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. 

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.

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? 

Here are seven types of premium content to guide a lead through the buying process

When it comes to capturing leads, it all boils down to providing value. Why would your visitors give you their priced personal information? They will only if you offer them something equally valuable that can be swapped with their confidential data.

But what information is more treasured than regular content?

The journey from seeking information to making a purchase decision!

The buyer's journey involves three stages:

1. Awareness Stage

2. Consideration Stage

3. Decision Stage

At each stage, you need to tailor your content marketing and sales strategy to fit into the buyer's context. Let's understand all three phases of the buyer's journey. 

Effective strategies and tactics to boost your campaign

Working in public relations is all about strategy. Here are some quick tips to include in your PR strategy to be a trusted adviser to your company and clients:

The three steps search engines follow to rank search results

Are you curious about how search engines generate the ranking list called SERPs?

If you know what SERPs are and what elements they incorporate, it’s easy to understand their workings.

Search engines generate search results in a three-step process. 

The term CTA is often used when discussing media pitches, website engagement, and social media marketing. For such an important term in the public relations and marketing industry, many people don’t know what CTA stands for or its importance, so let’s break it down. 

CTA stands for call to action. It originates from the marketing industry, referring to a piece of content in the form of an image, specific text, or website button.

The use of this particular content was intended to elicit a specific action from the viewer. It was typically created as a way to provide direction or instruction, such as “sign up here,” “buy now,” “follow,” etc.

Tips and tricks to writing an eye-catching headline

Even in Pulitzer prize-winning articles, the story’s content is the last thing read. Headlines are almost always the first thing that catches a reader’s eye. They are the hook, the reason a reader chooses to dive into a story rather than keep scrolling. This makes headlines possibly the most important — yet undervalued — aspect of any story.

When your company writes PR materials, blog posts, or articles submitted for publication, you should explore what makes an effective headline. 

Our PR agency created this 20-step process for getting earned media coverage for your company

We’ve previously discussed what earned media is and its role in public relations. However, knowing about earned media is one thing, and doing it is another. For someone unfamiliar with this process, it can seem almost impossible to know where to begin and how to get through it. However, there is help.

At Axia Public Relations, we’ve developed our own system for earned media we’d like to share with you. Here is a visual chart showing how we do things and an explanation of each step.