Next steps
The next piece of the PR puzzle is developing brief bios for company executives and staff. Regularly updated bios are important when your brand is approached by the media—they will demonstrate your stability and uniqueness. Short, individual bios should be created for the founders, CEO, designers, and key executives you employ. Each individual’s current roles and responsibilities should be explained. Bios should also mention that person’s contributions to the brand, positions they previously held, any notable accomplishments, organizations they are involved with, and their education.
A fundamental strategy for a strong public relations image is maintaining consistency among your branding materials and marketing channels. This means there should be a clear theme throughout logos, colours, typography, website design, and social media platforms. This way, when the media or a potential customer finds your store, they will have a clear understanding of the brand and your product offerings.
Your branding and social media channels should be a comprehensive representation of your store, product, and designs—this includes the voice, tone, and content on your social media platforms. For example, if your business and products are contemporary and ultra-modern, your website should have that same feel. Establishing uniformity in branding materials, on- and offline, will assist with effective communication to your target customer.
A picture is worth a thousand words
Photography is a vital extension to your communication strategy. Photography can visually showcase your company and products. Hiring a professional photographer to capture this effectively and convey what you do will elevate your brand’s voice. As far as the types of photos to capture, you will want to make sure you have professional images of your business, products, and personal headshots of you and your staff. Make sure the photographer is able to provide retouched, colour-corrected, high-resolution photography formatted for print. You will also need low-resolution imagery appropriate for online stories, social media, and sending files via e-mail.
It is best to develop all of these materials internally before seeking help from a PR firm. Once they have been drafted, you can begin looking for an agency that will further build and improve upon your materials and brand.
What to look for
For a partnership with a PR firm to be successful you will have to set specific goals and share them with the team. It is imperative to decide what type of press will be best suited for your company. In other words, would your shop benefit from local or national press, trade press coverage, news coverage, or television broadcast coverage? If you are a local jeweller without e-commerce available to consumers, national exposure would not be the best fit. If local, press and news coverage is your desire, seek a PR firm that has strong relationships in your community. On the other hand, if you want both local and national media attention, search for a firm that specializes in national coverage in the fine jewellery, watch, accessory, or luxury industries—they will also be able to support you on a local level.
