It’s no secret that most marketplaces are more crowded than ever and standing out from competitors has become integral to business success.   

Even if you provide an incredible product or service, if people don’t know about it or understand what makes it unique, you could end up with a lot of wasted effort.  

Enter communications: the best way to help ensure that your brand is reaching its target audience in all the right ways.  

Sales – it’s the journey not the destination  

The sales journey has traditionally been shown as a funnel, depicting when a customer becomes aware of a brand, interested in the product or service, keen to buy and finally an active purchaser.  

However, in the internet age, the sales journey is no longer linear. For example, a product used by a popular influencer can accelerate the buying journey from being aware of the brand straight to purchase solely based on their recommendation – circumventing the funnel almost completely. 

Strategic communications can help a business take advantage of this acceleration by positioning the brand in the right places, and in front of the right people, to ensure it is constantly being talked about.  

Communications: a secret sales weapon 

Communications has evolved. The traditional drumbeat of drafting press releases to secure media coverage has grown to encompass the delivery of strategic communications to key stakeholders and consumers using a variety of channels and techniques. Here are some ways that communications can support your sales efforts by getting people talking:  

Raising brand awareness  

Simply knowing the name of a business won’t necessarily translate into sales. Communications is the master key to creating interest, excitement and demand.  

From creative social media to hosting roundtable discussions or undertaking broadcast interviews: top PR teams use a range of tools to reach your key audiences through their preferred channels. A strong communications strategy also ensures that owned content, such as a business’ website, is easy to navigate for potential customers, which will always help convert clicks to sales.  

By effectively utilising a variety of outlets, good comms can raise brand awareness by specifically targeting key demographics. This means your business won’t be stuck in an echo chamber and will constantly be attracting potential new customers. 

Positioning you and your people as experts  

 The written word is powerful. Thought leadership is particularly effective as a tool that offers potential customers insight or advice with real value without expecting anything in return.  

 Placing strategic articles in respected sector titles boosts the credibility of your top people in a way that owned or paid for content simply cannot achieve.  

Taking an integrated approach 

An integrated PR and marketing campaign is a great way to maximise resources across channels to create a cohesive suite of communications for a specific goal.  

This might be to push a new product or service, target a new audience demographic or raise the business’ profile in a new sector. Whatever the specific goal is, PR is crucial to get your business noticed, spread its message and generate a buzz.  

By taking on an idea and adapting it in different ways – for example placing a thought leadership piece, drafting a blog for your website and creating a social media post – your PR team can get the most out of each piece of content across your preferred channels. 

Want to find out more about how PR can accelerate your sales efforts? Contact us today.