The Public Relations Blog

Which analytics matter most in PR? How do I know what to measure?

Within the business world, the volume and velocity of data continues to command attention. In the public relations sphere, knowing what to focus on, given the data analysis capabilities available in the crowd of business software applications, can be overwhelming.

Axia Public Relations breaks down what it means to plan S.M.A.R.T.

Learn more about the improved version, the S.M.A.R.T.E.R. process.

Each of our clients has a personalized public relations plan. We collaborate with company marketing leaders to develop their communications for the quarter, year and future. We’re experts in planning and executing great strategic communications, and we know how to make them sharp and SMART.

And what exactly does SMART mean? We’ll break it down for you.

If you’d like help drafting your marketing and communications plan, Axia offers that service.

Don’t get frustrated when results don’t come quickly.

After much research and vetting, your company hired a public relations firm with the hope of gaining media hits and results. It’s been a month and you haven’t seen any results. You feel frustrated and ready to throw in the towel. It’s important to remember that a PR firm can’t guarantee results or say when you should expect results. In fact, becoming frustrated when the results don’t happen quickly is mistake #10 on Axia Public Relations’ list of 15 mistakes companies make when hiring a PR firm.

Begin your PR campaign the right way: Allow resources for measurement.

Most likely, your company measures sales, employee retention, and NPS scores. It’s also important to measure your marketing department's work along with your public relations agency of record.

Measurement must be a consistent process once you identify your key performance indicators. That’s easy if what you’re measuring is in-house and completely accessible. Hopefully, you already have the spreadsheets in place, so all you have to do is pull the sum at the bottom each week.

Companies should set aside resources for measuring their vendors' outputs, including their public relations agency. Being unwilling to spend the time and money upfront for proper PR measurement is one of the 15 mistakes companies make when hiring a PR firm. Read on to find out why you should include measurement in your PR budget.

5 key factors for conveying company messages effectively

Getting your messages to the right audiences is key in effective public relations. It’s important to know the different channels and platforms and the best way to use each of them. There are two types of communications in PR: controlled and uncontrolled. It’s essential to use both types of communication as well as the PESO model for successful PR.

Don’t confuse the pitch team with your account management team.

Most companies consist of several departments including sales, marketing, customer service, and human resources. Every department (or team) includes team members who each play a specific role within the company. When partnering with a public relations firm, many executives confuse the pitch team with the account management team and expect that their initial contacts will continue to be their contacts throughout the partnership. This is mistake #8 on Axia Public Relations’ list of 15 mistakes companies make when hiring a PR firm. Don’t let this be your company. Most PR firms have a process to ease the transition as you move from prospective client to signed-contract client.

2 reasons why you shouldn’t hire a PR firm that guarantees sales

As a CEO, you know that sales are the lifeblood of a company. Using public relations to increase your company’s share of voice within the media is one way to improve your sales. However, if your company hires a PR firm based on its offer to guarantee sales, you're making a mistake for two reasons:

It seems some companies never learn. They continue to create situations that become public relations disasters. No company is perfect, and we all goof up from time to time. The trick is to learn from your mistakes. Even better, learn from the mistakes of others to avoid making them in the first place. This year’s list of avoidable PR goofs, in no particular order, should be enough to keep your company out of trouble for a long time.

Whether you’re preparing your team for an influx of media interviews or planning to launch a new marketing and communications campaign, getting everyone in your company on the same message is critical to the success of your efforts. Your company’s representatives are often the biggest influencers for your company and brand, after all. It’s critical to make sure this vital audience is helping – and certainly not hurting – your communication efforts. Here are five tips to help you.

Plenty of media outlets – digital and print – leverage individuals with special expertise, large followings or authoritative diatribe to round out editorial coverage in the form of columns. In fact, prior to YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, columnists were the key influencers. For example, there was Pauline Friedman Phillips who, under the pen name Abigail Van Buren, wrote the syndicated “Dear Abby,” until her death at the age of 94. Walt Mossberg earned fame amid the pages of the Wall Street Journal for uncovering and demystifying technology. Herb Caen riveted readers of the San Francisco Chronicle with his daily column, which many considered the “voice and conscience” of San Francisco.