Supporting multiple non-competing clients within the same industry can be challenging, especially when it comes to staying organized and maintaining professional boundaries. However, there are ways PR professionals can leverage industry knowledge and experience to maximize results for these clients.
Below are some best practices to implement when working with multiple clients in the same industry.
Maximize research. When conducting research for one client, it’s helpful to note findings that could be relevant to other clients’ communication goals. This may be anything from shifts in the market to new reporters to important industry data points.
Flagging these notes to all the relevant account teams streamlines and maximizes your research. Keep all clients in mind as you learn about the industry. This saves time and maximizes the results of your work.
Investigate industry events and awards. Most events and awards aren’t specific to a sector or specialty. Consider keeping a master spreadsheet that tracks important deadlines, costs, etc., for general industry events and awards. This lets you highlight specific opportunities that align with each client for speaking, exhibiting, sponsorship or award opportunities.
If one client wants to pursue an event or award, make a note of their experience. You can use these notes for multiple clients in the future.
Stay up to date on industry news. As we all know, keeping up with the news cycle is critical in public relations. When you have multiple clients in one industry, they are likely impacted by the same current events. Be sure to stay ingrained in industry news and think through how the news directly affects each client. This helps you stay on top of news coverage for competitors of all clients, as well as how different reporters cover specific topics.
Support networking opportunities. Industry members often run in the same circles. Don’t hesitate to connect your clients with one another. They may find mutually beneficial ways of working together, and you could facilitate that relationship.
Leverage media relationships. Developing “friendly” media relationships can benefit all your clients. Consider seeding these relationships with a note introducing yourself to the reporter and highlighting client subject matter experts who could serve as resources. Then, ask what they enjoy writing about and determine if one (or more) of your clients can support their reporting.
While supporting multiple organizations within a shared industry can be intimidating, there are ways PR professionals can maximize their knowledge and resources to achieve desired results for both clients.