Public Relations: The Architect of Long-term Business Success.
- Samuel Ajayi
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
Over the years, having studied African brands and seen a good number struggle, despite having innovative and quality products in a ready market, because they are yet to understand the significance of cutting through the noise through strategic visibility in a world where everything, including competition, is screaming for attention, for relevance and ultimately, market share.
The Underrated Synergy of Public Relations and Sales
Many business leaders acknowledge a link between PR and sales, yet they still manage them as separate functions. In reality, they are more like the house and its foundation. Sales cannot stand tall without the formidable groundwork that PR lays beneath it.
Here’s what I have learned working with several brands and agencies across Lagos, Abuja, and beyond: PR doesn’t just support sales leads and conversion, it creates the conditions that make selling possible.
Think about it, sales teams knock on doors. But PR ensures those doors exist in the first place, it builds the roads that lead to those doors. It puts your brand’s name on the lips of the very people sales teams hope to convert, and makes it easier for them to convert.
What PR Provides
1. Trust is the New Currency.
In a world teeming with options, consumers don’t just buy products - they buy stories, values, and most importantly, relationships. PR crafts tailored narratives that project your image and distinctly sell your brand.
When your brand is featured and projected through the right media channels before your target audience, you are building something far more valuable than awareness, which is TRUST!
And trust is what sales teams convert into transactions.
2. Perception Shapes Reality
World-class products/services don't always equate market leadership. From the corporate world to the sports and entertainment industries, promising brands are often dismissed simply because their perception doesn’t project anything tangible to their target. PR reshapes perception, it positions your brand not as a player hoping for a seat at the table, but as the table itself. When sales teams walk into meetings armed with the credibility that strategic PR has built, conversations shift from “Who are you?” to “How do we work together?”
3. The Long Game Wins
PR IS THE LONG GAME.
Sales can secure a customer today, but PR secures and retains your customers for the next decade. It’s simply the difference between a transaction and a transformation. Every ideation phase, media placement, narrative build, leadership spotlight, and strategic partnership announced through PR channels works for the stability of the business. This is how brands in Africa can compete globally and dominate.
PR creates awareness > Awareness generates interest > Interest builds consideration > Consideration triggers sales conversations > Sales conversations birth customers > Satisfied customers become brand advocates > Advocacy feeds back into brand narratives.
It’s a beautiful, self-sustaining ecosystem where PR is both the spark and the oxygen.
For instance, when Stripe acquired Paystack, it wasn’t just about the technology. It was about the narrative Paystack had built over the years through strategic PR, positioning themselves as the payment infrastructure for Africa’s ambitious. That perception made the acquisition inevitable and lucrative, and we can see how far Paystack has come till date.
The African Advantage
We sit on a continent brimming with innovation, creativity, and resilience, yet for too long, our brands have been footnotes in global conversations, even where we should be leading. The factual gap isn’t about our capabilities, it’s also about our narratives.
This is why our expertise @Reuben&Samuel makes the difference. We lay the foundation so your brands would not have to fight for visibility the way preceding brands and businesses did in the past years.
Invest in PR the way you invest in sales and marketing. Give it the required resources and time it deserves, because when PR succeeds, sales doesn’t just meet targets, it shatters them.
The world is finally paying attention to Africa. Let’s make sure they are paying attention to the right stories, and most especially yours.
Kick-start your brand’s strategic marketing communications journey today. Send an email to info@reubenandsamuel.com, and we can start building constructively to win.
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