Public Relations

Make PR part of your multi-faceted Pittsburgh marketing strategy.

While many people think of advertising first in strategizing about marketing, one of the oldest tools in the marketing toolkit is public relations. Good PR has a power that advertising does not and serves a different strategic purpose. It’s more about building trust, relationships and perceptions.

The Public Relations Society of America defines PR as “a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” Not really a lot of help is it? For a more detailed explanation of PR, we kind of like what Wikipedia says.

For Randy Strothman & Associates, our PR efforts strive to create positive visibility and to enhance the public trust of a business. Generally, it does not involve the direct ‘hucking’ of products or services, as in much advertising. But it often serves to create the proverbial ‘buzz.’ So it’s part of marketing, but it’s often more subtle and sometimes generous, as in event sponsorships.

What can we do for your business or nonprofit?

a portfolio: media relations, social media, blogging & events

Media relations PR examples

• For Master Remodelers we’ve generated 8 media stories over a period of 4 years, in addition to regular blogging. Click to see the list of stories and blogs.

• For Pittsburgh Water Limo, during 2008 and 2009 we helped to generate 7 media stories, including for the launch of a new “luxury liner” in 2009.

• For the 2007 launch of Bistro To Go we helped to generate 6 media stories and 2 reviews in six months and foster a strong opening for the restaurant.

• For the 2004 launch of a sister business in the community, Priory Fine Pastries, we generated a story in the Post-Gazette, again as part of a multi-faceted marketing strategy.

• For the community of Deutschtown in 2011, we generated 6 media stories for its Historic House Tour, along with a multi-faceted promotional strategy. This tripled the visits to the community’s website and resulted in a sell-out 750 people touring.

Social media PR examples

• For Master Remodelers we post on their Facebook page up to 8 times a week, providing insights and ideas (i.e. value) to potential customers and only ‘soft sell’ occasionally.

• For Deutschtown we post on their Facebook page up to 8 times a week, providing positive news and offering lots of great photos.

• While we don’t post often to the Park House Facebook page, the owner does and gets good, enthusiast interaction from customers. We’ve also set up Hootsuite to post simultaneously to Twitter. (also for Deutschtown)

• We also have our own Randy Strothman & Associates Facebook page, again to provide our own marketing news, insights and items of interest captured from the Internet.

Blogging PR examples

• For the Master Remodelers blog we post every month or so with news about the company or topics of interest to their upscale target audience.

• When we set up the Park House blog on a new website, the owner immediately began posting his specials and events—very colorfully! When he posts the blog, his website also sends an email to subscribers and posts on Facebook.

• In 2011 we created a new, multi-faceted Internet presence for Bistro To Go, including their first blog, a new Facebook page, a new website and an e-newsletter.

• For Randy Strothman & Associates we blog every month or so, offering either client news or items of general marketing interest. (See the most popular blogs we produced in 2011)

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PR event examples

• For Master Remodelers we’ve planned, promoted and executed several open houses to display their work. The most recent Open House produced great media coverage, 250 visitors and good leads.

• For Bistro To Go & Company we launched the business in 2007 with 3 days of open houses for different target audiences and got more than 600 people sampling food, meeting the owners… and spreading the buzz.

• For the startup of Priory Fine Pastries in 2004 we also staged an open house as part of a multi-faceted launch campaign.

• For the 2011 Historic Deutschtown House Tour we helped to deliver a sell-out crowd of 750+ for this community fundraiser and brand builder.