The Public Relations Blog

A simplified definition of PR

What is public relations?

I get asked this question all the time. If I’m being honest, I sometimes have trouble narrowing it down into bits of information that someone who knows nothing about communications and marketing could understand. 

The Public Relations Society of America defines PR as “a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” 

For those working in PR, you understand that no two days are the same. One day, you might be in a series of meetings with clients. The next day, you may be conducting research and sending out media pitches. And the day after that, you might be writing a news release and creating social media content. The list is never ending. 

Jason Mudd is an expert in earned media and media relations. Learn Axia Public Relations’ earned media process and how your company can replicate the steps. Jason is the managing partner of Axia Public Relations.

Guest:

Jason Mudd, On Top of PR host, helps companies get on Undercover Boss. He is a trusted adviser and dynamic strategist for some of America’s most admired brands. Since 1994, he’s worked with American Airlines, Budweiser, Dave & Buster’s, H&R Block, Hilton, HP, Miller Lite, New York Life, Pizza Hut, Southern Comfort, and Verizon. He founded Axia Public Relations in July 2002.

Topic: 

The one with Jason Mudd teaching you Axia’s earned media process.

Oct. 12, 2020 – Despite a global pandemic economic recession, Axia Public Relations recruited Emily Barrett to the “A-Team” as a social media specialist. 

Emily develops unique, innovative, and engaging social media content for the PR agency’s clients.

A step-by-step guide to creating effective recurring meetings

Working with a PR agency requires regular communication and feedback. A good PR agency should strive to be an extension of your marketing team. It should keep you in the loop on marketing efforts to build awareness and brand identity for your company. But just how often should you be meeting with your PR agency?

Depending on the volume and urgency of a project, you might meet with your PR agency weekly, biweekly, or monthly. Every client is different. Larger programs or projects require more time and a higher frequency of meetings to strategize and coordinate.

You might meet more often at the beginning of your program to have your PR agency get familiar with your company and processes. But too many meetings can take up productive time that could be used more efficiently.

Clear up some issues that could arise after getting a TV story

Having your company’s story on TV is an exciting time. You’ll be getting a lot more eyes on your company and putting your name out there. However, during the process, there are some questions you might have related to the online version of the story, such as the video not appearing or if they’ll post the story online at all.

At Axia Public Relations, we’ve noticed our clients ask these main questions. To help people navigate the process, we’re answering these questions, so people can go through the news process more smoothly.

As a public relations professional, it’s our job to stay up-to-date on the digital world. It is important to familiarize yourself with new trends and the tools and technology needed to succeed on social media. 

Currently, the most popular social media platform is Facebook with about 2.45 billion active users. Although Facebook may be at the top right now, anything could rapidly increase or decrease its popularity. For example, WhatsApp has seen a huge increase in downloads due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Learn how to find the right PR agency for your company with our guest Drew McLellan, CEO of the Agency Management Institute.

Guest:

Our episode guest is Drew McLellan, CEO at the Agency Management Institute. For almost 30+ years, McLellan has been in the advertising industry and advised hundreds of small to mid-sized agencies on how to grow and become more profitable.

Topic: 

The one with Drew McLellan on how companies should hire and build a relationship with a PR agency.

Don’t make this distribution mistake when pitching to the news media

PR and marketing departments get busy. They know they need to share their company’s news with the media but far too often, they simply get caught up in day-to-day tasks. When your PR and marketing departments get busy, then they can get lazy about distributing news to the media. Here’s a mistake your team may be making, why it’s a mistake, and the right way to handle it. 

What to do if your executive/spokesperson/client isn’t fit to be the face of the organization

As public relations professionals, we’ve worked with a plethora of companies, clients, and spokespeople. Some are perfect spokespeople while others need a few spokesperson training sessions, and then there are the ones that shouldn’t or can’t be the face of the company. 

Finding a spokesperson for your company can be a daunting task, and having a conversation with a spokesperson who truly isn’t the best fit to represent your company is even more difficult. As an outside PR firm, having the conversation with a client about who the best spokesperson is can be easier than having the conversation internally with a superior. So how do you navigate that difficult conversation? 

Make your website content “findable” to you and your customers with content tags

With increased content production, there’s a growing concern for content searchability among users and content managers. Content tags are a means to combat this issue.

The phrases in a Content Management System (CMS) that group similar content pieces together in a web publication are called content tags. It’s an ideal solution to ‘label’ and classify content, making it easier to search, follow, and group multiple topics. These tags streamline content management for organizations to find and use the content as and when required.