What is Publicity?
In business parlance, publicity means getting more and more people acquainted with what the business is about. The intention is of course to get more sales done. There are many forms of publicity done, advertising being the most common of them all. But this is not the only way. Even newspaper coverage, press releases, organizing events and launches and even merely speaking about the business to someone is publicity.
Publicity can be leveraged in highly effective ways. When there is awareness about a particular business, more people are likely to get into the idea without giving it much of a thought. This makes the prospecting task much easier for individual representatives.
What are the Pros of Publicity?
Publicity of a business is always for the long term. It will also spread far and wide, depending on the manner in which the publicity is done. People will become aware of the business and will not mind becoming a part of it. This effect is much more pronounced than individual prospecting. Publicity makes branding possible, which is an all-important requisite for any business.
When a business is popular, prospecting becomes all the more simple. There is no need to waste time on introducing the business because people already have a general idea about it. This will also bring their defenses down and the promoters can move for the kill more effectively and easily.
What are the Cons of Publicity?
Publicity is a double-edged sword. Companies that are hugely popular will be constantly under the media scanner. A single goof-up can be exaggerated several times over and could be a bigger blow to the company than if it were not popular. Companies have to be always on their toes to make sure they do not garner negative publicity.
Publicizing a business is a very costly affair. It needs to be consistent too – one-off publicity never does anything for the business. Hence, the costs tend to escalate to huge amounts.
