Public Relations





I just read a piece on Ragan.com that I just have to share. It talks about what not to do when pitching journalists. It always amazes me when I see such common sense criteria put forward. It feels like as communicators—especially as media relations professionals—not doing these things should be pretty much standard in our roles. You should read this and if you are doing any of these things—stop immediately (and call me!).



One of the challenges our industry faces is that we aren’t taken seriously or we aren’t trusted by reporters. I can’t tell you how much I dislike the word “spin” when it is used in context of what we do as communicators. It’s a nasty, dirty word as far as I am concerned. As many regular readers of this blog know, I spent a great deal of my career working at Maclean’s. I worked with some of the best journalists in the country and I had the opportunity to learn a great deal from them.



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We’re working on a campaign for a client right now that got off to a bit of a slow start. We were brought in after the approach had been chosen. In a perfect world, we prefer to be a part of the concept and initial campaign strategy planning because the PR perspective adds value to that component, but sometimes that isn’t what happens and we live with it.

This campaign has some challenges. It’s a crowded market place and there isn’t much news value in what the client wants to announce. Not that it is isn’t interesting to the people involved, but it didn’t meet any of our AHA external news value criteria. We took on the task of developing an interesting angle that we felt more confident about pitching to media and bloggers and sharing on social media networking sites.



We had a good brainstorming session with our AHA crew about what to pitch media, and like every story meeting we have – it was lively. We’re respectful in these meetings, but no one holds back. It can get loud; there is often a lot of laughter, loud voices and a lot of “AHA moments.” We question the ideas, concepts and angles and spend time poking holes in each of them and define what the heart of the story is, so the pitches are solid when we are ready to send them to media and bloggers.



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There is a great article on Ragan.com that focuses on the results of a study that says most companies are not prepared for a social media crisis. It’s worth a read.



How and when an organization responds and reaches out using traditional communications vehicles and through social media is crucial. One of the challenges is that social media has turned the world into a 24/7 news cycle. Many organizations aren’t prepared for that. How do you strategically and authentically respond if you aren’t prepared?



There are many steps an organization can take to put processes in place in case they are faced with an issue or crisis.



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It might seem archaic to those of us living in a social media world, but not everyone sees the benefit or value. We often hear from communications professionals that they want to incorporate social media into their overall communications strategy, but they can’t get buy in from their senior executive team. It’s not as unusual an occurrence as you might think. And if it’s happening to you – you aren’t alone.



When we work with clients that have this challenge, we focus on what the senior team needs to hear. While every team has its own idiosyncrasies, there are some key points that work for most.

Show the business case for social media use.

Depending on the industry, this can mean anything from explaining what it could mean for sales and customer service to providing the rationale on how participating in the social media world is a component of reputation management. A well-thought-out, concise business case can put the use of social media into perspective.



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AHA Creative Strategies is a public relations agency. We’re communicators. We’re social media participants. We’re brand journalists. We use video, video news releases, b-roll, podcasts, photography, articles, news releases, media and blogger pitches, news conferences, media tours, speaking tours, speeches, special events, trade shows, community meetings, annual reports, newsletters and so much more to assist our clients in communicating with their stakeholder groups. (Notice I said “with” – not “to” – that’s very important.) We are in the business of informing, educating and creating conversation. As importantly, we’re in the business of listening and responding.



I mentioned in Monday’s blog post that I would focus on some of the tools we, at AHA, provide to clients and why they are of value. I think before I do that, I should take a step back and define what good public relations is – to us. (I don’t want this blog post to be too long, so next Wednesday I will focus on the specific tactics. Although, I have to warn you, I got a bit carried away – today’s post is a little long!)



Good public relations is working in partnership with clients. Even when it is challenging, we tell them what they need to hear – rather than just take orders and deliver what they want us to. We identify what they need (which isn’t always the same) and we approach what we do with optimistic realism. Timelines, deadlines, client resources and budgets also have to be taken into consideration.



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