Len Gutman, President of Open Door Communications, explains why public relations is a vital part of any marketing campaign.

Most gardeners know you need a shovel, a hoe and a rake to cultivate a proper garden. Likewise, even an awful golfer wouldn’t attempt to conquer Troon North without bringing a full complement of clubs. But when it comes to marketing, far too many companies don’t utilize the complete range of available tools.

While advertising gets all the glory – with its own awards shows and Super Bowl hype – public relations is often overlooked. Perhaps that’s because when public relations is done correctly nobody is supposed to notice it’s been done at all!

Indeed, a successful public relations campaign typically ends with a series of newspaper or television segments about your company’s products or services. To most outsiders, these stories appear to be the result of a sharp journalist simply doing his or her job. Truth be told, a great many newspaper articles and broadcast segments begin with skillfully executed public relations programs.

If you’re relying solely on advertising to promote your business, you’re really only playing with half your clubs. While there is definitely a time and a place for a targeted advertising program, more and more companies are turning to public relations to spread the word about their businesses. The reason is simple – when done correctly, public relations is far less expensive than advertising and the end results carry more weight with potential customers.

Then there is the perception factor. By their nature, ads are viewed by consumers with skeptical eyes. After all, the company paid big money for the ad and there’s no third-party validation that anything you see, hear or read in an ad is the truth. On the other hand, when a consumer reads an article in a newspaper about a company or product, the article comes with third-party substantiation built right in. That perception carries much more weight with consumers than a paid advertisement.

Additionally, public relations as a practice has gone through radical changes over the past few years with the explosion of social media. Not too long ago the most important business tool required for the practice of public relations was a well-stocked Rolodex. PR professionals simply picked up the phone or e-mailed reporters and editors, pitched a story and with a little luck an article or broadcast segment followed.

Certainly media relations has remained a critical aspect of public relations campaigns – you can’t very well get a story in a publication without pitching the reporter or the editor – but social networking sites have opened up an entire new avenue to reach consumers directly without the filter of the news media and without spending a single dollar. Social networking can provide you with a captured audience of like-minded people – a demographic dream come true.

That’s all well and fine you say, but how does it work? Say, for example, you run a backpacking tour business. First, you set up a free profile about your business on Facebook, MySpace and other social networking sites. Next, locate your existing customers who have profiles on these sites and invite them to become a fan of your business. Your fan list will grow exponentially, and anytime you want you can reach out to your contacts with a note or post that might interest them. Perhaps you’ve just added new backpacking tours to the Grand Canyon or are running a special to hike the Superstitions? Or maybe you found a great article on the Internet about the best new hiking gear and want to share?

The next step requires some outside-the-box thinking. On social networking sites, people with like interests gather in groups. A search of groups on Facebook for “backpacking” returned more than 500 groups, many of which have thousands of members. Simply pick the groups that seem most appropriate to you and join them – then introduce yourself to the other members and include a link back to your business profile. Essentially what you have uncovered are qualified leads. That being said, being overtly commercial will turn people off so be nice, offer advice and soft sell your business.

Beyond Facebook, MySpace and the other major social networking sites there also hundreds of social networks catered to people with similar interests of backgrounds. Wikipedia has a great list of mainstream social networking sites, and a Google search will bring up sites for people with all sorts of interests. Ning, for example, allows users to create their own social networks. A search on Ning for “backpacking” returned hundreds of user-generated social networks for people interested in backpacking.

The lesson for PR practitioners and business owners is that you can reach customers directly through social networking. With a little effort, and some smart surfing, you can even grow a huge base of raving fans for your business. Combine that with some old-fashioned media relations and public relations can be a powerful force.

Len Gutman, ABC, is president of Valley-based PR firm Open Door Communications and an adjunct professor of public relations at Arizona State University. He is a founding member of Valley PR Blog.