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Posted by Tracy Spence On May - 3 - 2010

Successful PR is all about reaching the right audience with a message that is appropriate and meaningful to them. If you fail to know your target audience and the publications that they read, implementing the rest of your PR actions will be virtually useless. There is no point aiming to get into the Business Times when your customers are more likely to read Heat magazine.

In the world of public relations, you can either go for targeted or non targeted PR campaigns. A targeted PR campaign focuses on a smaller market, a smaller group of prospects that might be more likely to purchase your product or service. Non targeted PR appeals to the population as a whole, and you aren’t trying to aim your ideas at anyone in particular.

Why is a targeted campaign the better choice? Coca Cola or McDonald’s, for example, are both companies that pitch their products to everyone all over the world over, right?

Wrong!  Different commercials are aired at different times of the day. Versions of their commercials are targeted at certain age groups or “targeted markets.”

Smaller companies should look for one or two specific audiences to target to, a big factor for this is their budget is not nearly large enough to even try to market to the masses.

Firstly think about the industry into which your product or service fits. For example, perhaps you own a small photo lab. If you want to target professional photographers as a market, you would mention professionalism and quality. If you want to target people that just wanted better quality processing without the wait, you would want to mention your quality and also your speed of service.

Geography is another factor in deciding who to market to. Companies are now online, making it easier for them to sell to people anywhere. However, distribution companies generally have to target business more locally.

You could also target specific people within a company. There is not be much sense in trying to sell a particular product to the whole company when the buyer is the only person who can make the decisions. There are some magazines that are written for people with specific job titles, MD, CEO and Purchasing being just a few.

Now you have your audience selected, you need to start your PR campaign.

By asking questions in LinkedIn, you can get useful, straightforward responses from others, both inside and outside your network. Sharing your knowledge with others is a great way to contribute to the dynamic LinkedIn community and enhance your expert’s ‘halo’! It’s like having the opportunity for a personal conversation with a bunch of experts – all without ever leaving your desk!

To ask a question:

Select Answers from the toolbar (it may be listed under More …).

1. In the ‘Ask a question’ box, type your question and click ‘Next’.
2. You’ll then categorize your question, so it gets looked at by the right folks in the network. For example, if you have a question about how to find the best business travel carriers, you might select ‘Business Travel’ as the category. You can also add further details that will help your connections and experts answer your question.
3. When you’ve got your question ready, click ‘Ask Question’ and it will be posted to the LinkedIn network. To see the answers, you can go right to your ‘My Q&A’ tab.

To answer a question:

Select the ‘Answer Questions’ tab and browse the open questions. Go ahead and post your answer.

Answering questions is one way to quickly establish yourself as an expert in a particular field, thus giving your profile additional exposure. This is especially helpful when it’s time to find a new work position, boost client confidence and increase employees’ respect. So get in there and share your knowledge and experience!