The Public Relations Blog

Learn more about your PR firm’s standards.

Many industries have established codes of ethics to ensure accountability, professionalism, and public trust. This includes our industry, public relations. The >Public Relations Society of America is the most prominent professional organization for PR and communications professionals. It established the PRSA Code of Ethics as a guiding framework that sets ethical expectations for members and the industry.

If it’s your first time working with a public relations firm, you may not know what to expect. Based on our many years of experience in this profession, here are our top five things you should expect from a PR firm.

To maintain client and consumer trust, your company must establish a timeline and game plan for making announcements.

For executives, seamless company news announcements are imperative for success, whether about company acquisitions or key new hires. A misstep in a news announcement can make clients and employees feel frustrated and lose trust. Here are some of our stories and recommendations for creating successful company announcement timelines.

When pitching, find the balance between consistent and irritating to appeal to busy reporters.

You probably know just how bothersome spam or sales calls can be in and outside of the workday. The frustration you feel receiving these calls is comparable to how a news reporter may feel receiving pitches that don’t always pertain to their beat, for example.

As a company desiring news coverage, what are you to do? Your company needs to build relationships with the right reporters and be helpful instead of irritating or spammy. Here are six tips to help ensure reporters don’t hate your company.

Understand the meaning of Memorial Day so your company doesn’t make a faux pas.

Companies often view national holidays as a way to connect with consumers and tie themselves to a national story. Sometimes this is done tastefully; other times, however, it leaves the consumer with a bad taste in their mouth. Due to current trends in our culture and marketing saturation, the original purpose of a holiday can be overlooked. The national “holiday” of Memorial Day is one that’s meaning has been lost in celebration. 

Classify media tiers, identify interest, select quality options, and stay informed about competitors to prioritize media outlets.

Earning media coverage is essential to a successful PR campaign, and it’s important to remember not all media outlets are created equal when earning coverage. For example, an outlet you may be excited to earn coverage with may not be exciting to the client.

Knowing how to categorize and prioritize media outlets as you build relationships to earn media coverage is essential in maximizing your efforts and securing coverage that matters to your executives.

Consider cost, design, support, and analytics when selecting the best content management system for your company.

One of the best ways to provide consumers information about your company is through a content management system (CMS) or website. This allows companies to build, write, or modify web pages without having the skill or knowledge to code. 

Before your company takes a stance, consider what it will mean to your audience.

Companies make unintentional mistakes more often than consumers typically realize, whether it’s a typo in a newsletter or a personal post mistakenly uploaded to your company’s social media.

Consumers may never realize the mistake. At times, however, a misstep can turn out to be far more serious, such as when a company publicly takes a stance on social or political issues. 

Companies aren’t immune to negative web content published about them. Common places you may see negative posts about an organization are sites like RipOffReport and GlassDoor, but companies should also know those aren’t the only places that can host unflattering content. 

While awareness of negative posts is important, your company should also recognize the need to stop giving online traffic to this content. In fact, monitoring your company’s online reputation should be something your company invests in and utilizes. 

Educate your team on listenership opportunities with podcasts.

Since their launch in the 2000s, podcasts have continued to grow in popularity. Podcasts allow consumers to digest information through listening, whether it’s current events, history, mystery, how things are made, self-help, and more. Podcasts are a great tool for gaining new or additional knowledge on any topic. 

Unlike TV, podcasts allow listeners to consume content for free and at various listening speeds. Many consumers enjoy listening to podcasts during car rides, workouts, or as background noise during work. 

Typically, podcast producers will seek out guests with expertise in the topic at hand — guests PR professionals like us can secure. Because of this, there needs to be a way to assign or determine the audience of a podcast, as listenership is crucial to its success. This is where Listen Notes come in.