PR without strategy: why one press release isn't enough

In spring 2025 MakeSales and Ainel Rymbayeva, PR director of iMAS GROUP, ran the #Pro_PR podcast series. Every Wednesday we talked with practitioners from Central Asia about how the profession works, and one idea came up in almost every episode: PR is not only about media.

Strategy or "doing stuff"

For many, a strategy is a plan you follow step by step. That is not a strategy yet. The difference shows in five signs:

• the goal is clear and supports the business, not "so they write about us";
• the audience is defined and its insights are understood;
• the message is single and consistent across channels;
• channels are chosen for the audience, not the budget;
• the result is measured and affects the business.

You can do PR without this, but then every publication lives on its own and is forgotten in a week.

A press release is a tool, not a goal

A good press release answers the journalist's question: "why would my readers care?". Company news that isn't tied to audience interest doesn't get picked up. A story about the market, people or money often spreads by itself. We discussed what makes a strong press release with Olesya Kolesnichenko, director of PR Guide and author of a book on press releases.

You have to see your reputation

Companies used to check mentions by hand, site by site. Today there are many times more media outlets, Telegram channels and people writing about brands, and you can't follow them all manually. Media and social monitoring systems show mentions as they appear. In a crisis this gives you the key thing: time to respond before negative news spreads. We covered this in detail in MAKE TALK #23 on company reputation.

When nobody wants to be the face

A real case: specialists wanted to promote their consultations but didn't want to show their faces. Trust in a service is built either on a person or on the brand's reputation. So there are two options:

• choose a persona or ambassador and grow trust in them consistently;
• build trust in the brand through reviews, cases, publications and offline presence.

There is no third way where there is trust in neither the person nor the brand.

Someone else's news isn't PR

Forwarding the same third-party news to every channel is imposing it, not building reputation. PR works when you talk about your own cases, your expertise and your contribution to the market.

Where to start

• Formulate one main company message for the year.
• Pick 3-5 media and channels your audience reads.
• Set up monitoring of brand and CEO mentions.
• Prepare a crisis response plan before you need it.