001 has had its clients on every major news source. Some examples of these media outlets are; The Ellen Show, Good Morning America, The Today Show, Fox News, Wall Street Journal, The USA Today, just to name few.