It may not seem to have much to do with your company or your brand, but the way that this story unfolded can teach you a lot about public relations and the power of social media.

On the day that the story broke, if you started to type woman into Google search, the title ‘woman puts cat in bin’ came up. And this appeared as soon as you typed the first three letters.

This just proves how very powerful social media can be. Just imagine if your company or brand had been the subject of this search that 1.97 million people made.

On the day that the story broke, it was number one in the Google search. More than 50,000 people had watched the video on YouTube and 1000 comments had been made on Facebook regarding the story.

This huge media storm would not have been the same if it was simply left to the newspapers. The power of social media made it into what it was and that is something that all companies should learn from in terms of their PR strategy.

Usually, an incident or circumstance can arrive completely unexpectedly and threaten your reputation or how the public perceives you.

This happened recently to an extremely strong brand – The X Factor. This year, the producers decided to use Auto-Tune, which is a piece of technology that automatically corrects the pitch and tuning of someone singing.

When viewers, who still see the programme as a serious singing contest rather than an entertainment programme, noticed this, they were not happy.

Producers admitted that they had used Autotune to make the series as entertaining as possible. They then said that it would only be used during the audition stages and not when it comes down to the live shows. But was this shift planned or was it a clever PR response to the outcry?

When something like this happens (and it can happen to even the strongest of brands) the expertise of a PR agency is vital. It determines the best way to deal with the problem and get your brand and reputation back on track.

A PR agency, on the other hand, will have worked on projects similar to yours and will therefore have a head start on anyone within your company who tries to run a PR campaign.

Experience, contacts and knowledge aren’t the only things that put a PR agency ahead of an internal PR department. In fact, there are plenty of advantages to having a PR agency, the main one being that they are more in touch and up to date with the best way of getting your message and your brand name out there.

A PR agency will know how and when to contact journalists and they will know exactly what type of campaign will suit your company and the situation. For example, they may suggest holding an exclusive party to launch a new product rather than simply sending out a press release.

It is this inside knowledge and experience which cannot be matched by most internal PR departments.

But what is a press release?

Press releases are normally written for journalists and the aim of them is to get the journalist to write something about your story in their publication.

A press release will normally outline a news story, development or a new service relating to your company.

How are they beneficial?

Whereas an advert is blatantly trying to sell something, a press release will be a little more informative and subtle. It will tell the reader about a product, service or development and give them information on it. But the press release method has more authority because it comes from a journalist and people respect their opinions and listen to what they have to say.

As well as sending a press release out to the print media, companies should now make the most of the growth in internet too and should try to get their message out on the internet by sending the release out to online journals .

All PR companies know about press releases and use them as powerful tools in order to get your message across in the most effective way.

But not all companies seem to have developed an understanding of the purpose of public relations. Some assume that it’s similar to advertising, but in reality, PR is less about selling specific products and services and more about gaining a reputation.

Every single thing that you do and say could become a PR opportunity and it can dramatically affect your reputation. You can use these PR opportunities in order to gain trust and create an understanding with the public.

PR is a powerful tool and for this reason, the majority of companies will hire a PR agency to carry out the campaigns for them. These PR professionals will use a huge range of techniques in order to communicate with your audience. Media relations is a big factor in PR as well as online campaigns and sponsorship.

With the right PR campaign, you can see a real difference to your success levels and that is why a PR agency is crucial for businesses, both big and small.

When you advertise your product, the potential consumer knows that you are trying to sell them something. However, with a PR campaign, you will be getting your brand name out there through various methods. You won’t simply be trying to sell your product, but you will be making people more aware of your company and the services you offer.

With the right PR campaign, you can link your company and brand to a range of attitudes and ideas that may alter the public’s perception of your company. The public will become more aware of your company and more familiar with what you stand for in a more natural way than through advertising.

A PR agency might think it’s a good idea to put you forward for some awards, or for you to show some presence at a prestigious event. Although this isn’t blatant advertising, it can still have a massive impact upon the success of your business.

So don’t just rely on advertising when the success of your company can be greatly improved with the use of PR too.

But there’s more to PR than simply sending out press releases and that is why companies choose to employ a PR consultancy to look after this side of the business for them.

A PR agency can steer a company in the right direction and can suggest an approach which is likely to have the most positive effect on the company.

It’s all about getting your name out there and associating it with the right messages in order to become respected within your industry. So for example, a PR agency may advise a smaller business to enter some awards. This in itself can help to promote their brand, but if they go on to win the award, it can really elevate their status within their industry.

There are always PR opportunities within a business,  even developments or new services within your company can present you with a PR opportunity. Let a PR agency guide you through this process and enjoy the success that they can bring you.

One thing that they may suggest is that you carry out a survey. A lot of journalists love to receive findings from surveys that can back up your ideas as it means that the information you have sent is credible and supported.

However, if you own a company that sells exercise equipment and you produce a survey which simply says that not enough people exercise, isn’t offering the journalists anything new. A PR agency will perhaps suggest that you offer the top ten exercises to combat baby weight just after an A lister has had a baby, might grab a little bit more attention.

By constantly keeping an eye on the news and thinking of ways in which to link your company to the top stories, you can really raise people’s awareness of your company. It is advice like this that makes PR companies invaluable.

When it comes to building up your brand recognition and establishing yourself as a respected voice within your industry, you must approach things carefully and after a lot of consideration.

By filling thousands of inboxes with what most people will see as junk, will not get you anywhere and recipients will soon get into the habit of simply clicking ‘delete’ as soon as your address turns up in the inbox.

So rather than risk being black marked, invest in a PR consultancy to carefully develop a PR campaign for you. They won’t simply send out mass emails, they will consider your needs and aims and will tailor a PR strategy especially for you.

When it comes to effective PR, it’s all about the approach that you take and a PR agency will be certain to take the right one in order to get the results that you were after.

But when you’re running a business, you don’t always have time to be chasing journalists and ensuring that they have received your story. And this is where a public relations agency can help.

A PR consultancy is able to communicate with journalists as they have a deeper knowledge of what they’re looking for as well as an understanding of what they want. A public relations firm will know exactly how to communicate with journalists, which ones to contact and importantly, when to contact them.

If you attempt to carry out your own PR campaign, you might find yourself phoning the wrong journalists, being fobbed off or hearing those familiar words: ‘oh no, I haven’t received your press release, do you want to email it over again?’

A PR agency will have heard all those usual excuses over and over again. They will know how to respond and react and will have a much better chance of getting your story heard.

So rather than tackling the mysterious world of journalists yourself, choose a PR agency to do a much more effective job of it for you.