The Business of Parking

Every parking organization should have a strategic public relations (PR) plan. PR can be the most impactful and cost-effective way for organizations and companies to reach their most important audiences, and it can benefit every parking organization. Public relations can include several different elements, but the most important is publicity. By publicizing an organization through earned media, parking businesses, institutions, and other organizations can reach large numbers of people with key messages.

Publicity revolves around generating coverage in the media. Unlike advertising, where ad space is purchased, stories in newspapers, magazines, and online publications, as well as on TV and radio don’t cost anything beyond the time and resources required to arrange and complete them. In addition to being cost-effective, earned media carries much more weight and credibility than ads.

When developing a publicity strategy, parking organizations must first determine what they want to accomplish. For example, municipal parking can use PR to attract drivers to public parking facilities or inform the public of parking rules and regulations. A parking technology vendor, on the other hand, may want to inform the industry and potential clients in other industries why its technology is superior and about the unique benefits it can offer. An operator may want to let parking owners know why they are the best fit to manage one or more facilities or attract parkers to the facilities they do manage. A consulting firm may want to raise its profile among potential clients or strategic partners.

In addition to offering opportunities for free coverage, publicity has the added benefit of providing extraordinary reach. A feature story in an industry publication like Parking & Mobility, for instance, is read by thousands of parking professionals, including the industry’s leaders. These readers care about parking, and they already have an interest in what you have to say. Likewise, a story in a local newspaper or a broadcast piece on local radio or television can be an effective way to disseminate information throughout the community. And a story in a national media outlet like the Wall Street Journal or NPR can literally reach tens of millions of people. Additionally, when stories run in a publication or on TV or radio, online versions also tend to run on those outlets’ websites. There’s really no better way to reach large numbers of people to raise awareness of a parking organization, product, or service.

How do you arrange this coverage? Everyone is familiar with press releases, which can be great ways to get news out. However, they are just one of several tactics for generating coverage. Pitch letters, source sheets, and media briefings are also powerful tools.

Every parking organization has news to announce. It could be a new policy or facility for a municipality; a new client or project for a consultant; a new product or service for a supplier; or a milestone such as a new hire or an award. Press releases are the perfect tool for getting basic news out to the public. If your organization has in-house PR staff or relies on public relations consultants, they will know how to utilize a press release.

One of the most effective ways to use publicity is to arrange feature stories about your organization, someone within your organization, or about a product or service. Feature stories can revolve around industry trends, common challenges and solutions, or timely and interesting issues and should always be presented in terms of why the reader (or listener or viewer) will be interested in the story. Remember that editors don’t care if you find a story idea interesting; they only care if their readers will.

A third type of publicity that can raise awareness of an organization or its product is the bylined article. Bylines are stories that are authored by an expert and printed in industry press or general or business publications. They typically offer overviews of common challenges and solutions, examples of best practices, or case studies demonstrating a particular solution (often, they include all three). They can’t openly promote the organization or its products or services, though. These aren’t ads. They are articles designed to provide tangible value to readers. However, they provide enormous benefits by demonstrating the author’s (and the organization’s) valuable expertise.

Every parking organization can benefit from including PR in the form of publicity in its marketing. It can be done in-house if there are sufficient resources at hand or by a PR consultant if greater expertise is required. Either way, a strategic publicity program can be a valuable part of any PR and marketing effort and a terrific way to get the word out to your most important audiences. ◆