The Public Relations Blog

We all aspire to succeed and to shine a positive light on our companies for the public to see. Far too often, though, businesses have unreasonable media coverage expectations.

As public relations professionals, we must help our clients define realistic goals concerning the media coverage they want. Here are six missteps that companies often make when setting their media coverage expectations:

8 reasons your award entries aren’t working

Entering and subsequently winning awards for your company is a definite morale booster for your employees, and there are many other benefits too. However, what if you are entering your company into various awards and you just aren’t winning?

There are a number of reasons your company may not be earning the recognition or awards you believe it deserves. We compiled a list of our top eight issues that may be impeding your company from winning awards.

Why you need both for successful PR campaigns

As a public relations professional, do you know the difference between strategies and tactics? Just like how many people incorrectly interchange the terms goals and objectives, they also confuse strategies and tactics. Everyone should understand and recognize the distinction between these important business terms.

4 ways your company can profit from winning an award

Has your company hired a number of new employees? Do you contribute to philanthropic endeavors? Do you have a great CEO or believe your company is a great place to work? It may be time to submit your company for an award.

Benefits

Many companies shy away from the idea of entering into award competitions because they think it’s too self-promotional and they worry the entry might be too time-consuming. The benefits of entering and winning an award largely outweigh any reasons not to.

6 tips for getting better results with your pitches

How often do you get a call from someone trying to sell you something and the person begins by asking if you have a minute? This is an immediate way to shut down the conversation and end the call. In today’s busy world, no one really has a minute.

As you are pitching, you will discover that the same is true for journalists. You will find that it’s never a good time to pitch a journalist. Journalists may be working on several stories at one time and are often on tight deadlines. This means they are usually far too busy to speak by phone about your pitch idea, especially when others are bombarding them – often with pitches that don’t pertain to the area or topic that they cover.

Axia reviews the Upitch app

Building a strong relationship with journalists is a key component of public relations. It ensures you aren’t pitching a story to the wrong person and creates a connection you can leverage for future stories. However, as technology evolves, newsroom staffers continue to get cut and journalists get more and more jaded. This means that making a journalist’s life easier is another key component of PR.

Understand the difference between these key components of a winning PR plan  

Goals, objectives, strategies and tactics are some of the most important parts of a public relations campaign and are key components of any PR plan. Many people often fail to fully understand – and therefore misuse – these uniquely nuanced words. Because of their importance, you, our client, need to understand their differences to ensure greater success for your business.

Live tweeting and posting aren’t for the faint of heart

Managing your company’s social media accounts can be a rewarding experience. If you don’t have a team available within your company to develop and promote content, hiring a public relations firm is a reliable solution to ensure you’re using quality content and providing active engagement to reach your customers. In some instances though, it isn’t just recommended that you use a PR firm; it’s critical.

A professional headshot is an important asset

Often, clients are surprised when we ask for their headshot photographs to accompany media pitches or news stories. Some have never had headshots and don’t know what we’re looking for from them. Many times, they send us personal photos with their families or images that are low quality.

Having a professional headshot is a must for anyone in a successful business. If you haven’t had a headshot since the ‘90s Glamour Shots, now is the time to update that photo.

The journalists you pitch a story to matter more than you may think

A PR industry pro recently shared in PRWeek that it is better to focus pitching efforts on local media with the hope that other outlets will subsequently pick up the story. While local efforts are a great start, it isn’t always the most efficient way to pitch a client or a story.