It can be overwhelming to sell products and services, as well as raise the consciousness of the market about our brand, through Lakeland public relations strategies.
Since PR is such a broad term we use either to influence the media to promote our businesses (without us having to pay them) or persuade people to be “brand ambassadors” and be loyal to our brand, the lines between marketing and public relations are often gray.
And sure, that can be confusing for many of us trying to navigate our way through the intricacies of marketing, promoting, and advertising on social media and the internet. But there are clear-cut things we need to avoid when trying to be on the good side of our target audience.
Forgetting the audience
First on the list is forgetting who you are selling to. Who is your target market? Where are they working? What are they doing in their free time? How old are they? What are their hobbies and interests? What do they buy?
No matter what happens, no matter how many trends appear in the Lakeland public relations world, this one thing will remain to be the tenet of this industry: know your audience.
Overselling on social media
Yes, there is such a thing as over-advertising on social media. Overselling on social media will annoy your followers enough for them to hide your posts. Your posts will look like junk or spam.
This is the first thing you need to avoid. By hiding your posts, your followers are essentially protecting themselves from any type of PR campaign or marketing strategy that will get them hooked on the business you are promoting.
Ignoring comments and inquiries
When you post on social media and on forums, expect that there will be a barrage of questions. Sometimes, the answers to these questions are already in your post but people never like finding out things for themselves. They want the answers to be handed over to them.
So although it may be annoying to tell them where an event is happening or what time the event will start (even if these details are already in your post), never be too tired as to give them the right info.
Being too aggressive with email marketing
Email marketing, as we have proven in the past, is still an effective tool either to market a business or to boost a Lakeland public relations campaign. If you want to raise the consciousness of your target audience about an event you are hosting, for example, email marketing is the way to go.
However, just like on social media, if you start to send too many emails in one day or a week, your recipients will eventually tag your emails as spam or junk and you lose that direct connection you have with them.
