Coordinators' Corner News

How to Use PR to Go Far

HOW TO USE PR TO GO FAR 
 
One may wonder how can any store, that rightfully charges the published retail prices, succeed with so many discounting options. Why a bride would hire a consultant that is $10,000 more than another. Essentially price is not the only determining factor in the decision making of many consumers. Service, convenience and reputation are very important variables.  
 
Let me pose the question in another light. Why do so many consumers purchase from an established brand at full or the near the suggested retail price when there isn’t a concern for quality because theoretically speaking they will get the same quality product regardless of where they buy it?  
 
The answer has to lie on how retailers are perceived in the public eye. Thus even the most eye catching ads with crisp copy, repetition and all the strategies it says in textbooks on how to advertise effectively does not build credibility, prestige, expertise and consumer demand like strong public relations. 
 
Public relations is all about creating the perception that you have expertise and that your business and staff creates the image that your store is the place to plan their wedding. What follows are some strategies on how to accomplish this 
 
1) HOW TO USE TESTIMONIALS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE 
For businesses the issue of credibility pops up in the minds of some customers unless of course they experienced your work first hand or were strongly referred. 
 
Testimonials are a pathway to winning business. Testimonials are written praise from satisfied customers that you can display for potential customers to see. The best way to generate testimonials is to ask for them. If you've satisfied a customer many will be willing to write a few thoughts down on either a thank-you card or letter. This strategy is crucial for a new business because getting these words of praise can be the strongest influence you have on winning new customers. It helps detour the customer from the apprehension that you don't have longevity. 
 
Put these testimonial correspondences to work for you as a display at an exposition, as a collage in a customer waiting area. Also include any awards or plaques you received from suppliers for outstanding sales. 
 
Make copies and put them in an album. Take a photo of every customer and create an album that includes their full name, where they live, when their function was and the reception hall that you can display with a sample of their invitation. That will greatly enhance the possibility that the potential customer you show them to will recognize someone. They can possibly see a customer that had their function in the same facility that she will be having it. This strategy can build tremendous confidence in doing business with you. 
 
Also satisfied customers you have built the strongest rapport with can be utilized as talking testimonials. Use them as a resource that a potential customer can call to validate how exceptional your services are. You can reward these talking testimonials you enlisted their help in a situation that resulted in gaining a new customer. 
 
2) REFERRAL INCENTIVE PROGRAMS FOR SATISIFIED CUSTOMERS 
 
 
Many business owners are very cautious about preserving their good reputation. If a customer is dissatisfied, they are afraid they will tell others. Some disgruntled customers really try to be hurtful by threatening to call the Better Business Bureau, write the newspapers and bad mouth your business. As long you respond to a Better Business Bureau complaint on how you tried to rectify the situation, the complaint is not damaging to the file on your business they keep. It's if you ignore the complaint that it is considered negative if a consumer calls for a reference on your business.  
 
In the heat of the moment unhappy customers say lots of nasty things, most of the time when they simmer down and you call them a few days you can neutralize most problems. I am suggesting you be more concerned with satisfied customers and how you can be more interactive in them generating referrals for you. 
 
No matter how satisfied a customer is with your service, most clients will not go to great lengths to refer you. Often it might be merely a chance encounter with someone they know that asks them where they purchased their invitations. Wouldn't it be nice if your satisfied customers actively referred you to anyone they encounter that will be in the market for your service. There are a few ways you can make that more of a possibility. 
 
a) Perpetuate their memory of your business relationship. Send anniversary cards, valentine day cards, birthday cards, and holiday cards. Offer incentives to come back for future needs. 
b) Ask them. Send a reply card asking for the name of a referral. 
c) Inspire them. Offer them an incentive if someone buys. Examples are perks such as a set of monogrammed napkins or passes to a movie. 
d) Don’t ever take a customer that referred you for granted. They have made a major contribution to your business. Thank your customer for the referral in writing and over the phone. 
 
3) POSTURING YOURSELF AS AN EXPERT 
 
a) Educating your customer in a formal setting 
 
Many high schools and colleges have adult education programs that feature courses that are taught in the evening that range from one to ten two hour classes. These courses are usually taught by business owners or qualified professionals able to address the subject matter. 
 
The subject matter of individual courses are created by the individual instructors and proposed to the program director for approval. Each instructor is usually gets paid a stipend of $30 - $50 or a percentage of the money grossed from the class. 
 
If you propose to teach a class on wedding planning, or original party ideas potential customers will attend your class looking for your expertise. You have a wonderful opportunity to win customers.  
 
These classes are often advertised in local newspapers, but primarily a booklet with course descriptions that is mailed to every household in a given geographical area. Each course normally includes a brief biography on the instructor. The adult education heads wants you to be perceived as an expert and a master of what you do. This increases the prognosis of a well-attended class. Thus it is encouraged to accentuate your virtues. 
 
Sometimes courses get cancelled based on lack of registration. Most program directors will apologize to you and you have still gained something. You still have your name in the bulletin and you probably can obtain the names that had registered to attend.  
 
You can call them as the instructor, find out if they are planning a party and invite them for a private lesson in your place of business of send them the course notes and information on your business. On one occasion only two brides signed up for a wedding planning course I was supposed to teach. I called both of them to invite them to my store. One came in and bought $5,000 worth of services. 
 
You can also use similar content that you prepared for adult education and seek the opportunities to perform seminars at the following venues: 
 
1) At bridal shows or party planning showcases 
2) Food tasting at catering facilities 
3) Bridal Registries and department store events 
4) Bridal Shops 
 
b) Become an author 
 
A good way for you to develop a standard of your industry position is by writing a booklet, book, newsletter, tape or video. It does not have to make it to the best seller list or even be sold, but it enhances your credibility and will easily win you opportunities to teach that adult education course, or do other seminars for example in a department store's bridal registry event, be used as a resource by journalists and win credibility with your customers and associates. 
 
When I owned retail-wedding stores, I wrote a 10-page booklet called "What You Need To Know For Your Wedding That Others Won't Tell You." It cost me 20 cents per booklet to produce and print. It was educational and informative but it also shaped the customer's mindset to look at their wedding in a way that was conducive to want to business with me.  
 
I offered it free at bridal shows and advertised it as a free offer in wedding magazine and in the yellow pages. If you notice you find very few companies that offer something free in the yellow pages. A valued giveaway at such a low cost made business sense to not discontinue. 
 
c) Position yourself to be in the public eye 
 
Do something in the industry that is worthy of publicity. An associate of mine used her background in social work and started a bride’s support group. She’s been on television and has been interviewed numerous times on radio and in the newspaper. 
 
Volunteering also can bring you in the public eye. Examples of this are being on the board of a professional organization, being part of the city council, church or synagogue leadership, member of an awards council or member of an activist organization. While these acts do not directly create a perception of expertise, they raise your stature and generate the same type of reverence as a perception of expertise. 
 
4) CREATING A PRESS KIT AND SENDING PRESS RELEASES 
 
You will see sporadic articles in newspapers and magazines that are industry related besides specific wedding and other targeted publications where that type content would be the norm. Numerous magazines have special features that may revolve around for the most part bridal, newspapers actual have special sections and pullouts where the editorial and advertising is focused on bridal.  
 
Often the articles are either submitted by an outside source, or purchased from a wire service such as Copley, Associated Press or Gannett news service, which is a content provider for the media. When a staff writer or freelance writer writes an article on assignment, much of the content is garnered from quotes and input from businesses like yours. 
 
Unless you are either an industry leader, a profoundly large advertiser, or have inside media contact, you are unlikely to be sought out for your input. You need to let the media you know you are viable resource. You do that by preparing a press kit. 
 
A press kit should consist of: 
 
a) Resume 
b) References and Testimonial 
c) Articles and content educational to readership 
d) Advertisements 
e) Photographs showcasing products and services 
f) Photographs of your physical location (if appropriate) 
g) Head shot 
h) Sales literature and Business Card 
i) Include press releases only if they are educational or news worthy (not self-serving) 
Example: Very unusual party theme, celebrity client 
 
Who to send press kit to: 
 
1) Local Radio and Television talk show hosts 
2) Editors and Writers of special sections in newspapers that are relevant 
3) Editors and Writers for party related consumer and trade publications 
4) Special Section editors for Lifestyle magazines who may occasional focus on parties.  
Industry related web sites for consumers and the trade 
 
Send press kits intermittently (every several months) or on the cusp of a special section. You can even mark on the envelope that your material is a contribution to that special section and it will probably go into file on that subject. It’s important to resubmit repetitively because one time your press kit may be filed or discarded, another time it might be received and utilized. 
 
Editors are reachable on the phone often and sometimes they will direct you to the right feature writer. Call them before you send the kit and explain how you can be a resource in the future without being pushy. 
 
Tip: Skim all target publications regularly and look to see changes in editorial staff. If you identify a new individual, call them and introduce yourself. New editors often are in the process of gathering new resources. 
 
 
Formatting Content: 
1) Develop a set of commonly asked questions and your answers 
2) Consider a “How To” approach with illustrations of your products or services. Example: How to color coordinate your entire affair.  
 
 
 
TYING IN ADVERTISING AND EDITORIAL EXPOSURE 
 
Advertising sales representatives in many publications will maintain the position that advertising and editorial is like church and state. There's no guarantee that advertising in a publication can increase your chances of being picked up editorially but it certainly can help if approached correctly. 
 
A press kit hand delivered with high praise from an account executive to the editor has much higher impact than one sent through the mail.  
 
When you meet with an advertising salesperson remember their primary objective is to benefit from the association. That usually means selling you advertising but it's not limited to that. If you referred other potential prospects that they can approach and sell advertising to that can be an equivalent or greater benefit to advertising yourself. 
 
That can go a long way. If you opt not to advertise, you can explain that you're not budgeted to advertise right now but that these companies and your name can be used a referral. Then probe and ask what's the best approach to receiving editorial exposure? 
 
If you are advertising see if there is some enhanced editorial exposure the ad rep could try to help initiate as a perk to advertise. Smaller magazines and their editorial staff are usually more open to that approach. However what ever you give the ad rep to submit to editorial needs to be top notch. 
 
Brian Lawrence is Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Encore Studios, the upscale wedding invitation brand www.weddinginvitations.com. He is also the developer of www.sellthebride.com a sales and marketing resource site for wedding professionals as well as the author of “The Wedding Expert’s Guide To Sales and Marketing” and “The Invitation Business Report.” He has also performed numerous seminars and can reached at marketing@encorestudios.com or 1 800 526 - 0497 x538