One thing that I have learned about the world of public relations is that it walks hand-in-hand with shopping. In so many ways, they’re almost like long lost twins. The process might appear time consuming, but the efforts will be rewarded in the end. Good practitioners get the best results because they put in the time and the work. Here are four examples of how public relations practices are just like shopping.
Research.
Like PR practitioners, good customers always do their homework before they go and spend their money blindly. You have to ask yourself some basic questions like, why are you going shopping in the first place? What look are you going for? Who are you trying to impress? When and where will the event be? All of these reasons play a major role in shopping just like they do when you’re a PR practitioner. But research is just the first way that public relations skills play a role in helping you shop.
Budget.
This would be the second important part of applying those skills. So like any PR practitioners, you will likely have a budget to work with. Some money would be applied to helping build a client’s brand. As a customer, you usually have some sort of idea of what pieces you’re looking for to complete your outfit. You want to make sure that you’re not overpaying for an outfit just because of the store it was sold in.
Location.
One thing that all PR professionals learn very early in their career is that location is everything. When it comes to shopping you wanted to make sure that you are getting the most for you money. Just like in PR you wanted to a make sure that you client’s name will be seen in all the right places, whether it’s in a publication or on tv. From a shoppers perspective, why pay full price for an outfit, (that came from Macy’s) when you can find it at half the cost in another like TJ Maxx? Practitioners have to make similar choices like that, should I send this press release to this station, where it could possibly get overlooked or do I send it to a station where I know someone will at least consider it.
Checking out.
This portion of shopping is like writing a press release. You want to make sure that you only have the details that you need, everything else will speak for itself. So when you check out, you don’t want to get distracted by the small items that you see going up to the checkout counter. Yes, they will always look tempting, you will always find a reason why you need it, or just because it was right there. Remember you only came for things for you outfit, everything else is just to take your money. Also so like in a press release you want to include the juicy details, so when you’re shopping check to see if you have a coupons. Who doesn’t like extra discounts?
Sometimes, you never really know when you will be able apply skills that you picked up from either school, work, or other people. Since I’ve noticed those key factors, they’ve helped me to become a better public relations student as well as a better shopper. These four tiny steps could either help save you some time or even some money. Which to me, if you are able to do both then you’re doing a great job.