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Winning and tested public relations tactics


The United Arab Emirates has been a stronghold of global enterprises over the years, with local and foreign talents joining all types of industry and sectors. For a business to be truly successful, it needs to build and maintain a positive image. Regardless of the size of the business and organization, hiring the right PR agency in Dubai or in the UAE can help level the playing field.

Public relations, if done right, can lead to limitless opportunities for any brand, builds stronger connection with audience, increase brand awareness, sustain customer loyalty, and boost reputation. But how can one establish its mark and brand in a competitive environment like the UAE has? Whether it is a PR firm or as an independent PR consultant, effective strategies define the success of your communications with your target audience.

Here is a list of tactics that are essential to running a successful PR campaign.

Know your audience
Just like planning any marketing campaign, the first step in public relations is to answer the who question. Knowing your target audience will help simplify and strategize your campaign. These are the groups and individuals you want to believe and buy your ideas or products. How do you identify them? Start by thinking who would be interested in hearing your business, who will decide, and who will purchase. Once you managed to identify your target audience, research and observe their behavior. What publications or materials do they usually read? What social media platform do they prefer? Identifying and defining them will enable you to tailor communication materials accordingly, hence, increasing the effectiveness of your campaign.

Familiarize yourself with the market
One-size-fits-all is a very general approach and proved to be ineffective in PR. A strategy used in New York is not guaranteed to work effectively in a diverse and multilingual market like Dubai, for example. PR consultants should first gain understanding of the local market, culture, and trends for this will be a competitive edge and will serve as a guide in crafting more effective PR campaign and materials. If you are looking to communicate your brand in the Middle East and decide to hire a PR agency in Dubai for example, your campaign and strategies should take into consideration how diverse the culture is. It is also essential that you work with an agency which has deep local knowledge and are able to grasp and practice cultural sensitivity.
Each audience group has a distinct characteristic, culture, behaviour, and interest. Observe, get to know your market and think like your audience.

Plan your campaign
What is the end goal? Knowing what you want and how you plan to achieve this will help determine what approach you will use. Sit down with your team and brainstorm campaign activities and platforms that will help promote your brand and brand reputation. Identify effective channels and platforms according to your target audience.

Create compelling message
Remember that public relations mean sending the right message to the right people. Do it creatively and incorporate the elements of curiosity, urgency, emotion, and value. When you craft contents and materials for your PR campaign, make sure that you are providing your audience something that is interesting and relevant to them. When you localize your message, you are establishing a stronger and impactful connection with the target audience. For instance, a PR agency in the UAE will have to write a good press release in Arabic and English as both languages are spoken widely in the country. Given the number of foreign media in the country, it is fitting to also write in a language that they can understand, and vice versa.

Get the media’s attention
As a PR manager, it pays to have a list of media contacts. Reach out to them and give them a compelling story. Most journalists receive hundreds of pitches in a day, make sure your press release is worthy of their attention. The key to this is your headline, title, and lead paragraph. Think as a journalist when you write a release, a busy journalist. With hundreds of documents waiting to be read, you pick the one with eye-catching headline, and a concise lead. It is also useful to provide supplemental materials such as photos and videos.

Try to get in touch with them regularly to build a good rapport. Once you did, organizing and getting a media coverage will be easier. Ninety-two per cent of consumers trust media, that is according to Nielsen study. All you have to do is to make sure that the media would be interested in publishing and covering your story.

Promotion game on
This is one of the best ways to attract attention to your brand. Your brand should be visible and make sure you create promotional activities that draw interest. There are various promotion activities tailored for every type of audience. You can host events, invite influencers, and involve your target audience.

There are a lot of other public relations strategies. But it is important to become your brand; this is already a public relations strategy. People love a business with a relatable story, make sure to be one and be consistent about it.