At the end of the day, there are a few truths that all of us PR professionals can relate to. (Coffee being essential to starting your day is one of them.) We’ve worked with a broad spectrum of clients, from startups to more established global technology players, and over the years we’ve collected some key tips worth sharing. These are applicable to PR pros everywhere, regardless of whether you’re a team of 1 or 1,000.
Define your differentiator(s).
Study your competitors to figure out what makes you the first, the best, or the only one doing what you’re doing. Use this to distill your core messages and practice them. And practice, practice, practice some more. Call your friends and practice the messaging on them. If it’s easy for them to understand what you do, you should be on the right track. This will help you prioritize your key themes for media outreach.
Call upon integrated marketing tactics.
PR, sales and marketing are no longer segmented pieces of your business and shouldn’t be treated as such. Companies have learned that sales and marketing work best when they work together. Foster communication between them and think about campaigns holistically. Consider your customer touchpoints and spreading your message across multiple channels, including social media, digital marketing, content strategies and more.
Get to know the key players.
The core influencers in your market could include executives, reporters, social media influencers, analysts and more. Get to know them, and watch what they get excited about. Follow who they follow. This will give you a leg up on industry trends and keep you ahead of competitors.
Leverage your spokespeople.
Now more than ever, customers want to get to know companies better. Have you ever sat down to interview your own CEO? You never know what nuggets will come out of that conversation that may snag a reporter’s attention. Find out what makes them tick, their management styles, and what they enjoy doing outside of work. Make sure they’re comfortable with your thought leadership angles, and media train them so they hit your target messages when speaking with the media.
Plan, measure, and reflect.
It’s easy to get caught up in your daily to do list, but take a moment to step back and look at the big picture. Forecast your next six months and set goals for yourself: What events are coming down the pipeline? On what themes do you want to focus? What cadence do you want to hit? Take the time halfway through the year to look back on what you’ve accomplished and use your findings to tweak your strategy for the next six months.
