What is PR? Does it cost a lot? Depends.....here's some help.
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Posted By: Pam Perry on November 04, 2009 What is PR? Public Relations is the process of supplying information to media that you don't control in hopes that they will run that story for their audiences. It also includes broader areas like public affairs, promoting of products and evens, and influencing opinions. Your job as an author to *earn* media coverage by supplying information that is factual, interesting, timely and (especially) newsworthy, so that journalists will believe that your material will be of interest to their audience. Publicity is not advertising, since you don't pay for time or space. It can have far greater impact than advertising, because it carries a message of implied endorsement by the media which runs your story. Because of the fact that you don't pay for the information to be publicized, you can't control what is actually said about you and your company. Therefore, if you have any desire to control the publicity your company gets, I recommend that you work to provide a steady stream of interesting, newsworthy stories that reporters and editors will want to run with as few adjustments as possible. It Takes Work! A lot of people think publicity happens magically or that opportunities simply come to you. They don't realize there is effort behind it. They don't know that reporters can do whatever they want with the information you divulge. They don't understand all of the behind-the-scenes conversations, relationship building and groundwork that must be laid to get your message out into the world. PR is about making contacts that lead to other contacts that lead to opportunities. The stronger your relationships are with the media and other key players, the better chance you have of controlling your message and getting the coverage you want. In this way, PR is like sales once removed. Instead of selling a product, you are selling a concept - of their using your information and ideas in their media. You are the emissary for those ideas. And, if your pitch is compelling and your manner professional and courteous, you have a fighting chance. PR's All About Relationships! For some reason, there's a false perception out there that the way to get publicity is to write a catchy press release then send it out to thousands of editors. Under this perception, the more editors you get on your list, the higher your probability of success. While this may occasionally be true, in most cases, PR is not about scattering your message to the four winds, it's about carefully seeding your pitches with the right people, the people who control the media you most want exposure in, with specialty pitches designed just for them. In other words, it's all about relationships. In sales there are many strategies that stress the idea of collaborating with the customer. Since PR is arguably a sales process (selling the media on covering your story instead of someone else's,) PR success rates increase considerably with your ability to collaborate with your customer - in this case, the editors, journalists, and producers who control access to the media audience you are trying to reach. These gatekeepers are more likely to choose to cover your story if you develop a relationship with them and work to understand their needs. This means knowing their deadlines or production schedules, being highly responsive, getting them interviews with the right people and providing the right information at the right time. Timing's Important Too News is about timeliness, and PR fits right into this model too. A story can be red hot one week and totally uninteresting the next. It helps to set a timeline and create a comprehensive project plan so all aspects of the campaign are covered. For example, if you are launching a product, you have to synch up with product development, sales and marketing to make sure all of your disparate efforts will come together at the same time. Books must set their schedule so they can be delivered by the time your long-lead publicity hits so people can actually buy the product. The sales team has to be on board so that they are speaking the same messages to the customer. Marketing materials must be ready when the product is available and be aligned with PR messages. For free tips: www.MinistryMarketingSolutions.com and go to www.brandingsuperstar.com Next PR coaching class: http://www.prbootcamponline.eventbrite.com (if you're ready...you'll get the PR you deserve) If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
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Pam Perry
Social Media Strategist, Ministry Marketing Solutions Wayne St Univ class of 1983 Member Since July 2008 |
Comments
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Pam if I may add how we should get to know our local radio,TV and paper's editors and reporters. We were never in our local news paper or Tv unless there was an arrest or something bad had happened. Little did we know that this was our own fault, because we never asked them to print anything about our community,etc. NOw that all of us have learned how to educate and to be educated it is now like a new local media system that we are a major part of...or now we have a PR.(smile) Thursday, April 10th 2014 at 6:47PM |
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