Five Mistakes You Can Make in Executing Your PR Campaign

Hi all, for the next number of blog posts, I’m going to be publishing a series entitled “Five Mistakes You Can Make in Executing Your PR Campaign.”   It covers off many of the pitfalls companies make in crafting and executing a PR strategy, along with some advice on how to spot and avoid those mistakes along the way. 

Now on to the words of wisdom….

Five Mistakes You Can Make in Executing Your PR Campaign

Executing on a PR strategy is about understanding the art of relationship and in telling stories that compel journalists into action. It’s about crafting press releases and pitches that provide appropriate, relevant and comprehensive information to reporters and editors under pressure. And it’s about delivering over the top service when a story opportunity presents itself. Done right, a PR program can result in positive headlines and column inches worth of coverage. Handled with a heavy hand, however, a poorly executed PR program can turn off more people than it attracts. Below are five common mistakes companies make in their PR efforts coupled with some advice on how best to avoid them.



Mistake #1 - Fail to plan

o Invest time in building a sound PR strategy. Understand your objectives and goals. Spend time envisioning the headlines you’d like to see for your business. Be honest with yourself – you may be in love with your company’s strategy or products – but is it really news fodder for CNN?

o Research your media targets thoroughly and build a targeted media list. As I said in my opening to this post, PR is a relationship business, and you need to invest in understanding the reporters and editors you plan to target. This includes reading what they’ve written, and subscribe to any advice they offer about how best to contact them. Have they written on a competitor, or covered your field in prior articles? All of this information will help you craft a honed and personalized pitch that in turn will up the probability of your story being covered. As part of your research, also consider the social media participation of a particular journalist. Are they on Twitter? Facebook? Do they have a blog? Social media provides new and potentially more direct opportunities to personally engage.

o Don’t expect customers, partners to immediately jump on board. When working on a press release or story pitch, it is common, and indeed preferred to incorporate quotes from a customer or partner, and to provide journalists with contact information for these story sources. But realize that it is critical to seek out approval from these parties in advance. Quoting a customer in a press release without their permission can be fatal to your relationship and undermine any good work you have performed up to this point. You also need to know that customers and partners require lead time – approval cycles in a large company can be complex, involving executives, PR folk and legal, and be assured; they will work to their own timeline, not yours.

o Just because the phone rings, you don’t have to start talking. You pick up the phone and there’s a reporter on the end of the line! Of course you are excited, and in the heat of the moment might find yourself participating in an interview you are not yet ready to give. I typically advice clients to confirm the reporter’s deadline then ask if they can ring the reporter back in a few minutes. Even taking five minutes to prepare your thoughts and determine the key points you want to make can turn this opportunity into a more positive experience for all.

o Invest in media training. If you have the opportunity to invest in media training, it will never hurt and will always help. You’ll learn how to handle an aggressive line of questioning, how to remain on message and best practices for appearing on camera.

Stay tuned for PR Mistake #2 – “It’s all about me” coming to you soon…

Service Makes the Brand

After more than two years of running my consulting business off a spreadsheet, I decided to get with the times and recently adopted Freshbooks a Cloud-based estimation and invoicing system. Cool tool, I am quite loving its ease of use. But even cooler is the service I’ve received since becoming a customer. My experience with Freshbooks has served to reinforce my personal philosophy as a marketing consultant that if you thrill and delight your customer, your customer service becomes a basis for competitive differentiation and the foundation for a strong and enduring brand image and reputation.

Freshbooks ‘gets’ the audience they serve – the creative small business owner, with limited resources, limited time, and limited patience. Support has been quick and accurate. I’ve had a welcoming email, and phone call offering a helping hand anytime I need it. And they even sent me a t-shirt, accompanied by a personal hand written note. Let me say now, that these things matter. Customers appreciate, and will remember great over the top service. And they’ll not only give you their loyalty, they will tell others about you, and gladly serve as a reference for your business in the future.

Make great customer service one of your governing principles. Trust me, your business will flourish as a result.

An Inside Job - Building an Effective Brand Starts from Within

Great advice once given to me that has stayed with me for many years.  At the time, my company was considering changing its name, and I reached out to a branding guru to ask his advice.  His response:  "if you are a lousy person, and change your name - you remain a lousy person. The same holds true for a company - if you are seeking to change your brand, focus on better management of your reputation and personality.  What you call yourself, or look like is just icing on the cake."

To sum up his advice, branding is not simply about look and feel, logos and typography. To successfully build a brand with longevity, companies must understand that a brand is about action, personality and a customer’s experience with a company, individual, or industry. Transforming your company's brand reputation will not be achieved solely through the creation and display of a logo or the insertion of advertisements in magazines and newspapers. It is about the way your CEO leads; the customer service you deliver; the way you react when something goes terribly wrong; and the way your employees behave and interact every day.

For my creative friends, I don't mean to diminish the role of great design in constructing a brand image.  A strong corporate identity can set the tone for your business and provide customers with an instant feeling/reaction that is then translated into a brand perception.  Great advertising and media placement can be important reinforcement of your brand with external audiences.  But if the inside of the organization is not fixed; if your culture is poisoned; your customer service stinks; and your CEO fosters internal politics -- well then, you remain just that -- lousy.