Augment was invited to speak regarding marketing and PR for small businesses at the Indio-American Chamber of Commerce. The question was posed - what works - Marketing or PR? Which one can set small businesses apart from their competitors? The answer that resonated: Marketing is everything you do for you business, but PR is one very important marketing initiative that can generate BIG results while gaining credibility as an expert in your field.

We've spoken before about B.I.G.™  results. In essence, it means to: Build awareness and trust, Increase interest, and Generate sales. It’s Augment’s B.I.G.™ program that is used for conceptual and small businesses.  PR is a way to build trust and funnel buyers through the decision making process non-offensively.

Specifically, we spoke about education marketing and educating consumers about your products and services rather than selling them. With public relations, we tend to think what we hear or see is believable or acceptable rather than a sales pitch or marketing ploy.

Marketing and sales professionals get a bad rap, for the most part, because of all the high pressured sales people in the world. None the less, we still need to sell our products and services, right?

How do we do this? The answer is PR. Build credibility with your consumers. Here are a few tips from the Chamber’s excellent panel discussion on PR and Marketing for Small Businesses:

1. Spend time blogging or writing articles that demonstrate your expertise in your field.
2. Make sure you have some kind of online presence.
3. Use an integrated approach to marketing - if you do use traditional media for advertising, make sure that you use other guerrilla marketing tactics and online media to help support initiatives for the best results.
4. Make a lasting impression with your clients - don't forget the old hand shake and customer service rules.
5. Make sure you under promise and over deliver – always!
6. Be unique and make sure that your marketing mix has a specific message to a specific target - the more targeted the better.
7. Use a platform that allows you to tell your story - you finally have it all together, you know your marketing, you know your client, you know your brand ... talk radio is just one way to utilize a platform that gives you more than just a 60 second commercial.
8. Use as many free or low-cost guerrilla methods as possible to get your marketing plan off the ground.

So, what works best Marketing or PR for Small Businesses? Unfortunately, you are comparing apples to oranges.  Marketing is everything you do while PR is just one small part. Public Relations is a great, cost-effective way to get started with the overall marketing plan.