In line with yesterday’s post about how PR is everywhere, today I volunteered to hand out some flyers at a local event to promote an upcoming bout for my new roller derby league. This is PR at its most basic… and it’s very effective.

How many times have you started a campaign detailing out how you will promote online through social media sites, your website, online newsgroups, fan sites and email newsletters to get the word out. How many times have you created a print advertising campaign to coincide? If you’re like me, you do this all the time. But when was the last time you mobilized an actual team to do some grass roots campaigning?

We’re so focused on the new. We get excited to communicate with audiences through social media. We have conversations. We measure impressions. But much of the people we touch through these methods are already aware of what we do. Something as simple handing out flyers allows you to reach new audiences. Grass roots communication is a powerful tool that often gets left behind when we’re planning because, let’s face it, taking the time to do something such as handing out flyers is, well, time consuming; as is recruiting volunteers.

Creating social media and advertising campaigns are more time efficient as most outward messages can be scheduled, but the advantage of going grass roots is the physical interaction with the audience you are targeting. Conversations happen. Impressions are made.

Sounds familiar?