Insights for Leaders Navigating
Visibility, Credibility, and Growth.
From media strategy to reputation management, we explore the trends shaping public perception and share the approaches that drive measurable results for growing brands.
As working professionals in any industry, continuing education is key to job security, career advancement and client success. PR is no different. In fact, the evolution of the media landscape and social media platforms, and the integration of marketing and public relations, are all the more reason to seek opportunities to learn the latest methods, refresh our skills, and gain a competitive edge over other industry professionals.
But what might continuing education look like? Is it pursuing a master’s degree? Is it earning an APR? Is it attending conferences? There are many ways PR professionals can elevate and polish their skills. Outlined below are five suggestions to help individuals determine which options are the best fit for them.
- Social Media
Scrolling on social media has earned a bad rep as being a waste of time. However, it can actually be a great way to stay on our toes. Information on social media is always changing, and the medium is arguably one of the easiest ways to share stories. Because of this, social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter have become a go-to way for people to share their professional successes and failures. The posts our network shares are teaming with valuable insights that can teach us best practices. The posts might also help us avoid making the same mistake one of our colleagues recently made.
Another way to use social media to our benefit is by searching hashtags like #PRPro or #PRTips and monitoring the conversations to glean helpful career info. Further, we might find mentoring or networking opportunities – both valuable components of continued learning.
- Conferences
Conferences and events are a commonly used way to stay in-the-know. Conferences teach practical PR strategies and tactics, catered to a variety of sectors. For example, there are PR conferences for education, food and beverage, tech, crisis communications, travel and tourism, health and much more. Industry leaders come together to share their lessons learned and how they’re adapting to market and technology changes – a topic especially relevant during a pandemic.
- Traditional Education
Recently, Tesla made headlines with its decision to eliminate its PR department. Some of the PR team was reassigned within the company, taking on roles in external relations, employee experience or content design and development. While there are serious negative ramifications that could result from removing the PR department, the move demonstrates a trend that other companies might choose to follow. Writing for PR Daily, Ted Kitterman highlighted the importance of being a well-rounded PR professional by saying, “PR pros can make themselves indispensable by becoming business experts who have communications knowledge.”
Some individuals might find it useful to pursue another degree to strengthen their business prowess or expand their skillset. For example, if someone has a bachelor’s degree in communications, they might choose to pursue a master’s degree in business or advertising or pursue a certificate in graphic design. Being well rounded can give us a leg up when pitching a new client, providing counsel to an existing client, or weathering internal company changes.
- Reading
With our phones at our disposal, we can easily access a wealth of industry knowledge from blogs, news websites, books and more. Reading is one of the most common means of continual learning. And like social media, the information shared is always changing. PR pros should seek out materials that deliver smart insights, do’s and don’ts and examples of PR campaigns in the industry. Major PR publications include PR Daily, PRNews, O’Dwyer’s, PRsay, Cision Blog and HubSpot Blog. Business outlets like Entrepreneur and Forbes are also great resources.
- Podcasts
No time to read? Podcasts are a great alternative. Listening to podcasts injects learning into everyday life, with little to no disruption to our schedules. Whether we’re making breakfast, going for a walk or commuting, podcasts can teach us while we multitask. For ideas on podcasts to listen to, check out Cision’s recommendations.
Our challenge as public relations professionals is to keep ourselves informed about new and emerging technologies and techniques so that we are able to provide clients with the very best counsel and service we can. While much of our learning comes on the job, we must also take advantage of online and in-person opportunities to learn. Regardless of our place in our professional lives, we must continue to hone our skills so that we remain on the cutting edge of the techniques and technologies that define our profession.
Pitching to media is one of the most important avenues to earning coverage for your client. Pitching involves researching, identifying, messaging and contacting journalists who you believe will cover your client’s announcement. It is essential that you are targeting the right people with your pitch.
To determine the best fit for a pitch, look at the topic or “beat” of each contact. If a journalist’s beat is not explained in their job title, read a few of their recent stories to get a sense of the topics they cover. After you have recognized contacts within a relevant beat, narrow down your pitching list to the titles and roles of media contacts which accept pitches or can assign news stories. Below is an overview of common titles within a media outlet and if they should be prioritized for pitching.
- A Publisher oversees the commercial success of the publication. They ensure that the outlet can recruit and maintain advertisers and subscriptions. Publishers do not assign or contribute content, so they are not an appropriate contact for pitching.
- An Editor-in-Chief oversees high-level organizational operations. They are often in charge of hiring staff, determining the look and feel of a publication, editing and fact-checking copy, and sometimes writing articles themselves. Editors-in-chief are more likely to assign stories at smaller publications where resources are limited. Avoid pitching to editors-in-chief at larger publications.
- A Managing Editor is tasked with maintaining the day-to-day operations of a media outlet. This means they may generate story ideas, plan and assign content, and oversee commissions of stories and art. They also create editorial calendars and supervise editorial staff. For these reasons, managing editors are one of the best contacts for pitching at an outlet.
- An Editor-at-Large is an editor at the publication who also contributes content on a regular or semi-regular basis. Editors-at-large are distinguished from writers because they do not need approval from another editor before writing stories. They are a good contact for pitching.
- A Senior Editor works under the direction of the managing editor and is often in charge of a specific section within the publication. They will guide the editorial content of their team of editors and writers. Senior editors are an adequate pitching contact if they cover a beat important to your announcement.
- A Deputy Editor often works under a Senior editor. They may help with copywriting and editing or may write themselves. This position varies greatly from organization to organization so the true day-to-day of a deputy editor is not certain. For this reason, they are not a great contact for pitching.
- A Senior Writer may help with editing and proofreading for their department but does not have the organizational responsibilities of an editor. Senior writers have more agency than staff writers in determining the content they cover, but they still must have stories approved by their editors. Only pitch to senior editors operating within a relevant beat.
- A Staff Writer contributes content to the publication from within the outlet. This is the most junior role within a media outlet, and there is little freedom to determine content direction. Pitching should be prioritized to more senior contacts.
- A Reporter/Journalist is most similar to the role of staff writers, except they often will travel for their role rather than remaining in the office. Similar to staff writers, it is best to prioritize pitching to contacts with more power in determining what content they cover.
These job descriptions should help explain who may be best to target with a pitch. It is important to remember however that job titles are fluid and may vary from organization to organization. At smaller publications, tasks are more likely to be shared. At larger organizations, the roles may be more distinguished. This list should serve as a starting point, but not an end-all-be-all of media pitching.
The unique circumstances of this year have required businesses to get creative, rethink strategies and adapt to a new normal. By now, we’re all familiar, probably too familiar, with video calls. While they may be tiresome, the new comfort around this form of interaction has sparked a great opportunity to support virtual media tours.
While conducting media tours and interviews via webcams is not a novel idea, it is more approachable with the increased use of video calls and the acceptance of taking these from home. A virtual media tour would have been referred to as a satellite tour several years ago; and with that, there would have likely been increased production, it likely would have been hosted in a studio, with a camera crew and the support of a full production person. However, with the variety of video conferencing platforms accessible and equipment available for online order (i.e. lighting and mics), virtual media tours are a very approachable and effective strategy.
So, when our long-time client Spaceflight was preparing for the announcement of its new Sherpa-NG program, a virtual media tour was a strategy we wanted to pursue. This program comprises of three different orbital transfer vehicles and is a groundbreaking development for Spaceflight and a growing trend in the industry.
With this new development, not only was there a strong verbal story, but there was a visual story as well with the creation of new hardware for this program. We decided to offer a select group of journalists a virtual tour of Spaceflight’s Sherpa-FX ring before it launched. This enabled an expert at Spaceflight to walk through all the important details of the Sherpa-NG program and the upcoming mission, while showcasing the physical hardware that would execute the mission.
Below are a handful of learnings from our experience conducting the virtual tours.
Know your Messages
This should come as no surprise. As with all media briefings, it’s important for every spokesperson to know and understand their messages. However, unlike a traditional media briefing, virtual tours require spokespeople to not only speak to their messages, but showcase a visual element, in this case, the orbital transfer vehicle. So, in addition to speaking to benefits and addressing questions, the spokesperson needs to frequently refer to an object throughout the tour.
In advance of the tour, outline the key messages and develop a high-level agenda. This agenda should present information in a way that makes sense to the tour audiences, however, be flexible enough to adapt to questions or redirections that occur during a tour. If a spokesperson is comfortable and confident in their messages, then they should be able to deliver an authentic and effective tour.
Be Thoughtful about Visual Elements
Visual elements can go a long way in hosting a virtual media tour. It offers something unique and engaging. Additionally, if it’s something the company is developing, for example, the hardware Spaceflight produced, it can go a long way in establishing credibility and demonstrating the company’s progress. As the spokesperson guides reporters through the main visual element, they should be prepared to tie in key benefits related to the features of the hardware and describe its differentiators.
If you can provide multiple visual elements, it can make the tour even more engaging and support key messages. In this case, Spaceflight had a unique piece of hardware and was able to highlight other equipment that would support the Sherpa ring in executing its mission once in space. However, to ensure journalists had a clear understanding of how the hardware would function and what it would look like once fully integrated with satellites and into the rocket, we had posters of renderings of the equipment in space. This allowed our spokesperson to describe the ring and its mission and then seamlessly showcase the renderings and demonstrate a final product.
Host a Dress Rehearsal
No one is above tech issues. We’re in our ninth month of working remote and I still find myself having the occasional technical issue. Hosting a dress rehearsal is a must. It will allow the spokesperson to run through their messaging and confirm it feels natural, and, during that time, it will allow other attendees to assess logistical elements, such as sound and video quality. Doing this in advance will ensure that the tours run smoothly, reduce “in-the-moment” stress, and make sure that the tours are a valuable use of everyone’s time.
Not every announcement or company development warrants a virtual media tour, but when there is a compelling visual element to showcase, it can create a very engaging experience. Additionally, sharing a product or platform and demonstrating its development and, quite frankly, existence, can help establish credibility. As you prepare for upcoming announcements, consider the visual elements. If you have something unique to offer, host a visual media tour to create a unique and captivating experience for journalists.
As PR professionals, an inalienable truth of our work is that we cannot be successful without the help of reporters, journalists, bloggers and news media.
We build relationships with media members because we need them. Yes, we rely on journalists for valued coverage, but also for information, guidance and greater insight into what’s going on in our communities.
This year, we needed journalists more than ever before to help us understand COVID-19, its resulting impacts, and how to combat the disease. We needed journalists to shine a light on the social injustices occurring across our country and document how communities were responding. And we needed journalists to report and provide analysis on one of the most intense election years in our country’s history.
Journalists are essential workers for a reason. They have the unenviable task of covering news as it’s happening – whether it is a pandemic, protests, riots, or tense political atmospheres. Their job is not to run from a fire, but toward it. In a year when many of us likely needed a break from unrelenting news reports that were often troubling and discouraging, journalists remained vigilant and watchful. They are seldom allowed to look away, even as the news becomes emotionally wearisome and dispiriting. Look no further than this year’s presidential election, when many journalists worked non-stop from Nov. 3 through Nov. 7 when a decision was called – and then beyond to cover the contended results.
Sadly, the news industry has not been immune to the economic fallout from COVID-19. The Poynter Institute has maintained an exhaustive list of newsroom layoffs, furloughs and closures that are related to the pandemic. The full impacts of COVID-19 are still be felt throughout our country and world.
Nonetheless, for those celebrating Thanksgiving, this is a time of year for giving thanks. And so, after a difficult year that saw so much news that was painful and challenging to bear, it is an opportune time to give thanks to journalists and news media. Through the demands of their work, they have endured the pandemic and social crises, and forged ahead to report the news and keep our communities informed. Far too often, journalists are community stewards whose work goes unheralded.
And so …
Thank you to the journalists who covered COVID-19, when we knew little about the disease, were under quarantine and it was not safe for people to gather.
Thank you to the journalists who continued reporting amid the social unrest and ongoing demonstrations following the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
Thank you to the journalists who braved tear gas, rubber bullets, and hostile confrontations between protesters and police officers, all in the name of reporting the news.
Thank you to the journalists who never wavered from covering the tense and highly charged rhetoric of the 2020 presidential election. And thank you for continuing to monitor the dialogue on social media, especially in those instances when it wasn’t easy to do so.
Thank you for staying committed, staying vigilant, and staying watchful over our communities to inform the public and report news that was honest, credible and true. We needed you more than ever before, and you did not disappoint.
We continue to need journalism that is accurate, fair and thorough. As the Code of Ethics from the Society of Professional Journalists states, “ … public enlightenment is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy.”
Please subscribe to your local news outlets. At Communiqué PR, some of our favorites around Seattle include:
Newspapers
- The Seattle Times
- Everett Daily Herald
- Tacoma News Tribune
- Puget Sound Business Journal
- The Stranger
- Sound Publishing’s Eastside Reporter newspapers
- Northwest Asian Weekly
- Queen Anne & Magnolia News
- Madison Park Times
Digital Media
- Seattle PI
- Crosscut
- Seattle Patch
- GeekWire
- MyNorthwest
- PubliCola
- Converge Media
- South Seattle Emerald
- Capitol Hill Seattle Blog
- The Urbanist
Magazines
- Seattle Magazine
- Seattle Business Magazine
- Seattle Met
- 425 Magazine
- 425 Business Magazine
Public Broadcast & Radio
Broadcast Media
- KOMO 4
- KING 5
- KIRO7
- Q13 FOX
Americans formed a record 280,000 new businesses in Q1 2020. This news arrives following an upward trend in new business creation over the last 10 years. The increasing presence of startups among American businesses demonstrates the importance of public relations agencies to create startup-specific public relations strategies. The recent Business Wire webinar on Startup PR, touched on three challenges public relations professionals often experience when working with a startup client.
- Conveying the Importance of Untested and Unfamiliar Products
Each startup wrestles with the universal challenge of selling an unproven and unfamiliar product on the market. Often, the reputation and familiarity of a client aids in the process of earning them media coverage. Since startups are often little known, it can be a challenge to create a compelling reason for journalists to write about them.
Reporters want to see startups demonstrate the commercial viability and real-world impact of their product. In other words, they need to understand why their audience will care about the startup.
One of the ways to give a startup credibility is by leveraging notable founders or celebrity investors involved in the company. The public can trust that the reputations of already established and proven executives lend legitimacy to the young venture. Highlighting these individuals will provide proof points behind a compelling message.
- Maintaining a Consistent Drumbeat of Coverage
Unlike mature and established companies, many startups do not have enough new products or milestones to translate into consistent noteworthy announcements. Often startups will plan for an announcement at the launch of their company but then find themselves grasping at straws to maintain the interest of reporters.
One way to maintain consistent coverage and interest in your startup client is to tell the stories of customers. You may create multiple launch announcements to include the impact of the launch on your customers. These customer stories should be surprising, impressive and compelling. Not only do customer stories earn media attention, but happy customers are one of the best third-party validators of proof of concept.
- Establishing Early Expectations with Your Client
Anyone who has worked with a client new to public relations is familiar with the question, “How are you going to get me into The New York Times?” While coverage in national business outlets is exciting, it is important to manage the expectations of your client. Startups are notoriously short on capital, which means the great investments in labor to earn coverage in a national outlet may be a lost cause.
Rather than targeting big-name outlets, it is a best practice to explain to your client the benefits of pitching smaller publications. Placements in smaller outlets often require less labor than placements in nationally recognized media. In addition, these placements often earn a greater bang-for-your-buck as you are better able to tailor outreach to meet your customers where they are.
Eventually, this strategy of pitching to smaller outlets may lead to attention by national business media. Often publications like The New York Times and Gartner look to the “groundswell” of smaller publications to track public interest before they commit to developing a story.
Navigating public relations success with a startup client can be a challenge. As the number of startups in the United States continues to expand, this category of clients will likely grow in prominence as well. Adjusting your public relations strategy to the unique position of a startup will be beneficial in leveraging their credibility and newsworthiness
Ten years ago, the internet was a different place: Instagram had just launched, Twitter had just reached 50 million tweets per day (10% of today’s rate) and we were still “poking” people on Facebook. Even more notably for PR professionals, the way that the public gets their news has changed drastically since then. Pew Research Center stated in June 2020 that nearly one in five Americans primarily get their political news through social media, compared to 2010, when they reported that only 2% rely exclusively on the internet for their daily news.
Cision is an earned media and public relations software provider that we at Communiqué PR use to identify target publications and build press lists. Cision has been publishing their State of the Media Reports every year since 2010, a result of a survey sent to journalists, supplemented by observations they make through the year. My colleague summarized their 2020 State of the Media report this past May.
This year, as a treat, Cision also shared A Decade’s Worth of Insight Into Media Preferences, covering their 11 reports and highlighting trends and differences. I’ve summarized some of the top tips and takeaways:
Communicating with Journalists
When reaching out to a journalist, use email. Cision’s reports emphasize this point, stating that brief, well-crafted emails are the least time-consuming and easiest to digest. Emails have the added benefit of allowing you to attach helpful documents, multimedia or links, add people to the email chain, and set messages to arrive in the journalists’ inbox at certain times. Contacting journalists through social media direct messaging is less versatile, harder to keep track of and may encroach on their personal lives, while phone calls are often described as disruptive. No response? A follow-up email brings attention but avoid sending more than one as any others are often perceived as unwelcome.
Perfecting your Pitch
To entice your journalist, recognize their journalistic interests and read their past work. Research the outlet and make sure your pitch complements the topics they write about. The email you send should be personalized and specific to the writer you’re approaching, with a pitch that makes sense for their outlet and, ideally, has a distinct, newsworthy angle. Avoid industry jargon, click-bait language and meaningless buzzwords.
Create Trusted Content
Cision’s recommendations over the years have changed for this area – the rise of “fake news” beliefs have falsely positioned the media against the public in many cases. After peaking in 2017, this impact has faded somewhat, causing 21% of Cision’s 2020 survey respondents to posit that the idea of “fake news” is actually increasing the importance of journalistic standards. To support journalists in their quest for the truth, offer industry experts, statistics, and other sources when you make your pitch.
Help your Journalist
As news and content progressively moves online, budgets are shrinking, and staffing has become a large problem for publications, only compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting recession. To give your pitch the best chance of getting published, it’s important to do some of the legwork and get the journalist information well in advance of their deadlines, if possible. Provide the news angle, an excellent quote, a multimedia asset, access to your experts, tailored messaging, and be available to answer their questions about the industry and the company you represent.
While the way we read the news has changed in the last 10 years, the way PR professionals should communicate with journalists has largely remained constant. In another 10 years, PR may be more influencer-focused, robots may write more press releases, and AI may know more about the audience, but I’m guessing we’ll still need to communicate with journalists professionally, truthfully, and helpfully for them to effectively report on our important stories.