It's always nice when an industry expert asks us our opinion on public relations.
There's a reason we're called Remedy. We built the firm to solve the issues we were hearing about from friends and partners who were disappointed in what their current PR teams were delivering. Sometimes they did receive exactly what they should be getting. Sometimes they were expecting too much, and often, the agency over-promised.
To begin, look at what they've done for similar brands.
And trust their expertise. You may have launched PR campaigns before, but if you're not in the trenches, what you want may not match the reality of modern media.
Check out what agency director, Bill Byrne, and other notables, had to say in this article by Meltwater and PR guru, Michelle Garrett (follow her on Twitter, she's awesome).
It’s tax time and as our collective team prepares their own personal taxes, we wanted to share some strong similarities between planning for tax time and launching a public relations or social media campaign.
1. Choose the right tax provider based on your budget and situation.
Some people have straightforward taxes that can easily be prepared through one of the tax software tools available for purchase.
Perhaps you don’t need an outside PR resource. You may be fine purchasing a media list online, distributing it through one of the available free or paid newswires and then having your internal marketing team make follow-up calls on their own.
Or, you may need a team of two… or 20, to help you.
Look at your brand's individual needs and choose support accordingly. Don’t get hung-up on who a brand has worked with before so much as the results they’ve delivered for brands with a similar cache’ or budget close to yours.
Bill was interviewed on this topic recently, but in essence, ask yourself ‘is your brand the iPhone of your industry?’
Look for the firms that have worked with brands that have less media appeal than yours or have done more with fewer resources. Ask for examples of unique placements and executions that also fit within your budget.
If you show up at your accountant’s office on April 14 with a box of receipts and statements, well…
Your accountant may know you’ll be coming in that day, but without knowing all of your financial details from the last year, you’re leaving them in a very difficult situation. Things may get missed.
The same thing happens all the time to PR firms when being approached by potential clients. Public relations firms frequently receive requests for meetings or for custom proposals within a week’s time, usually without adequate documentation as to what it is they’re really looking for, an accurate timeline and estimated budget.
Providing details well in advance allows the PR firms you’re looking at will have ample time to put their best foot forward and you’ll have a chance to kick the tires on them as well.
Last minute requests tend to receive work that is often rushed and often flawed. If you tell a PR firm today you need a proposal for a six-month plan next week, what does that say about your own team’s internal planning?
Similarly, the sooner you start a project, the more time you have to adjust if things don’t go as expected.
If you think you can do your taxes better than a professional tax preparer, then why did you hire them in the first place?
Similarly, treat your public relations firm, consultant or that ‘marketing ninja’ you found on LinkedIn,as a part of your team and trust in their opinion. It’s their job to create programs and strategies that work for editorial coverage.
Would you like to chat about this more? Feel free to drop us a line or take our PR Check-up to gauge the health of your own brand’s marketing efforts.
Love this post? Help make the PR world a better place and please share it on LinkedIn!
Why do some PR people continue to blast out their releases to everyone in their network?
We recently received another “press release” from a brand today. We’re not sure why. We’re not a media outlet. In fact, the release was from a competitor of one of our clients! Thanks for the heads up on what you’re doing ;-).
We fully realize why brands keep PR in-house. Sometimes it’s budget, often it's because a company doesn’t see the value of a dedicated team (in-house our outside help) and believes it’s ‘easy’, since the hard costs in terms of tools include a word processing program, email and phone, along with the ability to write.
And sometimes, those mass-blast emails do bring results. Great results? Not really, but they do bring results for little investment.
Regardless, PR is not easy. You may be able to get a few hits by leveraging your network or the simple mass-blast. Heck, because of the great work we did for some clients in the past, we know journalists continue to go back to those brands for news on their own, regardless of if we’re working with them any longer. That says a lot.
But to really put together a great, results driven, strategic campaign takes some work. Megan Michelson, someone we’ve worked with more than a few times in the outdoor landscape (in addition to being an all around nice person too), made a Tumblr post a while back offering some tips for PR people. Here are some highlights and our thoughts from Megan's post:
Totally agree. Story pitching in PR is a little like dating. No response often means not interested.
Mental note: mass PR blasts do not = exclusives. Sometimes you don't have the luxury of doing an exclusive, but when you do, it can help really get that top tier coverage.
Keep it personal. It may take longer to do this than the mass-blast BCC email, but a little extra effort can go a long way.
Look at the magazine/website/tv show before that email goes out or you grab the phone. You wouldn't buy a boat trailer to haul your dirt bike... make sure the media you're sending info to is the appropriate media for your pitch!
Some of our favorite portfolio pieces involve the people behind the brands. Those sort of stories take real effort, but they're worth it (and many times, our friends in the media, like Megan alludes to, enjoy working on them as well).
While the team at Remedy Communications (http://www.remedycomm.com) is good (we won't go so far as to drop such over-used terms as "pr gurus," "social media experts" or "media mavens," although... we're not too bad and we've been called those things before), we'll acknowledge that we make mistakes too (including typos in the Remedy Communicationsblog) and sometimes don't follow all of the rules Megan has put out there. Sometimes we don't have a choice, sometimes... well, stuff happens. But regardless, this is solid, strong advice for anyone who is taking on a PR role.
Like this post? Please share it by clicking the LinkedIn icon below! Wondering if your PR program is working? Drop us a line at PRcheckup@remedypr.com.
San Diego Public Relations (PR) And Social Media
A leading public relations (PR) agency in San Diego, specializing in social media marketing, event marketing, action sports and finance, San Diego Public Relations Agency, Action Sports PR, San Diego Social Media Agency, San Diego Event Marketing Agency, Social Media Marketing Agency, Craft Beer PR, PR, Public Relations, Social Media San Diego, Social Media Marketing Agency San Diego, Public Relations San Diego, PR Firm San Diego, a leading public relations agency in San Diego, specializing in social media marketing, event marketing, and digital publicity. PR for Tech, experts, craft beer, action sports, finance, consumer tech, bluetooth, beer, consumer goods, b2b, green, eco-friendly, craft beer PR, action sports PR, finance PR, consumer tech PR, bluetooth PR, beer PR , consumer PR, b2b PR, green PR, eco-friendly PR, real estate PR, Experts, craft beer marketing, action sports marketing, finance marketing, consumer tech marketing, bluetooth marketing, beer marketing , consumer marketing, b2b marketing, green marketing, eco-friendly marketing, real estate marketing, action sports PR, action sports mark
QR Codes, kittens, QR Codes Kill Kittens, San Diego Public Relations (PR) And Social Media”San Diego PR” https://plus.google.com/+RemedyprSandiego A leading public relations (PR) agency in San Diego, specializing in social media marketing, event marketing, action sports and finance, San Diego Public Relations Agency, Action Sports PR, San Diego Social Media Agency, San Diego Event Marketing Agency, Social Media Marketing Agency, Craft Beer PR, PR, Public Relations, Social Media San Diego, Social Media Marketing Agency San Diego, Public Relations San Diego, PR Firm San Diego, a leading public relations agency in San Diego, specializing in social media marketing, event marketing, and digital publicity. PR for Tech, experts, craft beer, action sports, finance, consumer tech, bluetooth, beer, consumer goods, b2b, green, eco-friendly, craft beer PR, action sports PR, finance PR, consumer tech PR, bluetooth PR, beer PR , consumer PR, b2b PR, green PR, eco-friendly PR, real estate PR, Experts, craft beer marketing, action sports marketing, finance marketing, consumer tech marketing, bluetooth marketing, beer marketing , consumer marketing, b2b marketing, green marketing, eco-friendly marketing, real estate marketing, action sports PR, action sports marketing, best PR san diego, san diego best PR, san diego social media, san diego lifestyle PR, san diego bar PR, san diego restaurant PR, san diego restaurant social media, restaurant social media. https://instagram.com/remedy_pr/ San Diego Public Relations. San Diego’s Best Public Relations Consultants – Honesty results in public relations. bestprsandiego.com jpublicrelations, besocialpr, leaders in PR for action sports beer social media san diego, healthcare marketing, crossfit marketing, sports marketing, crossfit PR, crossfit social media, PR experts, social media experts san diego, san diego PR experts. San Diego Public relations and social media. Experts in public relations based in San Diego. Bar public relations. Beer public relations.
eting, best PR san diego, san diego best PR, san diego social media, san diego lifestyle PR, san diego bar PR, san diego restaurant PR, san diego restaurant social media, restaurant social media. https://instagram.com/remedy_pr/ San Diego Public Relations. San Diego's Best Public Relations Consultants - Honesty results in public relations. bestprsandiego.com jpublicrelations, besocialpr, leaders in PR for action sports beer social media san diego, healthcare marketing, crossfit marketing, sports marketing, crossfit PR, crossfit social media, PR experts, social media experts san diego, san diego PR experts
Why do some PR people continue to blast out their releases to everyone in their network? 
