Good PR Pays for Itself

In this era of downsizing and restructuring, it’s typically the first area to be cut. The marketing and public relations department does not have a dollar sign on its door; but while work here may be less tangible, its effects are longer lasting.

What is the first sign for the public that a company is doing well? Frequent notices in the press that it is hiring or promoting team members, acquiring agencies, or launching new products. Many companies do these things on a regular basis, but no one knows, because they don’t have a system to publicize their success.

A good PR department—or for a small agency, just one person with a good head for PR—can make all the difference between good press and no press. PR’s sole aim is to make your agency look good.

Pure and simple, it’s sales. It’s selling the company’s image, which is worth a lot from the perspective of promoting your product. And that’s why it’s every bit as important to an agency as a team of producers.

That doesn’t mean you have to run out and hire a crack team of PR whiz kids—in other words, don’t follow the example of our ambitious former commissioner Chuck Quackenbush, who brought San Diego-based Stoorza Communications Inc. on board with a campaign to educate the public about insurance and simultaneously to promote his own telegenic image. (Note: also not a good idea to fund one’s PR campaign with money given by insurance companies to “educational foundations” in lieu of fines.)

Incorporating the concepts of PR into your daily business should become a habit for small agencies. That means, if someone new is hired, writing up a quick press release to send to trade publications and your local papers. Celebrating the agency’s 10-year anniversary? Take some photos and pass them along to all your clients and prospects.

You can make the media’s job easier by sending clearly written, concise press releases. (For a how-to guide, visit IJ’s Marketing Toolbox under the Sales Tools section of www.InsuranceJournal.com.)

Another way to get some free publicity—the main vehicle of PR—is to call up one of those local papers or trade pubs and pitch your product. PR people spend a lot of time “pitching”—which is basically cold-calling. I don’t envy them this job, but pitching can actually be quite effective if the timing is right.

Although this seems to be the year of cutbacks, there is no doubt that public relations departments will bounce back. After all, it’s in the bluster of negative publicity that we need good PR the most.