What do you think of when you hear the word PR? Some people say advertising. But most equate PR with media coverage, as in big above the fold articles with eye-catching photos and standout quotes.
The industry has many names for that. PR agencies call it media relations. Publicists call it publicity. And in our paid-earned-owned-shared content marketing landscape, we refer to it as earned media.
But ultimately, it’s about seeing your story out there and striking a chord with the people you’re trying to reach. Of course, PR can be a lot more than that. But this is how we’re best known.
For the last few years, like virtually every other discipline in marketing communications, PR has found itself at a crossroads. Yes, social media has changed and democratized the things we do – for the better, I believe. And it’s created an overlap in – let’s call it – the social services. Now PR firms compete with ad, digital and marketing agencies for the same projects. And that should mean more opportunities.
Yet many in the PR profession (who used to rely on the laboriously text-laden PowerPoint deck to pitch and win business) feel a bit like kids outside a candy store, enviously looking in. We see all those sweet assignments but haven’t quite figured out what it takes to get them.
Ad agencies get it. So does digital. Why not PR?
One of the challenges facing PR is defining and getting behind the concept of what it means to be a new PR pro. Along with that come the skills we need to master in order to move in that direction.
Here are five things the PR profession should start doing to effectively compete for those plum gigs.
1. Embrace that we’re publicists at heart
That’s not such a bad thing if you think of it from the perspective of making something public. Social media is all about that – essentially the pipes of story distribution that media used to control. And public is the first part of our name. Now let’s take that to the next level and help people craft stories that are so irresistible they can’t help but catch on.
2. Ditch the news release format – but keep the news
You hear this argument a lot. Press releases are effective. No, they’re outmoded. Effective. Outmoded. Stop – you’re both right! We need to move beyond the concept of news release as the primary format for spreading stories. Look at its history. It was developed at the turn of the last century when we were trying to build relationships with reporters by speaking their language. Let’s do that again and adopt a more modern and flexible approach to sharing news.
3. Be more visual
In the beginning there was the message. And PR people mastered and clung to that. I’m not saying that we should throw it all away, but messages are too text based. And in order to tell stories visually, we need fewer words. This means integrating a more creative approach to every document we produce. Just look at the difference between an ad presentation and one from a PR firm and you’ll see how far we have to go.
4. Help clients become newsmakers/producers
Turn them into both source and pipeline. An easy way to start is developing a user-friendly online newsroom that incorporates social media, visuals, video, tagging, and is written in a way that makes people want to read and share your story. And then rather than boring people with corporate communications, we should think like journalists and ask what would make a person stop and pay attention.
5. Think really, really big
Some of the best PR ideas haven’t been executed by PR lately – the WestJet Christmas miracle comes to mind. They’ve been dreamed up and brought to life by other disciplines. Why is that? I think there are two reasons for this. First, clients don’t expect those breakout creative ideas from us, and second, maybe we’ve become a bit too complacent in accepting our lot. This is where millennials come in. They bring a fresh skill set that includes video production, photography and a digital DNA. It’s time we started watching what they do and listening to them. Following their lead. UPDATE: In November 2014, I learned the idea for WestJet’s Christmas miracle did begin in the company’s PR department. Once it grew in scope, they called in for help with production and the paid, earned, owned and shared awareness campaign. So that’s good news for our industry!
Do you practice new PR? How did you learn how to do it? What other skills would you add?
A version of this post was originally published in Marketing online and the Thornley Fallis blog.
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