In order to influence the public’s perception of your company, you need to get your company’s name and/or product in front of the customer. You need to increase awareness of your product or service before you can influence the perception of your company. This is accomplished through public relations. PR can be seen as a type of marketing, but there are a few noteworthy differences. With PR, you are selling your company to the media so they can in turn sell it to your target customers.
A 2-minute news story on your company can be as effective as dozens of 30-second commercials, with the addition of it being free! Another alternative to free news coverage is free social media. Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other social media sites are an excellent source of getting the word out about your business. However, you need to have something to “sell” in order to make this an effective strategy in influencing public perception.
Stand out from your competition
Focus on those things that make your company unique. Every company has a unique story that separates it from other company’s offering similar services or products. Find that one unique aspect of your company that makes you different and then emphasize it in your PR. Has your company been around for a long time? Does your company use environmentally friendly products and recycled paper? Whatever you can find that is notably different can be “newsworthy” and can therefore increase customer awareness.
Using testimonials
Another great tool for getting your company’s name out and influencing the public perception is through the use of testimonials. Testimonials boost your credibility and most people prefer a personal recommendation from someone who has tried your product or service over an advertisement on television or in the paper. One way to garner testimonies from your customers is to ask for them, via social media and through email marketing. You can even offer free services or discounts for people who take the time to send in their comments/testimonials on or about your company, or its products and services. This can be used in many different ways, including through standard advertising (newspapers, press releases, etc.), on your website and through social media outlets.
Hosting a fundraising event
One way to get quite a bit of news coverage for your company is by hosting events to raise awareness of issues in your community and around the world. There is never a shortage of local and national causes that need funding, and by helping raise funds for these causes you can greatly influence the public’s perception of your company as well as getting more exposure for your company through the media. Not only are you helping people to become more aware of your product or service presenting your business to the public as one that cares about the people and community you serve, but can also feel good about helping to make this a better world for all of us.
Thinking outside the box
This kind of goes with our first tip of standing out from your competition, but it goes a step further. Don’t be afraid to do something that seems completely out of character for your business and perhaps even counter-intuitive to you. One example of a business that completely stepped outside the box is Progressive Insurance, by offering to actually quote other insurance company’s and let them see who has the best deal for them (even when the competition has the better deal). Most insurance companies would never consider doing such a thing, but Progressive realized that good customer perception is key in a successful business, and customers perceive Progressive Insurance as fair, unbiased and honest. In hindsight, we can now see that this was a highly successful campaign, but imagine sitting in on the meeting where the idea was first pitched? It was bold, daring, and probably utterly terrifying.
In Conclusion
If you want to influence the public’s perception of your company, you will have to be bold in your approach. You will most definitely have to appear honest and fair, and the public should see you not as a cold, calculating business who’s only out to make some money, but rather as a caring business who’s number one goal is to meet their customer’s needs. Find ways to get your name in the public eye, use the media to propel your business, get on the social media sites and show your community you take an active part in their growth. If you follow these guidelines, and do what is necessary, you will find that you can influence the public’s perception of your company in boundlessly beneficial ways.
