Insights for Leaders Navigating
Visibility, Credibility, and Growth.
From media strategy to reputation management, we explore the trends shaping public perception and share the approaches that drive measurable results for growing brands.
‘Tis the season for trends! As put eloquently by PR Daily Senior Editor Allison Carter, “Making predictions for the last three years has been pretty pointless. But let’s try anyway.”
It’s difficult to predict how events will play out. Even when we outline “anticipated results,” there is always a mix of unpredictability and lack of total control over how audiences will receive news. However, when planning strategy, it’s helpful to look at market trends and themes that might inform campaigns, allocate resources, and ultimately improve how you communicate with your customers, partners and stakeholders.
In Allison’s recent article, “PR Daily’s top 6 trends for 2023,” she recaps several trends PR Daily predicts for the year to come. Below I’ve outlined a few of those trends and a couple of other communications themes that will likely impact how PR professionals engage in the coming years.
- Further integration of external and internal communications. As Allison notes in her article, we’ve seen a continued merge of internal and external communications. Across Communiqué PR’s clients, we’ve seen a similar motion. It’s always been important to have consistent messages and ensure that what you share across audiences is clear. While the information a leader communicates to employees will not be the same details they share with a reporter, you never want teams to be surprised.
Think in terms of good storytelling being an important element to bring the reader and audience along with your narrative. This is true across internal and external comms. Actions should match commitments and inform the broader communication objective and the story the company wants to tell. Connecting PR and internal communication teams can improve the effectiveness of storytelling across all audiences. In 2023, we’ll likely see more of a united communications front.
- Increased investments in strong copywriting. Writing has been a critical communication skill in high demand for years. Whether through long or short-form content development, writing is heavily present in nearly all PR strategies across our client portfolio. Strong writing skills help businesses improve how they tell their stories, which can differentiate how customers see and want to engage with the brand. Through strong writing, we’ve grown our role across clients taking on additional support, including blog development, newsletters and other business writing campaigns.
As Allison highlighted, communication professionals appreciate the importance of writing as a skill. In Ragan’s Communications Benchmark survey, 40% of the respondents are interested in having writing training in 2023. If improving writing is not on the radar, it should be. It’s not always an easy skill, and different groups value different messages. Partnering with strong writers and embedding them in strategic communications strategies will improve storytelling in 2023 and create opportunities to better engage with customers and achieve growth.
- More short-form videos. Another trend shared by PR Daily was increased focus and investment in short-form videos. Like writing, this is a need we’ve seen across our clients. It’s not necessarily feasible to create a fully functioning media studio in the new year, but it will be wise to learn more about the types of videos that best resonate with customers and different video platforms that automate video development, as well as what vendors can create strong video content. We’ll see more instances of short and engaging videos that attract customers and share new and existing content in more visual ways.
- Heightened focus and use of AI. By now, you’ve likely heard of OpenAI’s ChatGPT tool. The Forbes’ article, “Here’s What To Know About OpenAI’s ChatGPT—What It’s Disrupting And How To Use It,” provides a thorough overview of the platform. The discussion of AI and automation replacing jobs is not new. This tool, however, is impressive and has caused many recent conversations about the potential of AI. People have shared different use cases on Twitter.
In 2023, we’ll see more marketing teams use AI to improve their strategies. It will be exciting to see how the conversations, use cases and results of AI in action evolve.
- Sharper emphasis on customer engagement. Companies are competing for consumers’ attention, engagement and long-term loyalty. When brainstorming PR strategies across content development and thought leadership, it will be essential to recommend approaches and themes that will drive engagement.
These strategies could include a customer newsletter, interactive surveys, more engaging design projects, or direct email campaigns that help companies understand and connect more closely with the customer’s voice in mind. Next year, I anticipate seeing customer engagement shape PR activity more than in past years.
It’s fun to think about the themes we’ll reflect on in December 2023. While the five areas above are not necessarily new or surprising, next year will present new learning opportunities and the chance for PR to help companies grow.
Securing approvals on content can often be a time-consuming and frustrating process, especially when there are multiple stakeholders who need to sign off on it.
Depending on the size of the company, a PR person may need to secure approval from the company’s CEO, CFO, or other senior executives, such as the vice president of product. In some cases, the legal department may also need to review and approve the release to ensure that it is compliant with any relevant laws and regulations.
Fortunately, with the right approach and tools, you can streamline and make the approval process more efficient.
Here are some best practices for securing approvals on content:
- Define a clear approval process: Before starting any project, it’s important to have a clear and well-defined approval process in place. This should include the roles and responsibilities of each person involved in the process, as well as the steps that need to be taken to move the content from draft to final approval.
- Use a project management tool: A project management tool can be a valuable asset in the approval process. It allows you to keep track of the status of each piece of content, as well as the comments and feedback from reviewers. This makes it easier to see where the content is in the process and what needs to be done next.
If you’re not using project management software, you’ll want to develop another system – whether it’s a shared document in Google or Microsoft or a whiteboard – where you can physically keep track of deadlines and facilitate collaboration between parties.
- Communicate regularly: Regular communication is key to ensuring that the approval process runs smoothly. This means keeping reviewers informed about the status of the content and reminding them of deadlines. You may also want to provide them with clear instructions about how to provide feedback and what is expected of them.
- Set realistic deadlines: Deadlines are an important part of the approval process, but it’s important to make sure they are realistic. If deadlines are set too tightly, it can lead to rushed and potentially subpar work. On the other hand, if they are set too far in the future, it can lead to delays and missed opportunities.
- Be open to feedback: The approval process is an opportunity to improve the content and make it the best it can be. This means being open to feedback from reviewers and considering their suggestions. It’s important to strike a balance between making changes based on feedback and maintaining the integrity of the content.
One important note about securing approvals on quotes from third parties for content including press releases.
The best practice for securing quote approvals for a press release is to first make sure that the quote accurately reflects what the person said, and that it is presented in the proper context. Once the quote has been finalized, you should reach out to the person who gave the quote and ask them to review and approve it before it is included in the press release.
This is essential to ensure that the person is comfortable with how it’s being used. It is also important to make sure that you get the person’s approval in writing, either via email or a signed approval form, so that you have a record of their consent.
Overall, the key to a successful approval process is to have a clear plan, the right tools, and good communication. By following these best practices, you can ensure that your content is approved quickly and efficiently.
Has there ever been a time when you needed to collaborate with coworkers, clients, or vendors, and it became a momentous task to schedule a time that works on everyone’s calendar? With the holidays in full swing, it can become stressful to get jobs done when it requires meetings with others who may be on vacation, not to mention all the other roadblocks that can come up when scheduling time. Thankfully there are tools available that can be used to make the headache of calendar management a thing of the past.
Here are five tips to help manage your calendar and make meeting scheduling smoother:
- Use natural language to find meeting times – When scheduling a meeting in Outlook, you may not have an easily findable date. For example, you may need to create a follow-up meeting about six weeks from now. Instead of manually clicking through your calendar counting each week, Outlook will recognize terms like “in six weeks” in the meeting date. Outlook will then populate with a date six weeks from that day.
- Create meetings via email replies – This is Outlook’s most straightforward but often overlooked feature. There are times when after a few email correspondences, a meeting needs to be created. This can be done by opening the message options and selecting meeting reply. Doing this makes creating a meeting more straightforward and keeps all past emails in the meeting invite.
- Recreate meetings with fewer steps – Another simple but highly effective tool from Outlook. Say you just had a meeting, and the participants decide another meeting is needed the next day. Instead of creating a new meeting from scratch, hold the control button and drag the original meeting invite to the new time, creating a copy of that meeting. You will still need to add the attendees to the newly created meeting, but this will save time as everything else has remained the same.
- Show multiple time zones – At Communiqué, we have employees and clients working in different time zones, making scheduling time tricky. When looking at your calendar, go to the left-hand side of the screen that shows times and right-click on it to see options, then click on “Change Time Zone.” This will bring up a window where you can add up to two other time zones on the left side of your calendar. This is not only helpful for scheduling but also helps in keeping any correspondence within the other person’s working hours by having your calendar show their current time.
- Embrace calendar management programs – Many free and paid applications are available that make calendar management a breeze. Clockwise and FindTime are just two applications that can collaborate with your work calendar to give you more scheduling options. FindTime will send scheduling options to your meeting participants, and each person can mark the times that work best for them, giving you clear insight. This eliminates the need for back-and-forth messaging and gets the meeting on your calendar with better efficiency.
With these tips, creating meetings and managing your calendar won’t be a chore. Much of the information in this blog comes from the work of Kevin Stratvert. His YouTube channel has various other technology-related videos that are informative and easy to follow.
Leveraging Unique Data to Drive Awareness and Build Thought Leadership
More and more, we are finding that clients are interested in developing and publishing their own surveys or reports, highlighting original findings about their respective industry. And while the unique insights often offer insights in customers’ perspectives and interests, original data is also an excellent tool that can be leveraged to strengthen stories.
Reporters are hungry for data, especially when it highlights new trends, controversial findings or disruption. So, it can be a great way to engage the media and support thought leaders’ perspectives on the industry.
Given original surveys are a significant investment, organizations will want to maximize their impact by leveraging the findings to raise brand awareness and build thought leadership. Below are several ways to utilize your unique data.
Announce the Findings
First things first, announce the findings. Once you secure the results of the report, identify the most compelling insights, how they support current industry trends, or better yet, are set to disrupt the industry. Consider asking: how is this contrary to current predications? Does this further support a trend that is gaining a lot of traction?
When drafting the press release, be mindful of the structure and organization. Press releases highlighting data can often be dry and complicated. Identify three or four key takeaways from the report and include several data points within each section to support the desired takeaways.
Breaking the release into clear takeaways increases the likelihood that your audiences will understand the report findings.
Leverage for Proactive Opportunities
Original data is the gift that keeps on giving. Once report findings have been announced, there will still be plenty of opportunities to leverage the findings for media opportunities.
Consider diving into specific themes from the report by developing proactive pitches and contributed content on that topic. It’s a great way to highlight the data, promote the report add commentary that may not have been featured in the report. This commentary is critical to building out the broader story and adding the “human element” of storytelling.
Create Compelling Graphics
While data is highly desired by media, it’s important to present it in ways that makes it easy to understand and review. Creating infographics, charts and imagery to summarize the findings can help target audiences visualize the data.
Not only do they make it easier to interpret the data, but they also support engagement, often leading to increased views for press releases and shares on social media channels.
Publish Findings at a Regular Cadence
If the report clearly demonstrates ROI, consider making it a regular occurrence. If an organization publishes an annual report, consistently sharing valuable data, reporters will come to look for those reports each year, leveraging the findings for their reporting. This is a great way to build rapport with journalists and establish an organization as a clear industry leader.
Industry reports and original data are excellent tools to engage media, build thought leadership and raise awareness.
PR is a relationship-driven industry. As such, mastering client relations is central to a successful career in PR – especially in an agency setting. A critical component of client relations is understanding and managing expectations.
Outlined below are five tips for managing client expectations.
No. 1: Ask Specific Questions
Good questions consider the future. They aim to draw out the information necessary to understand what’s needed to accomplish a task. One best practice is to develop and outline questions before a meeting with a client. This way, you can think critically about whether the questions will home in on the information you need most or if you need to make any adjustments.
For example, you want to ask questions such as:
- What results will you need to see to consider this campaign successful?
- Is there anyone else on this project that will be providing input?
- What is the approval process?
- How often would you like to receive an update on the project status?
- Is email your preferred method of communication or would you prefer updates another way?
- Are you comfortable with us prioritizing Project X over Project Y to stay within our agreed upon-budget?
Use a mix of yes/no and open-ended questions. Using a mix of question types can provide a balance between efficiency and thoroughness and can allow you to gather both broad and specific information. For example, you might use yes/no questions to quickly gather basic information about a person’s background or experience, and then use open-ended questions to explore those topics in more depth.
Also, since you don’t always want to influence the client’s response, it’s important to use neutral wording to encourage an honest answer. The more you can learn about a client’s expectations, the business and its needs, the better you can anticipate expectations in the future.
No. 2: Listen and Recap Takeaways
As you ask questions, listen carefully to what the client is telling you. If you’re on a virtual call, ask if you can hit record, so your attention is on active listening, rather than taking notes. If you’re in person, determine and designate a specific participant to take notes or record the proceedings.
Repeat back to the client what you’re hearing during your discussion. This might sound like, “What I’m hearing is XYZ. Is that accurate?” or “Based on what you’ve shared, I envision our next steps will be ABC. Do you agree?”
It’s also vital to send a written recap of the discussion to the client after the meeting. Be specific on who owns which action items and expected deadlines. Active listening and recapping discussions are great ways to alleviate redundancies, create alignment and secure optimal results.
No. 3: Establish Timelines and Deadlines
Many professionals understandably relate to the motivation deadlines provide, which generally helps ensure projects stay on track and within budget.
By outlining clear timelines and deadlines you provide your client a clear grasp and vision of how you plan to meet goals and objectives. When necessary, be specific about what roadblocks might crop up, their potential impact, and how your team plans to overcome them to keep the project on track. Provide updates on the project’s progress regularly, as agreed upon at the start of the project.
If you anticipate you won’t meet a deadline, communicate that to the client as early as possible. Be transparent about the cause of the delay, if appropriate – but be careful not to make excuses. Ensure you communicate the new deadline clearly and ask if they have any concerns with the adjusted timeline.
No. 4: Outline Anticipated Results
Anticipated results are central to managing client expectations. As previously mentioned, ask questions about what results would make the campaign successful for the client. Is it coverage in a specific publication? A particular number of articles? The presence of key messages in a write-up? An increase in share of voice or positive sentiment over time?
This understanding informs your strategies and tactics and how you forecast anticipated results in advance of a project. Having advance notice of expected results beforehand gives the client time to react, ask questions and adjust expectations if needed. It also ensures the teams are aligned on what’s realistically achievable.
No. 5: Measure and Report on Actual Results
Clear, measurable goals ensure that PR strategies are effective. In a professional world that is increasingly focused on data-driven outcomes, it’s vital to track results. You might share them via a written report about a specific project, in a weekly, monthly or quarterly status report, or verbally in a meeting. Ultimately, aim to answer the direct questions, “Did we meet or exceed the client’s expectations? Why or why not?”
How you share results should align with what your client has stated works best for them. Your client will likely be reporting PR results to their superiors/colleagues, so it’s essential you recap results in a way that dovetails nicely with the reports they will share internally.
Managing client expectations is not always easy but establishing a clear picture of what your clients truly value is the key to building a long-lasting and impactful relationship.
So, you’ve won the business of a new client. Congrats! And so begins the critical onboarding process for a new client that can set the tone for the entire working relationship. Starting off on the right foot is crucial in order to set realistic expectations and standards on how to communicate and to build goodwill. The next step is for your team to get prepared so you can hit the ground running to drive meaningful results.
Onboarding new clients is a valuable process. Getting yourself and your team up to speed on your client’s immediate objectives is essential to laying a solid foundation for the partnership.
Below is a guide to creating a strong onboarding experience that sets your team up for long-term success.
- Monitor industry trends. Set up Google alerts to monitor your client’s key competitors and stay abreast of other vital news impacting your client.
- Conduct a media audit. If you didn’t do this as part of your new business pitch, it’s a good idea to review and analyze your client’s and its competitors’ editorial coverage. This will help you understand how your client’s coverage differs from its competitors. This analysis may also inform the ideas and strategies you recommend and serve as a baseline for tracking results.
- Know your client’s priorities. It’s critical to understand your client’s priorities, short and long-term goals, key competitors and perspectives. This is vital in defining the right strategies and knowing where to focus your resources and energy.
- Align on KPIs. Establish shared expectations around the measurement of results. Specifically, know how your client defines success, the KPIs that are important to them and how often they want progress reports or results recaps.
- Develop foundational materials. Begin developing the materials you will leverage throughout the partnership. For instance, create a story arc, develop key messages, and identify the supporting data that will be used to guide future campaigns.
Winning the business of a new client is an exciting time. However, it’s crucial that you put the time and resources into onboarding that will pave the way to success for both you and your client. Creating a strong foundation from the start will guarantee that your team won’t need to go back and execute these steps later on, leading you to successful PR campaigns from the get-go.