Best Practices Blog

As the semester comes to an end, our class has been assigned to put together a list of best practices for public relations. Our class has learned so much about the emerging technologies affecting the PR industry today with everything from blogs and podcasts to social media and viral marketing; it was hard to narrow down just a few. So, here is my list of the five most important tips I have gathered over the semester…


• Building Media Relations

o Although it is one of the most obvious, it is also one of the most important practices for PR practitioners to master. Dealing with the media is supposed to be our forte, so here are some ways to help develop and maintain these key relationships with the media.
o First, it is important to build your credibility with the media. And to accomplish that you must pitch good, interesting and timely story ideas
o When pitching stories over the phone, come up with a 30-second pitch to get your message across. 101publicrelations.com suggests some tips to convey your message clearly in 30 seconds:

 Identify who you are and why you are calling
 Ask if they have time to talk, if not, then you offer to call back at a time convenient for them
 Let the reporter know you are familiar with their publication or their work
 Explain quickly why readers will care
 Ask if the reporter is interested

o Peter Turkington of Strategic Communications Solutions advises PR professionals to pitch a story with friction, two competing agendas, because friction leads to interest. He says that PR people are responsible for making a story newsworthy to a reporter.
o Once you have proven your credibility to people in the media, you should begin to cultivate a relationship with them. Try meeting face-to-face; people are more trusting of people they have met.


• Know the news.

o Bottom-line: PR people have to know what is going on in the world.
o On top of knowing your client through and through, you are responsible for knowing its competitors, the industry and how it fits into the business world as a whole.
o Staying on top of current events is crucial in a business that operates on the next and latest trends.
o There are so many different ways to absorb the news from the TV, radio and newspapers to online news services, blogs and podcasts; you can’t get away from it.
o iTunes is offering a new way to get the news in a flash: they’re offering a podcast subscription to the New York Times, which allows you to download a 5-minute podcast every morning that summarizes the entire paper for that day.


• Incorporating CSR and acting transparent

o Corporate Social Responsibility has become such an integral part of the public relations field because it helps the industry appear more transparent while acting as the liaison between a corporation and its consumers.
o The public today feels that companies have a responsibility to give back to their communities.
o In an interview for class with Ginger Porter, SVP of Golin Harris in Dallas, she said, “consumers today are too smart, they want to feel good about where they are putting their money.”
o Porter offers the example of GolinHarris introducing the Ronald McDonald Charity House for their long-time client, McDonald’s, back when it first opened in the 1950s. Although, the fast-food chain may not be recognized for its healthy food, they are doing their part to give back to the community by providing underprivileged children with a home.
o Consumers today recognize businesses that appreciate and practice giving back to their community.


• Implementing new technologies

o Throughout the semester, we have seen the effect of new technologies on the public relations world through our experiences with blogging.
o It has become a reality that blogging is not just another fad. Blogs have stood their ground and have taken the public relations world to a whole new level.
o Porter believes that newspapers and the ten o’clock news are dinosaurs, she says, “You have to find new ways to reach consumers.”
o GolinHarris did just that when they had their client, McDonald’s, team up with YouTube, for the “It’s Your Break” Campaign, promoting McDonald’s new snack wrap. The winning video received a spot on the coveted YouTube home page for the day, and while offering exposure to the video author, the campaign also raised awareness about the client’s product, ultimately benefiting both sides.
o Social network communities like YouTube, MySpace, Facebook and the blogosphere have become the new target audiences for companies looking to market their products or services.
o PR practitioners need to realize the influence of these different groups if they haven’t already.
o Dr. Nora Gamin Barnes, author of a blog study for the Center for Marketing Research, believes that companies no longer have the option of whether to blog or not. “Those businesses that choose to remain outside of this online conversation will be sidelined. Eventually they will become extinct,” she maintains.

• Monitor web content, including news, blogs, podcasts and videos

o A side effect of blogging and other emerging technologies means that companies are now responsible for monitoring all of the web content out there concerning their clients, company or industry.
o It’s crucial for companies to know about negative activity as soon as it hits the web. It’s becoming increasingly more difficult with the number of bloggers and social networks growing everyday.
o Katherine Smith came and spoke to our class about a product that her company, Visible Technologies, created in lieu of this rapidly increasing trend.
o She explained this new software in a metaphor, “It’s like trying to sell anti-virus software before anyone knew about computer viruses.”
o This brand new tool, called TruCast, will “scrape” the internet for all of the blogging activity relevant to your business and then convert the information into an easy to understand format.
o According to the Visible Technologies website, “consumer created content is the fastest growing segment on the web.” Consumers trust consumers and now have more power than ever in shaping perceptions of a product, business or service.
o Millions of posts are created everyday, and this is the first complete solution for businesses to start tracking the increasing consumer created content on the web every day.