Here are the reasons why stop and start does not work for public relations

The concepts of "stop" and "start" are usually associated with processes that can be turned off or on as necessary. However, public relations (PR) is not a one-time event but a continuous process that involves ongoing attention and effort rather than a one-time event. PR involves building and maintaining relationships with stakeholders, including customers, investors, employees, and the media. This requires consistent communication, engagement, and agility depending on a company’s external environment. 

Stopping or starting PR efforts can lead to losing momentum and progress, as relationships and trust take time to develop and maintain. Additionally, halting PR activities can cause a lack of visibility and awareness, which can be detrimental to the reputation and success of a business or organization.

Why Ongoing Communications Important

Here are some specific reasons why ongoing communications are important:

1. Build Trust and Credibility: Consistent and relevant communication with your audience can help build trust and credibility. When you regularly communicate with your audience, you demonstrate that you are committed to providing value and are an expert in your field.
2. Stay Top of Mind: Ongoing communications can help you stay top of mind with your audience. By staying in touch, you can ensure that your audience remembers you when they need your products or services.
3. Increase Brand Awareness: Regular communication can help increase brand awareness. When you consistently communicate with your audience, you can build brand recognition and familiarity, making it more likely that they will choose your brand over competitors.
4. Build Relationships: Ongoing communication allows you to build relationships with your audience. You can establish a strong connection with your audience by listening to their feedback, responding to their questions, and providing valuable information.

PR is a Long-term Game

Companies must create a long-term PR strategy that aligns with the organization's goals, monitor and adapt to changes in the external environment, and consistently engage with stakeholders to build and maintain relationships.  By implementing a regular, ongoing program, B2B companies can build a positive reputation, increase brand awareness and create a strong presence in their industry. Here are some key steps to consider when developing a regular ongoing PR program:

1. Establish goals: Determine what you want to achieve with your PR program. This may include increasing brand awareness, improving reputation, building relationships with the media, or establishing thought leadership in your industry.
2. Identify target audience: Determine your key audience, and tailor your PR efforts to reach them. This may include traditional media, social media, industry publications, or specific niche audiences.
3. Develop key messages: Create a set of consistent key messages that reflect your brand values, positioning, and goals. These messages should be woven throughout all PR activities to ensure a consistent brand voice.
4. Start communicating to your press to build influence: Identify key journalists, influencers, and thought leaders in your industry and establish relationships with them. Provide them with valuable content, such as insights or data, to help them develop stories.
5. Monitor and measure results: Regularly monitor and measure the impact of your PR program to determine its effectiveness. This may include tracking media coverage, social media engagement, website traffic, and other metrics.

PR Strategies to Show Momentum 

Consistent PR strategies and tactics to show momentum vary depending on the B2B business and communication goals. Here are some general strategies that can help demonstrate momentum:

1. Consistent press releases - Include news such as new products, company recognition and activities, customer wins, and partnerships.
2. Highlight achievements: Share specific achievements or milestones that have been reached. This could be anything from hitting a sales target to completing a major project. By showcasing these accomplishments, you can demonstrate that progress is being made and momentum is building.
3. Thought leadership: Use proactive PR to insert company and executive thoughts on hot industry trends and topics.
4. Use data and metrics: Numbers can be powerful indicators of progress. Use data and metrics to show how performance is improving over time. This could be charts, graphs, or other visualizations that make the data easy to understand.

Momentum can only be recovered if communication is frequent and consistent. Ongoing communications are important to increasing visibility because they keep your brand, products, or services top of mind with your target audience. Regularly communicating with your audience can create a strong brand presence, increase brand recognition, and establish your authority in your industry. This can help keep people informed and engaged and maintain the sense of momentum that's been established.