These PR Mistakes Could Kill Your Business

The PR mistakes that can kill your business 

Business owners and PR teams must be aware of the potentially fatal errors that can ruin a company. Double-check your PR campaigns for these possible mistakes so you can spend more time receiving positive press and less time dealing with PR nightmares.

Mistake No. 1: Not knowing your target audience

As a business owner, getting caught up in sharing your new product or service with the world is easy. Why shouldn’t you be excited and enthusiastic about it? You should, but your PR campaign can fall flat if you don’t understand your target audience.

Before carrying out a PR campaign, ask yourself the following questions:

• Who is your target audience?
• Why are you launching a PR campaign?
• When is the most effective time to carry out the campaign?
• What relevant media outlets should you reach out to?
• How will you use social media to increase your reach?

If you don’t take the time to consider these questions carefully, you’ll put effort into a costly PR campaign that will ultimately go nowhere. That could tank your product or service’s prospects and affect your company’s bottom line.

Case study: Comcast

Cable companies like Comcast have been dealing with customer satisfaction issues for decades. Comcast is ranked 87 out of 100 on the list of the most reputable businesses in America, according to Forrester. Comcast sometimes falls short of customer expectation, tending to give little notice with price increases and plan changes. Frequent outages, inadequate tech solutions and customer service blunders all weigh on their target audience. Improving the customer experience can help your target audience engage and build allegiance to your company. 

Mistake No. 2: Not focusing on personalization

Once you’ve identified your target audience, don’t assume everyone in that audience has the exact same needs and preferences. There are defining characteristics among your ideal customers and preferred media outlets. If you don’t segment your PR and marketing efforts accordingly, you may not sufficiently target and capture consumer attention.

Most pitches today look like bots sent them rather than human beings. The more you research the target of your PR campaign, the better your chances of registering on their radar and getting your desired response.

For example, when you invite a particular media outlet to a launch event, personalize the email with their name and use the text to establish a personal connection. Include a short note about something you have in common or praise one of their recent achievements, either of which demonstrates your genuine interest in their work.

Case study: Mass email faux pas

The on-demand print company Shutterfly once sent a mass email to customers congratulating them on their new arrival. As you may expect, the out-of-the-blue communication didn’t sit well with women experiencing infertility. We’ve seen a similar scenario with pet-focused companies sending sales emails personalized with the pet’s name even after the business has been notified of the animal’s passing. When sending mass emails, you must use each customer’s data profile to ensure the email applies to the recipient.

Mistake No. 3: Being inconsistent

To solidify your spot in the marketplace, you can’t only be present when you have something new to promote. The saying “out of sight, out of mind” applies — if you don’t regularly engage in PR efforts, your company may be forgotten and left behind. Once that happens, it can be impossible to catch up.

To strengthen your company’s reputation and hold on to the market, consistently execute PR campaigns of varying types. Keeping your company’s name in the press reminds consumers of your products and services. Consistent PR also helps build trust and brand loyalty.

Coordinate your PR efforts across multiple departments, such as marketing, customer service, product development and sales. It’s not only essential to be consistent in how often you embark on PR campaigns but also to be consistent within each campaign. Good PR reflects your core business practices and requires everyone to work together toward the same goal.

Mistake No. 4: Not recognizing local media

The advent of social media and e-commerce has effectively eliminated geographic boundaries. Companies are no longer confined to doing business only within a certain radius. That may give you the false impression you should team up with the most prominent outlets to reach the biggest audiences and ignore smaller, local opportunities.

Good media coverage is indeed beneficial to every company. While many companies focus on large publishing outlets, these organizations rarely provide coverage for small businesses. Even if you’re trying to reach consumers in other states, national press may not be the way to accomplish that.

Focus on local media outlets first, even within different cities you are targeting, to help gain an audience and hone your PR game. The more success you have with smaller media outlets, the easier it will be to reach out to media giants and get their attention when appropriate.

Mistake No. 5: Not being yourself

Staying current on sales and marketing trends is essential for remaining competitive in modern business. Continually researching what’s popular can help your company get noticed and retain a positive return on investment.

However, jumping on the latest bandwagon just because everyone else is can damage your brand. Every trend you try to capitalize on for PR should be relevant to your company and match your brand’s mission and values.

Case study: Bud Light

Bud Light created an ad campaign with influencer Dylan Mulvaney, who is a trans woman, in 2023. The company faced criticism for their marketing, which led to a boycott of its products. For Anheuser-Busch (Bud Light’s parent company), trying to be inclusive made the company backpedal in both directions. Once they realized their target audience didn’t approve of their campaign, the company distanced themselves from it. This stance didn’t gain back the trust of its core customers, and it led to a bigger problem — alienating the LGBTQ+ community. 

If you stray from your brand identity, you risk damaging your reputation. Even worse, you could cause your company to become invisible because you’ve made it look just like everyone else’s. 

Mistake No. 6: Not being inclusive

America is a melting pot and your ideal audience likely is, too. Practice exclusivity at your own peril. If your marketing campaign inspires hatred, negativity or prejudice, social media or a comments section will quickly let you know you’ve made a mistake. Whether it’s the result of terrible timing, vulgar humor or bad taste, a deeply negative emotional response from your audience can take a long time to fix — if the damage can even be undone at all. 

Your PR campaigns should aim for maximum inclusivity and demonstrate your organization’s beliefs and values. Incorporate diversity into your products and marketing to show you’re a diverse and inclusive company. Demonstrate that your business is equitable, as actions speak louder than words.

Case study: Levi’s

After using AI-generated models for its online marketing campaigns in 2023, Levi’s was criticized. While the company thought the move would be diverse and inclusive, others had a different spin, calling the campaign “lazy” and “racist.” If Levi’s had spent the money and time hiring models of various cultures and sizes, the campaign could have put Levi’s at the forefront of diversity and customer experience.

Mistake No. 7: Not delivering what you promised

Not delivering what you promised can cause confusion between you and your target customer. Even worse, it can prevent a first-time buyer from becoming a repeat customer. You might even see your business go viral if there are enough consumer complaints.

If you trumpet your products or services with a PR campaign, you’d better be sure your product or service lives up to expectations. If it doesn’t, you’ll need a solid customer service team to make things right with the customer and repair their now-tarnished image of your company. But if you continually fail to deliver and don’t own your mishaps, your business’s future will be severely limited.

Case study: Tesla

Tesla’s Autopilot feature created envy among drivers. In 2023, the innovative company faced criticism, though, for overpromising what the Autopilot system could do; users were unaware of its self-driving limitations. The Autopilot system also malfunctioned repeatedly, and even after the company addressed software issues, the problems continued. While the automaker still has a solid following, it faces consumer trust issues and decreased stock value.

How to handle PR mistakes

PR mistakes can sometimes be unavoidable, even if you start with the best intentions. When such situations arise, don’t wait for them to blow over. Treat the incident like the crisis it is by implementing effective crisis communication strategies as soon as possible.

The faster you admit and address your mistakes, the quicker you can move toward your next goal. [Learn lessons from these famous companies’ major PR mistakes.]

Utilize these five steps when your company is facing a PR crisis: 

1. Assess the situation at its core.

Use social media monitoring and social listening tools to help you find the source of the PR issue. Using the what, who, when, where and why, examine any reporting, including comments, and ensure you fully understand the core issue.

2. Accept responsibility and determine your response.

It’s vital you don’t come off defensive when responding to a PR crisis. Be honest; everyone makes mistakes. 

Communicate internally with stakeholders and employees. Then add customers in the loop. It’s vital they know you are aware of the situation and working on a solution. Depending on the severity, you may also need to invest in professional legal advice.

Craft a crisis statement that is clear and to the point. The statement (or apology) should mirror your company’s mission and values.

3. Don’t hesitate to act.

While it’s essential to be prepared with the best response possible, don’t wait too long to respond. The digital age requires a lightning response to satisfy curiosity. Releasing a quick response can help reduce negative comments and restore trust in your brand’s reputation.

If the issue is complex and will take a few days to craft the right response, start by releasing a post that shows the world you are taking the situation seriously and are committed to working on your mistakes.

4. Reverse the damage.

After a response has been released, stay diligent. Set up response protocols for customer service and leadership so you are all on the same page. Monitor comments and flag any reporting that could increase the fire instead of putting it out so you can address these concerns.

5. Learn from your mistakes.

Once the negative press dies down, you can take the time to analyze the PR mistakes that led to the crisis. You might need to have a stricter review of future ad campaigns or engage a diverse focus group to help you address concerns before they become public. While you shouldn’t be afraid of creating a PR campaign, remember your brand is on the line. Don’t skip essential steps or you’ll risk further damage.

How to score positive PR for your business 

None of the mistakes or scary scenarios highlighted above are meant to discourage you from taking calculated risks or brainstorming out-of-the-box ideas. Just like there are things you shouldn’t do concerning PR and marketing, there are some things you absolutely should do. The longevity of your business may even depend on it.

Connect with journalists

Reaching out to journalists can take a significant amount of time. You will need to research contact information, find out how they prefer to be contacted and figure out how to personalize your query. Begin this process months before a product launch. Building relationships with a few key journalists in advance can help ensure you have somewhere to turn when you need quality press. 

That said, don’t view this as a strictly transactional relationship. By getting to know journalists personally and professionally, they will have greater respect for you and what you’re trying to accomplish. You might also receive a quick response when you have a press request since you’re a regular contact. And that quicker response is helpful when you’re trying to get ahead of your competitors.

Do the research

Journalists are busy workers, often trying to pull together a story within days or hours to meet a deadline. Providing the journalist with all the materials they need to share your story, such as text, infographics, video or other content, will make their jobs easier.

It also doesn’t hurt to supply them with a free product or service if that product or service is the focus of your pitch. Any new angle that hasn’t been covered is especially intriguing to journalists, so be aware of recent coverage. Likewise, offering new statistics or independent studies that provide exclusive news can upgrade a publication’s worth and thus make your pitch more appealing. Plus, if you’re easy to work with and provide all of the background research, the journalist will more likely want to work with you again.

Personalize your pitch

While you should strive to craft the perfect pitch that sells your idea, it might not be enough to get you noticed. Competitors use the same strategies to be seen, and even after all of your research, your pitch may still fall through the cracks.

While establishing relationships with journalists before you need their media coverage is the best route, you might not always have the time to do so. If that’s the case, you should personalize your pitch to the media outlet within the email and in the subject line. Personalizing it will ensure your email hits the journalist’s inbox (not their spam folder) and will likely give you a higher open rate.

Not sure what to say? Try commenting on the journalist’s recent work that you enjoyed, whether that’s a blog post or YouTube video. Then use what you know about their career to personalize your pitch.

Track your competitors

You and your competitors all have the same goal: Get positive press and use it to scale your businesses. Because you effectively compete with them for the same attention, you should regularly track the press your rivals are receiving.

Check your competitors’ press pages, social media accounts and press releases to get an idea of their preferred media outlets. When you pitch those publications and comment on their previous coverage of your industry, you’ll have the confidence of knowing your product or service is relevant to the outlet. 

Also, by monitoring your competitors, you’ll see where their PR efforts succeed and where they fall short. It also helps you find takeaways that may apply to your company. Regularly analyzing what others are doing in the marketplace can help you chart similar or better PR paths.

Go digital

Well-written press releases relevant to current events and industry trends are still effective, especially if you’re already established in your market. Businesses with name recognition are more likely to get attention from their press releases alone. Smaller and newer businesses benefit from adding digital assets to their press releases. 

Your digital marketing strategy should include digitizing your press releases, which allows you to include interactive elements, such as instructional videos, funny GIFs or relevant downloadable files. This is another way of giving your pitch’s target audience everything they need and reaching them as quickly as possible.

Follow trends

Staying on top of consumer trends is essential for understanding your customers and obtaining media coverage. Google Trends can help you identify what’s capturing the zeitgeist at any moment. You can also use the following methods to keep up with current trends:

• Signing up for relevant webinars
• Following competitors on social media
• Subscribing to industry publications and email lists
• Talking with industry experts

But remember: You don’t want to get so caught up in trends that you sacrifice your company’s identity and the things that make your organization unique. Before you jump on the bandwagon, a trend should be applicable to your business and your audience.

Leverage social media

Use social media to tell your company’s story. It’s OK to sprinkle in a few sales posts, but your feed shouldn’t look like a weekly grocery store ad. Consumers want to hear why you started your business, see how it works and know that real people behind the organization have their backs if an issue arises. 

Focusing on specific social media platforms relevant to your audience can help you leverage these tools to target customers, run flash sales and instantly respond to customer service inquiries. For example, you can use X (formerly Twitter) as a customer support channel. 

Signing up for an X account to expand your media coverage options is also wise. Reporters often use X to keep up with industry trends and daily news. If you include trending hashtags in your posts, you never know who might scroll past your tweet. Additionally, make a short list of relevant publications and services like Qwoted and follow them on X. If you monitor these outlets, you’ll see when they’re accepting pitches or when you could potentially be part of a top industry product or service list.