Companies shouldn’t look ahead to a disaster to have interaction PR – Abiola Bonuola – Nairametrics
Many small and medium-sized entrepreneurs often see public relations as an unnecessary addition to the running costs. They think that it is a service that is better not used until absolutely necessary, or a crisis management tactic. As a result, they are looking for solutions in the event of a crisis. However, this shouldn’t be the case.
At Nairametrics’ Business Half Hour, Abiola Bonuola, a tech PR consultant and founder of Bonuola Communications, stated that public relations is best built into a company from the start.
“The biggest brands you see invest in PR and there is a reason. It is important that you start with your PR advisor from the beginning to make sure your brand has the right story. I think some people like to treat PR like lawyers and only run to them when they’re in trouble. In the meantime, if you had them from the start, you should have got the advice that would have prevented the trouble in the first place. It is important to focus on making money from the start, but you should also make sure your brand image is positive so you can keep making money, ”explained Bonuola.
When clients are already in the middle of a crisis before they come to a PR consultant, dealing with the crisis is more difficult because they first have to deal with the brand, its activities, its stories and its history. Of course, it takes more time and resources to fix something than to prevent the damage.
The PR consultants guide the company through corporate activities, government relations, investor relations, customer relations, and media relations to keep the narrative on the positive side. Small and medium-sized businesses can also be guided in using brand communication to ensure that more people are aware of what you are offering. They also need to ensure that their products are on the best regulatory side of policymakers and not in violation of regulations.
Bonuola Communications, a technology PR consultancy, was founded in January 2021 to fill an apparent PR void in the technology space.
“What I noticed at the time is that many tech start-ups needed help with brand communication and didn’t even pay attention to it. Most of them are busy figuring out how to build their apps and make sure customers have the best experience. They are just trying to make society better. They don’t even know how to tell their stories in a way that will get the results they want, ”she explained.
Bonuola Communications got into the PR space with the goal of focusing on tech companies that weren’t doing enough in their brand communications. In less than a year, the company has supported several start-ups as well as small and medium-sized companies.
Explaining the strategy of the operations, said Bonuola; “Most of them still need funding at an early stage, so they tend to take a back seat to PR because they think they can’t afford it now. We’ve put together bespoke, budget-friendly, and affordable options for these small businesses. When they finally get the investors on board, most of them will continue to use our services and upgrade. “
Bonuola Communications has continued to be self-financed and use technology products to keep operations lean and costs down.
With a background in digital PR and media work, Bonuola brings local access to media in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda to the business and helps startups cover a lot more than they thought possible, on a modest budget too . Customers also have access to a pool of talent to sort through different stages of their development.
Over the next ten years, Bonuola Communications hopes to bring specific products to market that will solve the technical PR problems for customers.
