Lee Groeger - 07/16/2025
Small and medium-sized business owners are often surprised to find that successful PR looks a little different than what they initially expected. Read through to learn about three unexpected truths — and how knowing them can give your business an advantage.
Public Relations is a long-term investment in how your brand is seen, trusted, and talked about.
Public Relations (PR) is one of those things that everyone knows exists, but unless they have experience with it, often don’t know quite what it is or how it functions. So, it’s understandable that, when small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) first dive into PR, many are surprised by what they discover.
From realizing how much storytelling matters to understanding that consistency often outperforms flashy campaigns, business owners routinely find that successful PR looks a little different than they initially expected. Here’s a look at three truths businesses are often surprised to learn when they step into the world of PR — and how knowing them can give your business an advantage.
PR is about building relationships, not just getting press
One of the biggest surprises for many businesses is that PR doesn’t stand for “press release.” OK, I’m exaggerating to make my point, which is that strategic PR is not built on sending out press releases and waiting for coverage to materialize. True public relations is about building relationships — with journalists, industry influencers, customers, and even your own community.
Impactful media coverage comes after you establish trust and show that your brand has something genuinely unique, interesting, or otherwise valuable to offer to a particular audience. A quick, one-off pitch can be effective under the right circumstances — a good story pitched to the right person at the right time — but that is no replacement for cultivating ongoing relationships, offering thoughtful insights, and being a reliable source that the media can reliable turn to over time.
Takeaway:
If you want better PR results, focus less on “getting a hit” and more on consistently showing up with value and authenticity.
Good stories are newsworthy (no matter how big or small)
Another surprise? You don’t always need a massive company milestone to get PR attention. Journalists and audiences are drawn to good stories — human stories, customer success stories, innovation stories — even from relatively unknown brands.
We often see SMBs coming from two distinct camps. On one side, there are those with the mindset “We’ll do PR when we have something big to announce”; on the other side, there are those that think, “We have this service/product, so people must be interested in writing about it!” The truth is, waiting for a new product launch or a big funding round means missing a lot of smaller, yet powerful, storytelling opportunities. Likewise, rushing into PR based on the concept of pure existence is putting the cart before the horse.
Before you adopt PR as a strategy, spend some time thinking about what kind of information you have that would be valuable to each of your stakeholders, from investors and employees to customers and communities. Topics like how your company supports your community, how a customer overcame a challenge using your product, or what makes your company culture unique are all webs of stories that can be spun into PR gold if positioned the right way, at the right time, to the right recipients.
Takeaway:
You don’t need to wait for “big news” to start telling your story, buy you do need stories to tell. Find and share the human moments happening inside your business every day.
Consistency beats big, one-time efforts
It’s tempting to think (or hope) that one big media push — a major campaign or a press blitz — will change everything overnight. In reality, PR success comes from consistent effort over time.
Sending out a single press release or securing one article might give you a quick traffic bump, but without ongoing momentum, the attention fades fast. The brands that win in PR are the ones that make it a regular part of their marketing strategy, consistently engaging with targeted media outlets, publishing thought leadership content, participating in industry conversations, and staying visible, even when they aren’t launching anything new.
Takeaway:
PR is a marathon, not a sprint. A steady drumbeat of visibility builds credibility and keeps your brand top of mind for the long haul.
PR isn’t just about putting a positive spin on a story or landing a spot in a national news outlet — it’s a long-term investment in building trust, credibility, and meaningful relationships with your audience.
Understanding what PR truly involves — and adjusting your expectations, accordingly — can be the difference between frustration and long-term success. By focusing on relationships, finding everyday stories to tell, and committing to consistent effort, your brand can punch far above its weight and build a reputation that drives real business results.
Remember: it’s not about being the loudest voice — it’s about being the most trusted one. Ready to start crafting a smarter PR strategy for your business? Let’s talk about what that looks like.