Netwerken Archieven - PR Mansion

Social media, social influencers, fake news – as a pr-professional you can easily feel like an octopus juggling. But don’t panic – the essence of public relations has not changed. The means and ways to communicate with your audiences have expanded, sure – but it’s still about relationships between organizations and stakeholders.

1. Set the stage, give a great pass

So that your clients can take the stage, take the shot and get the credits they need. With public relations we aim to create the best circumstances possible in a certain situation. We investigate the playing field, seek out the most important audiences and give our client the tools to reach them. In other words: create the best circumstances for your client to score.

2. Focus on what you want to achieve, not on what you are afraid of

Energy flows where attention goes. If you want your client’s impact on – lets say – endorsers to grow, give those endorsers attention. What do they need, what problem can your client solve for them? How can your client reach out to them? Use what went wrong to improve the next time, but do not dwell on it. Think about the law of attraction: whatever we focus on we experience more of. (While writing this I realize I should follow my own advice more often.)

3. Think ahead

Public relations also should help paving the path for the results your client wants to accomplish. Search for the best path and remove the rocks that can derail your plans, or if you can’t remove them: map them. This may sound contrary to the previous, but it isn’t. We are very experienced in crisis-pr, but the best way to deal with a crisis is to avoid it. Because most crises are not like lightning, they are like a storm building up. Most of the time you can see them coming.

4. Media relations: focus on proof

A PR-professional is not always the most popular person in the (board) room. We are not there to say what people want to hear, but what they need to hear. We are wired to think ahead and we need to focus on paving the path. We can work with proof (actual results) and we can work with vision. Wishful thinking is good for crafting new strategies, but to put it ‘out there’ we need either results, or actions that support our client’s claim.

5. Have another cherry

With a great invention, or with proof that Bin Laden is not dead but lives in Zoetermeer, it’s easy for a pr-professional (well, for anyone frankly) to get media attention. Everything else feels a bit like writing a subsidy proposal or competing in a beauty contest: you have to tune in to the most popular topic of that moment and you need to be in all the right places to meet journalists, go to all the right parties to meet influencers and their societal entourage. For those kinds of cherries on your cake, give us a call. Because we can recommend some good pr-agencies.

For anything else: call us too. We won’t make a cat out of a dog, just because the journalist we know prefers cats. We’ll find someone who is interested in dogs instead. Just like many journalists like to keep their professional distance, we prefer that too.

You’ve got a brilliant plan or product, you moved to a nicer office, your team landed a great new client. That’s fantastic! You are convinced that the world is interested and you want to go tell it from the mountains.

Tip 1. Reconsider. Of course you are excited! It’s a big step for your organisation. But ask yourself this: would you be as excited if this news was about another organisation? Think about your audience – who would be interested in your story? On second thought – maybe not call CNN about that brilliant product, but what about that utilities magazine and that blogger who’s always writing about that topic?

Tip 2. Research. Choose your audience wisely. Put your self in their shoes: what does this medium publish about, which journalist covers similar topics, which media are most likely to spread the word? Remember: a journalist, blogger, instagrammer: they will write or post not for you, not for themselves but for their audience.

Tip 3. Message. Do a write-up on the most important features. Include an intro why this product or plan, or you moving to a nicer office, is relevant for their audience. Include good visuals that support your message and that meet the publishing requirements of the media you want to send it to.

Tip 4. Get in touch. This is always the tricky part. How does this journalist or that blogger prefer to receive your information? A press release? A DM via twitter? A phone call? A link to your newsroom? And what –if any- is the best time to call? A pr-agency that works with the media all the time can advice you on the do’s and don’ts and the best way to get your message across.

Tip 5. Follow up. Now, this is a topic of hefty debate. Most media have a “don’t call us, we call you” policy. And if your job would be to sift through a thousand emails a day, you would probably say that too. On the other hand – enough journalists like it when you call them to ask if a topic would be of interest for them. And no true journalist would want to miss out on a scoop or interesting news fact. So you have to decide: are you doing this journalist a favour to follow-up? If the answer is yes: give it a go, a phone call or DM or gentle reminder via mail.

Tip 6. Be at their service. All right! Your message is picked up – journalists are even calling. But bummer, your phone is off or in silent mode, you don’t have voicemail and your not checking your mail. This is a big mistake. When asking people to publish, make sure you are available to take their calls and to follow up on their questions and requests. If you don’t – you’ve wasted your time, you’ve wasted their time and you’ve missed out.

Tip 7. Ask for help. We would say that would we, being a pr-agency, but that’s what we are here for. If you don’t know how, or don’t have the time or resources to make an effort– give us a call. We are happy to help! web | mail | call

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