How can PR help your brand in Category Building and Penetrating new markets?

The global pandemic and the resultant lockdowns have disrupted the daily lives, and the traditional way of business, giving rise to wider, faster adoption of digital tools. And while this has impacted all businesses – small or big, B2B or B2C, it has also drastically altered the marketing communication and consumer engagement sector. Factors like the rising might of social media, and the significantly imposing era of new-age digital platforms, are further redefining the rules of brand communication and engagement.

Naturally, this new environment requires rethinking the way in which you run your business. If you are still using traditional advertisements to reach out to your existing clientele or penetrate new markets, the result can be disheartening. This is because, while you are still trying to engage with them in the old way, your audience has already moved on to newer platforms. Investing in PR can give you the response that you are looking for.

PR- The Need of The Hour

Are you a player in the healthcare sector? Or are you a brand that is trying to steady its feet in the BFSI or retail industry? For every sector today, PR has become the need of the hour. With so much competition in every niche, branding has become crucial for the survival of your business. With the right brand-building techniques, you can carve your unique identity, improve consumer awareness about your products and services, and become a voice that no one can ignore.

In fact, when consumer endorsement has become the biggest form of marketing in the present era, PR can help you get the conversation started and build the stories in your favor.

Create A Positive Narrative

With the increased use of social media, the end consumers today is much more empowered than what they used to be. Where even one positive review on the internet can go viral and change your fortune overnight, negative ones can undo years of hard work. So while PR helps your brand in category building and spreading awareness about it, it also keeps the narrative under your control. Using the various PR tools, you can build stories that are in favor of your brand and create a positive image in the market.

Here are the four tools of PR that can help you in creating the desired impact:

Thought Leadership

Creating a successful brand today takes much more than merely selling your products and services. If you look at all the top brands, you will realize that they do not just create content to attract new customers, but they also do so to establish their expert leadership and authority in their field of business. Thought leadership can work as an effective PR tool for you in this line. By creating meaningful and educative content, you too can become the voice of authority in your niche. This will increase the validity of your messages and strengthen the credibility and trust for your brand.

Educational Content

Creating educational content is not just important from the perspective of thought leadership, but it is also necessary for category building. If you are bringing an innovative product or service to the market, it is likely that most of your potential clients will be totally unaware of it. By creating educational content surrounding your products, you can educate them about the significance of the innovation, highlight how it can help them with a solution, and overall, empower consumers to make an informed decision.

Influencer Endorsements

The age of the digital media is also the age of the digital Influencer and their endorsements can work as an excellent PR tool, especially when you are trying to reach out to new consumers or penetrate new markets. Every market has a specific set of beliefs and influences that work on it. So having a new influencer on board can help you create the right impact here.

Brand Positioning

An overwhelming number of consumers today consider the humane aspect of a brand before making their buying decisions, especially in times of global crisis like these. Unless they feel strongly for the values and philosophy that your brands stand for, they are not likely to make decisions in your favor. So it is necessary that you give a face to your brand and connect with the consumers on an emotional plane too.

By leveraging these tools in the right way, you can easily establish yourself in the new market.

About the author:

Anindita Gupta, Co-Founder, Scenic Communication