Generally speaking, anything that involves your business and the public is considered PR. The public doesn\u2019t have to mean consumers or business partners. A lesser-known aspect of public relations involves when companies interact with government branches and their officials.<\/p>\n
New to PR budgeting? Here\u2019s a quick overview<\/h2>\n
Your company\u2019s public relations budget can involve one or a combination of the following strategies:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Media events<\/li>\n
- Press conferences<\/li>\n
- Speaking commitments<\/li>\n
- Community engagements<\/li>\n
- Social media<\/a><\/li>\n
- Crisis management<\/li>\n
- Content marketing<\/li>\n
- Digital marketing\/SEO<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"pr](\"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/pr-budgets.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\nBefore creating or working on your company\u2019s PR budget, think about whether you want to take care of PR work in-house or by hiring freelancers<\/a>. There\u2019s no getting around the fact that PR campaigns take time and effort. But, will this time and effort be spent by your employees, an outside marketing firm, or a combination of both?<\/p>\n
If you have employees that already do similar work, you\u2019ll avoid lots of outsourcing costs. In other situations, it\u2019s more financially feasible to hire an outside marketing agency than several full-time staff members, especially for smaller projects.<\/p>\n
While preparing your company\u2019s PR budget, make sure to check out our extremely helpful guide on paid, owned, and earned types of media<\/a>. It offers an in-depth look at the types of media for your business and their respective costs.<\/p>\n
8 amazing ways to get the most out of PR budgets<\/h2>\n
Not every company is working on updating its PR budget. Your business might be preparing a PR budget for the first time. Don\u2019t worry, we\u2019ve got eight awesome PR budgeting tips for new companies.<\/p>\n
1. Start with a small budget<\/h3>\n
One of the most important things for you to remember when preparing your PR budget is that you don\u2019t have to take an all-in approach to PR budgeting. Instead, think about starting out small and investing in the most important types of PR for your business goals.<\/p>\n
If you get positive results, consider increasing your investment by a smaller percentage next month, next quarter, or next year. By doing this, you\u2019re not putting too much on the table and you\u2019re still able to scale up your PR budget.<\/p>\n
Companies wanting to do the most with smaller budgets should consider owned media<\/a>\u00a0strategies. This includes all media sources you own, including:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Business websites<\/li>\n
- Company social media pages<\/li>\n
- Emails to those in your customer database<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
2. Take a closer look at where your company\u2019s money goes<\/h3>\n
Before determining how much money to spend on PR campaigns, it\u2019s best to first find out how your company\u2019s budgets are being distributed. Most companies\u2019 budgets allocate funds to multiple departments.<\/p>\n
If you decide that PR budgeting is going to have positive impacts on your company, it\u2019s likely worth allocating money from other departments.<\/p>\n
![\"pr](\"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/pr-budget-example-equation.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n3. Consider outside financing for worthwhile PR endeavors<\/h3>\n
Unfortunately, almost no company is exempt from dealing with difficult times. Your company might also not have the luxury of being able to allocate money from other departments. During these times, it might be wise to consider a source of outside financing.<\/p>\n
Before considering this route, make sure you understand the revenue and positive impact PR projects can have on your business. This type of calculated risk might be worth it if it has a high likelihood of paying for itself while bringing in a nice profit.<\/p>\n
With this type of financing, your company can instantly start a PR campaign that utilizes paid media strategies<\/a>.<\/p>\n
4. Prioritize your company\u2019s PR plan<\/h3>\n
![\"example](\"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/example-PR-plan.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\nStart by making a list of what PR projects your company wants to focus on. Next, determine how many people\/companies you need for these types of work.<\/p>\n
Understandably, most companies don\u2019t have the time and resources to invest in every single type of PR strategy. To make the most out of your company\u2019s PR budget, it\u2019s a good idea to prioritize the types of PR activities you want your business to take part in.<\/p>\n
If your company is in the SaaS industry, you\u2019re probably not going to get as much ROI from having local newspaper articles published as you would by spending the money to host an industry-wide event.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, companies marketing themselves to senior citizens in their vicinity might get more ROI from local newspaper and mail campaigns than by creating YouTube videos or spending thousands on influencer campaigns.<\/p>\n
5. Go digital<\/h3>\n
It\u2019s impossible to deny that many companies realize the benefits of digital PR<\/a> strategies. This can include anything from creating social media posts<\/a>\u00a0to implementing a new referral program<\/a>\u00a0on your company\u2019s website. Digital strategies are effective ways to improve your company\u2019s relationship with the public that work quickly and are cost-effective.<\/p>\n
In a recent interview with PR Daily<\/a>, Southwest’s Chief Communications Officer Linda Rutherford recently said she will “spend less on physical events,” including news conferences and media events, in favor of “commtech as well as social and digital” going into 2020.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s certainly easy to see why. Most types of traditional PR involve spending lots of time and money working with other companies to have information published in newspapers, magazines, and similar publications. Now, companies can create entirely digital campaigns that have similar results without wasting time and effort.<\/p>\n
If your company currently relies on traditional PR methods without great results, it\u2019s time to enter the digital world of PR marketing.<\/p>\n
6. Partner with influencers<\/h3>\n
![\"what](\"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/what-a-b2b-influencer-looks-like.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\nSource<\/a><\/p>\n
If your company isn\u2019t using influencer marketing as part of a public relations strategy, now is the time to start. One study found that 92% of consumers trust influencers<\/a>\u00a0over celebrity advertisements.<\/p>\n
So, what is a B2B marketing influencer<\/a>? Influencers are people with large followings. These followers can come from video sharing websites, social media, podcasts, and any other source of internet popularity.<\/p>\n
Influencer marketing usually works well for companies needing a PR boost. It\u2019s also extremely helpful for companies that don\u2019t want to wait weeks or months for PR strategies to reach a large audience.<\/p>\n
Make sure to check out our excellent list of influencer marketing software<\/a>\u00a0to help your business skyrocket its PR results.<\/p>\n
7. Track your ROIs<\/h3>\n
One of the most important things you can do with your company\u2019s PR budget is to understand the ROI (return on investment) of everything you\u2019re spending money on. If something is not making money, get rid of it and invest those funds<\/a> towards that will make an impact.<\/p>\n
As SHIFT Communications\u2019 Vice President of Technology Christopher Penn put it in a recent interview<\/a>, it\u2019s important to \u201carticulate what the increase [in PR budgeting] will mean in terms of business impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, how can you determine the impact of your company\u2019s current PR budget? Think of your company\u2019s PR-related efforts as a machine. If you put $100 into this machine for PR purposes, how much are you going to get back out? If it isn\u2019t at least $101 (hopefully it\u2019s much more), it\u2019s probably not a good PR strategy.<\/p>\n
![\"ROI-marketing-example\"](\"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ROI-marketing-example.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\nSource<\/a><\/p>\n
Let\u2019s go further with this concept. How much money does your company\u2019s PR machine provide for what you put into it?<\/p>\n
Using the image above as an example, imagine you\u2019re spending $20,000\u00a0on PR-related costs each month. This brings you 30 leads, each of which has a worth of $3,000 to your company for a total of $90,000 profit.<\/p>\n
Putting $20,000 into this company\u2019s PR machine gives back an estimated $90,000 worth of leads each month. This provides an estimated $70,000 worth of profit or a 350% ROI.<\/p>\n
We have a way for you to try this out for yourself with a free downloadable ROI template.<\/a><\/p>\n
All you need to know is how much you spend on advertising, the estimated worth of each lead, and how many leads your PR campaigns bring in. Simply enter your numbers into cells A, B, and C. Everything else on the right (including the ROI calculation) is done for you.<\/p>\n
![\"ROI-template\"](\"https:\/\/referralrock.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/ROI-template-pic.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n8. Keep up with metrics that can alter PR budgets<\/h3>\n
As a business owner, it\u2019s imperative to keep a close eye on what others say about your company<\/a>. Fortunately, you can also track each aspect of your company\u2019s PR campaign. Many companies track the impact of their PR efforts by using the following types of software\/applications:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Media monitoring<\/li>\n
- Web analytics<\/li>\n
- Social media statistics<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Are you interested in learning how your current SEO campaign is working out? Consider checking out Ahrefs<\/a>. On the other hand, you might be wondering what people are saying about your company<\/a> on social media?\u00a0You might try using Buffer<\/a>, a social media monitoring tool.<\/p>\n