21st Century Secrets to Effective PR: Tips and best practices for gaining media exposure

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21ST CENTURY SECRETS TO EFFECTIVE PR

There’s a lot of buzz these days about fake news and the diminishing value of the traditional news media. And, as President Trump and others have so clearly demonstrated, we all have the potential now to be our own newsmakers — we can reach audiences directly through social media and other online channels. Gatekeepers who buy ink by the barrel and control the airwaves no longer hamper our ability to get our messages out to the masses.

Or do they?

I think the biggest myth about public relations (PR) that I continue to hear is that it is becoming less valuable, or valued, in this social media era, and that social media will eventually take the place of PR. That sentiment, I believe, is patently untrue. In fact, I think the situation is exactly the opposite. Why? Because there will always be a demand (and a need) for content curators — gatekeepers who determine what is valuable to a particular audience. In fact, as both concerns about fake news and the use of online channels for communication become more prevalent, I believe the demand for these gatekeepers — and the need for more traditional PR activities among those looking to build credibility and thought leadership — will continue to grow.

In my opinion, PR is more relevant today than ever and is rapidly supplanting the value of advertising. I make the following distinction between the two:

• Public relations is unpaid exposure — you benefit by third-party coverage or commentary about your products or services; it’s other people talking about you.

• Advertising is paid exposure — you are paying to place your messages and, by definition, talking about yourself.

The internet has made the possibility of sharing information about others and their products and services more readily available at significantly less cost than any other form of media exposure. Does PR matter? I’d turn that question around to ask: Does anything other than PR matter?

Today’s PR, though, is different from the PR of years gone by. Today, it’s not only about getting reporters, and other gatekeepers, to cover your story. Today, there are new channels for gaining public exposure — through social media, through blogging, through content creation and curation — all of which serves to boost thought leadership status for yourself or your organization.

Decline of Traditional News Media Holds Opportunity

Pew Research Center annually evaluates the state of the news media. Its 2016 report showed downward audience trends for most outlets.

Pew’s findings, upon first analysis, appear to be nothing but dismal. The report indicates that newsroom cutbacks and smaller budgets continue to plague the traditional media outlets. For instance, they note: The latest newspaper newsroom employment figures (from 2014) show 10 percent declines, greater than in any year since 2009, leaving a workforce that is 20,000 positions smaller than 20 years prior.

But, for businesses, would-be thought leaders and business professionals, there’s a silver lining here.

This continued erosion of news reporting sources, says Pew, has converged with growing opportunities for those in politics, government agencies, companies and others to take their messages directly to the public.

We’ve seen that trend in action, actually. It is increasingly common for us to be able to submit work on behalf of our clients as contributed content to both new and traditional media. That means we’re writing the content and submitting it, and the news media are publishing it with our clients’ bylines. That means increased – and very credible – exposure for our clients, and less work for the media.

The Power of PR Messaging

Consumer perceptions generally are influenced in four ways. In order from most to least impactful they are:

• Through their own experiences — trying a new restaurant, for example

• Through recommendations from others (word-of-mouth)

• Through what they read or hear about companies, products, services and service providers via various trusted media channels — channels that, to maintain that trust, must use respected gatekeepers to discern facts

• Through messages that organizations and individuals share about themselves through traditional advertising, websites and online communications (including Twitter and other social media channels)

We trust our own experiences. We trust respected friends, relatives and colleagues. And, to a certain degree, despite a media environment where trust is at an all-time low, we continue to trust certain media outlets.

Traditional advertising, while diminishing in value, is still important and still has the power to influence if done effectively. Public relations is gaining in impact, I believe, because of the ability to leverage online communities and social media outlets to spread the word in ways that capitalize on personal and word-of-mouth recommendations that can be positively affected through online PR efforts.

In an increasingly competitive — and global — business environment, PR is a necessity. Organizations and individuals absolutely need to manage their brands, their images and the perceptions of consumers toward the products and services they offer. They can do this through a strategic focus on public relations as part of the overall promotional mix (that will include traditional advertising, events, etc.). To do this effectively, businesses must fully understand their audiences, what those audiences want, and how what they have to offer can help to meet those needs — all while also considering how their offerings, and audience perceptions, are affected by competitors.

Ideally, your overall goal with your public relations efforts should be to get those third-party influencers — whether media outlets, bloggers or participants in online conversations — saying the same things about you that you are saying about yourself. The closer the messaging across all channels, the more positive the impact on your brand. The greater the disparity between these messages, the more your brand will suffer and the more trust in your brand will erode.

I started Strategic Communications in 2008 and, at that time, assumed that my work with organizations and individuals would involve both traditional and digital marketing along with a heavy dose of traditional PR or media relations. What I’ve found, though, is that much of our work today is focused on PR through a combination of outreach designed to gain coverage through various media outlets and the use of social media channels and content marketing. These efforts work together to drive that all-important word-of-mouth, which studies continue to show has the most significant impact on both business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) purchase behaviors.

The internet and social media have impacted the power of word-of-mouth immensely. Satisfied customers and clients tell others about their experiences, as do unsatisfied customers, and reputations are built — or destroyed.

Businesses can nurture the recommendations they receive through their services and quality as well as through leveraging and extending that communication through other means that might include traditional PR or online social media efforts. The big value in PR-related communications is that the messages come from someone else — others talking about us and saying, basically, the same things that we would say. But, again, the fact that others are saying these things wields significant power.

Years ago, with limited choices for products and services and limited communication venues to hear about those products and services, companies could offer a product and expect customers to buy it. Customers had limited knowledge of what else might be available — they were part of captive markets. Customers aren’t captive anymore. They are not only able to be more aware of competitive offerings available around the globe (rather than through our local vendors), but also able to find out about what other people think about those products and services like never before.

It’s word-of-mouth on steroids.

What do businesses need to do to survive and thrive in this environment? The same things they’ve always needed to do, but the pressure has intensified. They need to:

• Find a niche that isn’t being filled effectively and fill it.

• Thoroughly understand market needs and competitive pressures.

• Provide a product/service that customers value.

• Make sure customers know about and have easy access to their product/service.

• Listen and be ready to adapt and shift as the environment changes.

PR today isn’t just about influencing traditional reporters to cover you and your products and services in their traditional publications.

PR today is about influencing anyone with an audience to spread the word.

In a world of citizen journalists, you can benefit from PR on steroids. Traditional journalists and reporters are still important, but savvy communicators know that any third-party recommendations, referrals or endorsements matter — always have and always will.

Easy? No. Rewarding? It can be. In this book, we’ll offer advice and expertise based on experience on both sides of the PR equation — from the standpoint of business journalists who often receive pitches or responses to queries from those seeking media exposure, and from the standpoint of a consulting firm that works to gain positive media exposure for our clients.

The Power of Word-of-Mouth

When it comes to making an impact on consumer buying decisions, word-of-mouth (WOM) matters. The Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) released a study in 2014 that found that the value of a word-of-mouth impression is anywhere from 5 to 100+ times more valuable than a paid media impression.

From professional experience when working in the healthcare industry, I know our own consumer research indicated that more than 50 percent of the consumers in our market said word-of-mouth was the most significant influence on their choice of a provider.

From personal experience, I know that I, like many consumers, am certainly influenced by the opinions of others. In a tight economy, that's even more the case.

The significant impact of word-of-mouth can be good news to those organizations and individuals who have a great product, or service,