PR for business growth: steps for success

Do you have a missing link between PR activity and business growth?

PR is often hailed as an essential tool for raising brand awareness and enhancing reputation. Yet, I know businesses struggle to connect their PR efforts with tangible business growth. Without a strategic approach, PR can feel like an isolated activity rather than a driver of sales and success. So, let me show you the missing link between PR activity and business growth.

PR without strategy is just noise

One of the most common reasons businesses fail to see a direct impact from PR is that they don’t think through the strategy behind their efforts. They secure thought leadership articles, media interviews, and press coverage, but if their ideal clients aren’t engaging with those publications or platforms, the effort is wasted.

To truly link PR to business growth, organisations must:

• Understand their audience – Who are your ideal clients? What are their pain points, aspirations and preferred media sources?
• Align PR with business goals – What areas of your business are you trying to grow? Your PR efforts should directly support these ambitions.
• Be selective with media placements – It’s not about reaching the widest audience; it’s about reaching the right audience in the right places.

Successful PR is consistent and sustained

If you’re not continuously appearing in front of your target audience while competitors are, you’ll be forgotten. Decision-makers move at different paces; some might be ready to buy today, while others will only act months down the line. Your PR strategy needs to ensure you are consistently present across owned and earned media channels so that when your client is ready, you are top of mind.

PR for business growth requires integration

PR should never operate in isolation. Instead, it must be integrated into your wider communication and marketing strategy, as part of a business growth engine.

That means:

1 LinkedIn presence

Ensuring your LinkedIn activity supports your growing brand awareness – If your brand isn’t regularly posting on LinkedIn, competitors will take up that space.

2 Clever content repurposing

Aligning PR with content marketing – Articles and press coverage should be repurposed into blogs, newsletters and social posts.

3 Serious thought leadership

Engaging senior leaders in thought leadership – Their voices add weight and reinforce credibility within the industry.

The most successful B2B businesses are those that ensure they are known

Customers can’t buy from you if they don’t know you exist, and PR, when executed strategically, is key to making that happen.

One of the challenges in linking PR to business growth is measuring success. Traditional PR metrics like media reach and circulation figures provide some insights, but they don’t always reflect the full business impact.

For a more thorough evaluation, businesses should:

1 Track media audience demographics

Are your ideal customers reading the publications you’re featured in?

2 Use trackable links

Directing readers to specific webpages with a trackable link via PR placements can help monitor engagement using Google Analytics.

3 Measure share of voice

Understand how your media reach compares to competitors.

4 Conduct brand awareness surveys

Benchmarking awareness at the start and end of PR campaigns provides clear insights into progress. This is what we do at EC-PR having developed a robust PR measurement system. 

While PR ROI is often difficult to quantify, PR undeniably influences purchasing decisions by building trust and positioning a business as an industry leader.

PR’s role in sales

So the question is, does PR influence sales? Absolutely. If your thought leadership is appearing in the right publications, if your expertise is being showcased in the right forums, and if your brand is consistently present where decision-makers seek insights, PR will drive sales.

PR is about reputation and authority. Buyers want to work with the best provider they can find. If your brand is recognised as the go-to expert in its field, choosing your business becomes an easy decision.

However, businesses must recognise that we PR professionals are experts in communication, not in your specific industry. For PR to be successful, your business leaders and experts must actively contribute their insights and expertise. PR teams excel at translating this knowledge into compelling narratives that resonate with the media and target audience.

Strategic PR for business growth long-term

To ensure PR delivers business growth, it must be closely aligned with your overall business goals. The missing link between PR activity and business growth isn’t about luck or volume; it’s about strategy, consistency and alignment. By understanding your audience, integrating PR with wider business functions, and tracking meaningful metrics, PR’s role will move from being a ‘nice to have’ to a key driver of commercial success.