View Your Company Milestones Through a PR Prism

You know that sinking feeling – you open up your trade mag, and there it is: the big feature story with your nearest competitor smiling back at you from all the photos, proudly showcasing their latest gizmo to some industry worthy, while standing right in front of a 6 foot high version of their company logo. How come them, and not you?

When you see your cheery competitor showboating in your favourite mag, it is always worth considering that they are *very* unlikely to have gotten there by chance. Behind every story, someone somewhere has usually put in a hard shift of pitching, prepping and scheduling. It is very rare for an editor to simply pick a name out of the directory or from their chosen search engine, and email them to canvass their views or promote their new product. So how do you get onto their radar?

The trick I think is to view every company event or milestone through a PR ‘prism’ – in other words, to think like a PR. By their nature, all good PR people are optimists, and so they view everything their company does as a PR opportunity to a greater or lesser degree.

Identify

Almost every company event or milestone can be turned into a PR opportunity of some sort – for your different audiences. To take some examples: important company events (new product launch, new acquisition, new client, funding round, etc.) can merit a press announcement for the wider industry via the media, possibly using media wire distribution. Other milestones meantime: work anniversaries, new offices etc., can be turned into hospitality style events for your skills pool, customers, contractors or prospects.   The real value of these PR events should never be underestimated - everyone appreciates an invitation, and much company loyalty can be garnered through a simple invitation. Tell your customers, employees, prospects, colleagues that they’re important to you.]

 

Evaluate

Evaluating what is a PR and/or a ‘media’ opportunity is an important job for anyone undertaking the PR role. A good way to discern what does or doesn’t offer a media opportunity is to ask yourself if you would read it if it was about one of your competitors.   So: new products, funding, key personnel hires, important awards – these can all be interesting to other market participants. New websites, packaging, logo, office space, internal events and anniversaries – maybe less so. Remember, press releases should be used sparingly – less is more.

 

Amplify

A key part of the PR role is getting the right message out there, and to the correct audiences.  PRs regularly bang on about different ‘audiences’, and ‘publics’, and for very good reason. The correct message targeted to the right audience via the best medium is what the PR seeks. Your company message or release sent to the wrong journalists is a waste of time at best. So a carefully crafted media list should be kept tight and regularly reviewed and contacted where appropriate, while an in-house ‘contact list’ should be employed for most, if not all, company announcements.

 

Be Sociable!

As well as sending out your news to your press contacts (a short, focused list) and in-house lists, remember to distribute your news via your company social media channels – especially Twitter and LinkedIn. News related posts generate far more traction than regular posts, so be sure to dress it up appropriately.

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