Public Relations Faq: Things you didn’t know
1) What is PR? Why does my business need PR?
Think of public relations (PR) as a critical component of the interview process. When hiring an employee, consumers, retail buyers, and even investors are very careful to research brands before investing. Marketing, such as your website, brochures, and catalogs, is your “resume” and where you can tell the world what you stand for, your experience, and what you offer if they invest. PR, on the other hand, is your “reference page.” The third-party press is where trusted industry leaders are endorsing you above the competition. PR brings awareness and credibility, that when used properly, is a game-changer when it comes to proof of concept and brand longevity.
2) PR vs. PR Advertising – is there a difference?
PR: True endorsements from the media come from editors in print and online, producers, bloggers, podcasters, and more. PR is third-party support in the form of features that build awareness and your brand credibility. Posting press on your website, social media platforms, and in marketing material can quickly turn interested into an investment.
PR Advertising: Paid PR placements explain your value to others in the form of paid ads. PR advertising is considered more of a brand awareness push than an endorsement lending credibility to your brand but it can get in front of a different audience.
Social Media FAQ: Get Direct Contact with Clients
3) What is social media? Is social media important for my business?
Social media are online communities that allow people and businesses to share things in a public venue. Popular platforms are Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
Whether we love it or hate it, social media is an absolute necessity when it comes to brand development and long-term success. In today’s market, the consumer holds all of the decision-making power, and thanks to online shopping and the internet they are willing to research up to 3 hours before deciding where to spend their hard-earned cash. First stop: your website. Second stop: those social media logos proudly displayed on your page. One of two things can happen at this point…
1) They discover product testimonials within an aesthetically pleasing, engaged, and flourishing community so they feel confident in continuing down the buyer’s journey with your company.
2) They find disorganized content with no flow or strategy and your social media feed leaves them hesitant. Research over—no sale here.
This one step can make or break their experience with your company. Having beautiful and professional social media platforms brings a sense of security to your product and ideally turns them into long-term advocates who, through word-of-mouth, share your brand with their own social media community.
4) Why should I do paid social ads?
Social media ads on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn are a very powerful way to define the perfect target market, build your social presence, drive traffic to your website, and increase sales. If managed correctly, they can even grow your social media following and significantly increase your overall ROI!
5) Do influencers really have influence?
Social media influencers have become a sought-after tool in building brand awareness and credibility with new businesses and established large organizations alike. There is a reason a person chooses to follow someone on social media. Whether they relate to their family life, home decor, business acumen, spirituality, political views, or maybe they just love their sense of fashion—that person has established “influence” over their followers’ choices and therefore becomes an asset in building a brand awareness with their audience.
Influencer campaigns are an effective brand awareness tool for two main reasons:
1) They allow you to get in front of your target market, who may have never heard of your brand before, at a relatively low cost.
2) A third party is endorsing your brand—building credibility.
3) You now have access to beautifully styled content that can be reposted to your own social media feed.
Our influencer marketing team has relationships with every type of influencer and has a process in place to ensure that all of these individuals are vetted, campaign deliverables are established, rates are negotiated, and that the results are clearly reported and ready to leverage for ongoing success.
Retail Strategy FAQ: Boost Your Product Sell
6) What is a retail strategy? Why do I need help with retail strategy?
The retail strategy does not necessarily pertain to store placement, although with our team it certainly can. It is important to know first what your overall growth strategy is according to sales. Are you looking to build awareness and credibility that will eventually lead to a healthy direct-to-consumer business? Is your goal to drive traffic to Amazon? Are you ready to place your products in major retail stores? Are you in need of a strong support system for your current buyers to increase sell-through and re-orders? No matter what your answer is, our ChicExecs retail strategy team can help. Our incredible retail strategy department works closely with buyers to place our brands in their stores and online. Buyers trust us to bring quality products that have an active community behind them and can rest assured that our services are at their disposal should a sell-through campaign be needed.
Sell-through campaigns are geo-targeted initiatives in direct support of a certain store or retailer. Whether you are with us in one department (i.e. PR, digital marketing, social media, influencer marketing, etc.) or a full-service partnership, our team members understand the overall retail needs of a brand and will adjust their work to ensure the biggest overall impact.
7) Does a retail strategy retainer save me money?
Retail buyers rely strongly on consumer demand and are conditioned to choose brands that have the credibility (PR, social media, influencer endorsement) and the community behind them because it ensures there will be demand for your product in their stores. In the retail industry, any brand that does not provide the promise of sales is too risky to bring into stores. With that said, like any new relationship, it takes numerous encounters before you feel completely at ease and invested fully in that partnership.
At ChicExecs Marketing Agency our number one goal is to bring the right brands to the right retail stores to then negotiate the right purchase order (PO) to ensure overall success. The first step is building your brand awareness and credibility with the buyers through our “buyer releases.” Just like a PR press release, we work quickly to establish your brand as an exciting and safe investment to relevant national and regional buyers. Through our established relationships and these continuous updates on brand awards, media features, influencer partnerships, social media growth, and more, your buyers begin to trust the brand and will feel comfortable taking on the partnership.
Our retail strategy retainer is the key element in building buyer awareness and trust. This 1-2 year process saves you countless hours of trying to get the right buyer’s attention, building their trust, and securing a commitment. Household brands also choose to work with our retail strategy team even when no further placements are needed. Their number one goal is communication and sell-through and therefore they rely on our buyer releases and retail strategy department for communication and sell-through campaign strategies.
Overall marketing FAQ: Do you really need it?
8) Why should I outsource marketing rather than hire someone in-house?
While the idea of having an in-house marketing person seems wonderful, the added management time and cost (like office overhead, supplies, benefits, insurance, and HR needs) quickly adds up. Not to mention, at any agency you have access to multiple departments that specialize in their respective areas of expertise. If you hire someone in-house, you are relying on that person to have the existing relationships, experience, creativity, and skillset to meet all of your potential needs.
At ChicExecs Digital Marketing Agency you are partnered with an experienced team with hundreds of cumulative years of experience ready to fight for your brand. With 55+ team members, we can quickly become your focus group and will be ready to pivot and adjust our services to meet your growth potential.
9) How do ChicExecs costs compare to other marketing agencies?
There is no other retail marketing agency and therefore any comparison of our services to the competition is not quite “apples to apples.” For example, our PR team members do much more than garner press features for our brands. They understand how and why the press they are securing is important for ongoing success. At ChicExecs, we also offer sell-through PR, expertise PR, crisis management, and more. Having PR, social media, digital marketing, and retail strategy under one roof allows us to follow one consistent strategy so a consumer isn’t getting a different message and brand voice in each tactic.
With that said, having two founders who launched a magazine and product line before starting ChicExecs Marketing Agency, we understand the industry and the financial struggles a retail brand can face. For that reason, we are passionate about offering more affordable programs than most marketing agencies, while also ensuring you access to a highly trained team of experts, top-of-the-line systems, and continuous communication to ensure our relationships are strong and flourishing throughout the year. All programs can be customized to meet your brand needs and are available a-la-carte or as a full-service partnership.
Our services are about building a strong brand resume and reference page for longstanding success in the U.S. market. Reputations are not built in a day and therefore we ask for a monthly commitment to ensure the best possible long-term results.
10) Do you work internationally?
While we have worked with media and influencers across the globe, our focus is on the U.S. market at this time. However, we have helped various international brands from countries like the U.K., Australia, and Canada find success and build brand awareness in America.
11) Can I afford this?
The question is, can you afford not to? The brands that invest in building their community and credibility are the ones that find success with consumers, retailers, investors, and beyond. Everything that ChicExecs Marketing Agency offers comes from a place of experience, based on relationships cultivated, and with the intention of building great and long-term success stories for our brand partners. As a full-service firm, ChicExecs Marketing Agency is able to work with brands both big and small to ensure they are set up for success in an ever-changing market.