If you’re concerned about how your brand is being perceived, you’re not alone. Brand reputation can be a significant factor in attracting new customers and maintaining those who are loyal. While intangible, a good brand reputation is a significant asset and no small part of how brands are valued.
This is why a lot of companies are always on the lookout for opportunities to impact how they’re perceived by their marketplace. They might alter their customer experience policies, launch goodwill marketing campaigns, or develop incentives to gather more ratings and reviews. They also might turn to the familiar option of public relations for managing their reputation.
Public relations (PR) can fall into the hands of a dedicated firm or consultant who will develop a strategy and deploy campaigns to raise the recognition and favorability of an organization. But with direct access to customers via the internet, companies have increasingly relied on their own marketing departments to do this.
Press releases are among the leading tools that are still widely utilized by both PR and marketing professionals. Even with other market outreach options like social media and branded online content, press releases can contribute to a company’s reputation in unique and powerful ways.
To follow are just a few reasons why.
Press Releases Provide Transparency And Clarity As Needed
If a press release carries the right tone and contains information that’s useful and relevant to its targeted audience, it can foster a favorable and credible impression.
It can raise the recognition of your brand or company, boost awareness of what it offers, and prompt your audience to engage. But it can also enable your company to confront topics in a way that clears up misconceptions, provides stability, and fosters trust through transparency.
Even companies with the most consistent, reputable, and favorable record may have to perform some damage control to retain their favorability. A press release accommodates this for many reasons, most notably:
- The objective, journalistic tone of a press release is right for approaching and explaining serious topics in a professional and trustworthy manner.
- An official statement issued directly from a company provides first-hand information from the source that’s closest to a development and most capable of dispelling misinformation.
- The concise structure of a press release helps a narrative stay on track, which helps a company steer clear of excessive details or reliance on vague, uninformative statements.
Because of these and other qualities, a press release provides the opportunity to publicly confront issues head-on and put the right foot forward.
For example, a business may be dealing with the fallout of a major mistake or poor ratings and reviews that have stopped the flow of new customers. A press release can be used to address a company’s reputation when it’s unfavorable and turn that problem into a new start.
By confronting the need for improvement and sharing publicizing plans to move forward in a better way, a press release can intercept what could be a downward slide. This type of content enables companies to clear the air and take a more active role in how they’re perceived, which can be powerful for preserving a reputation but also improving it.
Press Releases Boost Visibility And Credibility
Apart from damage control, a press release can be used to boost the signal when a brand has plenty of positive information to spotlight or when it needs to gain recognition that builds a reputation from the ground up. This is made possible through a mix of visibility and credibility.
When issued through a press cable or distributor with a robust network of media outlets, a press release will appear alongside headlines on large and small news sites. As a result, it can reach more people than it would through a social media feed, company blog, or sponsored listings.
In addition to the visibility that comes with appearing on news sites with high traffic, brands can gain added legitimacy and credibility through recognizable media brands—whether it’s a local news site that your community trusts or a globally recognized press organization.
Press releases also appear in search engine news results based on search terms, including location, product and service names, and business types. This is why a press release announcing a sponsored charity drive, new service, or appearance at an industry event can reach far more people than would be likely to check a company’s blog or pay attention to a banner ad.
This level of visibility and credibility can go far in making your brand appear more recognizable. When your company has any news to share, a press release can go further toward making positive and lasting impressions that impact your brand’s reputation.
Press Releases Have Staying Power
A press release may be the first time a prospective buyer learns about your brand and what it does, and that can have a significant ripple effect.
For example, if improving your reputation is a significant priority at this time, then taking on a philanthropic cause and writing a charity contribution press release can boost positive impressions from people who are most likely to remember and interact with your brand.
When news of that charitable action appears among headlines, it’s likely to be seen by people searching for local happenings or recent developments from businesses like yours.
Even if they weren’t searching for your products or services at that moment—and regardless of the fact that the content is focused more on the charitable donation than on your brand—your press release can drive a positive association and familiarity. This amounts to staying power online and in the minds of people who define your brand’s reputation.
