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.
In today’s world of online dating, many people have had the experience of connecting with someone that looks great “on paper” and spending time texting and engaging with them online, only to meet them in real life and immediately know the match is not meant to be. Finding a PR partner can be somewhat similar. Marketing leaders and agencies invest a lot of time and energy into an involved RFP (request for proposal) process – after which finalists are brought in to meet with the team and determine the fit is lacking.
Selecting a PR partner is an important decision, which does require time; however, the traditional RFP process is typically very involved and requires a significant investment of time both from the business team as well as the prospective agencies. And over the years some leaders have shifted away from the traditional RFP process for some of the reasons shared here: Seven Reasons Why Agencies Should Not Respond To RFPs, opting for a more efficient process and one that fosters more collaboration and teamwork from the get-go.
This has left some business leaders wondering what the best process is for securing a PR partner. Below we’ve outlined steps to select the right PR partner for your needs and ultimately deliver on your key objectives.
Outline your business and communication objectives. It is important to have clarity on what business objectives you need to accomplish. To have a productive conversation with a potential PR partner, you will want to inform them of your objectives, so they can provide valuable counsel and guidance.
Define budget constraints. Your budget will guide the prospective agencies on a realistic scope that can support the specific business objectives. It may also help define the types of agencies you reach out to and the level of engagement a partner can provide.
Solicit referrals and recommendations. To determine which firms to consider it’s important to do your homework. Provide your network with a sense of what you are looking to accomplish and your priorities for the engagement. Word of mouth referrals are a great way to ensure you are talking with agencies that can deliver the quality of work, and possess a working style, that will integrate well with your organization.
Secure request for qualifications. Connect with each firm and provide them with background on your organization, as well as your business objectives and available budget. Ask them to respond, summarizing their qualifications and demonstrating why they believe they are the best partner for you and your organization.
Meet with finalists. Chemistry and fit across your team matters. Take time to meet with the teams that are in your final consideration. People tend to do their best work when they are working with people they enjoy and with whom they have shared values. Meeting with the team can provide insight into the interpersonal dynamics that can impact the success of your working relationship.
It is important to take a thoughtful approach to finding and hiring a PR partner. Be sure your process is efficient, effective, and aligns with your objectives and resources, while also involving the people on your team that will work most closely with your PR partner – and those that are most invested in the success of the relationship.
For additional guidance please refer to our book, Strategic Public Relations: 10 Principles to Harness the Power of PR. Principle Two: Selecting Your PR Team examines the pros and cons of having an in-house team versus an external team, and the option of a hybrid approach. We also provide guidance on the steps for selecting an external team – including the steps for conducting an RFP.
Last month, Muck Rack released a report in which they surveyed more than 500 journalists across the U.S. and world to understand their perspectives on the state of journalism. The survey covered topics such as objectivity, reporting in the current political climate, social media and shareability, data and analytics and the use of press releases.
While there are many important takeaways in this survey, the points that will be most informative for PR professionals are that journalists are influenced by social media, both in how their articles are shared as well as how they digest news. Additionally, the survey sheds light on journalists’ perception of their relationships with PR professionals and their perspective on press releases.
The Influence of Social Media
Of the more than 500 journalists surveyed, 41 percent of them indicated that the potential shareability of an article influences what topics they choose to write about. Additionally, 63 percent of journalists in the U.S. track the number of shares their stories earn on social media.
There are a variety of ways journalists can measure the traction their articles are gaining, whether it’s pages views, time on a webpage, or where the clink-through came from, but it is incredibly helpful to know which numbers journalists are considering when developing their stories. As you consider positioning stories, it will be important to weave messages into the pitch or release that demonstrate the shareability of the story. Take the time to craft an attention-grabbing subject line, unearth shocking data points or secure a controversial perspective. All of these items will help the journalists clearly see the story you’re offering as well as make it more appealing and shareable.
The survey also uncovered which social media platforms journalists often turn to as a source of news. Twitter remains the top news-source tool, with 27 percent of journalists referring to it as their primary source of news. What’s also interesting is what social media platforms journalists believe they’ll spend more time on in the coming year. For both Twitter and Instagram, 37 percent of journalists expect to spend more time on the platforms. Given the nature of the content, consider how to incorporate images or leverage them as a way to provide more information. Content on both platforms tends to have limited text and it’s important to use images to your advantage.
The Relationship with PR Firms and Press Releases
The relationship between PR professionals and journalists can be somewhat inconsistent. There are journalists who build strong relationships with PR teams and get access to stories and spokespeople, and there are journalists that prefer not to interact with PR firms. The perspective is varied and unpredictable. According to this survey, more often than not, journalists see the benefits of PR professionals. Fifty two percent of journalists in the U.S. view their relationship with PR professionals as mutually beneficial, and 21 percent of them see it as antagonistic, but not inherently a bad thing.
The key to building strong relationships with journalists is being thoughtful in what you’re offering. It is important to present story ideas that the journalist would find interesting, but also think through the elements you’re providing. Is there enough to craft an article that will capture their audience’s attention?
Another important aspect of building a strong relationship is asking for feedback. If it’s a reporter you are eager to work with, ask what they need to make this story interesting. If they aren’t going to cover something, ask why they didn’t find it interesting. This will inform your approach with them moving forward and make it more strategic.
As people’s preferences around news consumption evolve, so has the method in which journalists want to receive the news. While press releases still hold value in announcing news, providing detailed facts and building SEO, not many journalists rely on them anymore. Only 3 percent of journalists in the U.S. rely on press releases heavily and only 29 percent rely on them somewhat. In fact, 53 percent of journalists in the U.S. stated that they do not rely on them at all.
Interestingly, 15 percent stated they rely on press releases, but would prefer something different. As indicated by additional findings, it appears that incorporating meaningful visual elements may capture more attention. Nearly 50 percent of journalists stated they would pay more attention to a press release if it contained an infographic and 13 percent said if press releases had video components they would pay more attention.
While press releases may not be dead, we can evolve how we craft them and incorporate elements that make them more intriguing and easier to digest. In addition, having visual elements can also be useful when sharing the news on social media and may lead journalists to view the news and its accompanying resources as shareable.
This helpful survey gives insight into how journalists are choosing the stories they plan to cover, define successful articles, what they think of their relationships with PR professionals and their perspectives on press releases. This information can be leveraged to be more strategic in our outreach and how we present stories to journalists. Our relationship with journalists is critical to our success and the success of our clients. Just as we constantly seek to provide value to our clients, it is crucial that we provide value to journalists and strive to build and maintain mutually beneficial relationships.
The Associated Press (AP) Stylebook, or more commonly known as the bible around PR agencies and newsrooms, has released its latest edition. The new 2018 issue, which became available in May, has more than 200 new entries to help guide journalists and other commutators accurately cover the changing social, political and cultural arenas.
For those unfamiliar, AP Style is an English grammar style (and usage) guide that has helped standardize communications. Although originally designed for journalists, AP Style has become the go-to reference for the majority of corporate and public-facing communications. Every spring, the stylebook is updated to incorporate new rules and guidelines for capitalization, abbreviations, spellings, numbers, and more.
Staying up to date on these changes will help all corporate communicators avoid falling victim to tricky grammar and punctuation mistakes. For those eager to read more about the new updates, check out this article or tune in to PR Daily’s webinar, “2018 AP Stylebook Webinar,” which is scheduled for Tuesday, June 26.
Below is a list of 10 of the roughly 200 new changes you’ll find in the 2018 edition.
- The new issue explains that using “2D” and “3D” no longer requires hyphens and it is also OK to start a sentence with a numeral-and-letter combination such as “3D movie” or “2D cartoon.” However, this change, as well as starting a sentence with a year, remains the only circumstances when it is OK (according to AP Style) to start a sentence with a number.
- Tech terms. Communicators (and gamers) should take note that a few terms related to the tech industry have been updated. Terms such as “homepage” and “smartwatch” can be written as one word. “Timeshare” was also added to the list of approved one-word words, however, healthcare is still two.
- Sexual harassment and sexual misconduct. The new issue highlights the distinction between when and how to accurately use the terms “sexual harassment” and “sexual misconduct.” The update also includes clarification around correctly using the terms “survivor” and “victim.”
- Groups of people and race relations. The 2018 style book outlines proper terms for referring to people of different racial backgrounds. For example, “The terms ‘biracial’ and ‘multiracial’ are acceptable, when clearly relevant to describe people with more than one racial heritable.” AP notes that these terms are best used when describing large, diverse groups of multiple people rather than individuals. The new issue cautions communicators to avoid using “mixed-race,” as it carries negative connotations. Only use mixed-race if the individual or subject of the article prefers the term. The new guide also reminds writers that while it is inaccurate to call people under the age of 18 “men” or “women” and people 18 and older “boys” and “girls,” to be wary of the nuances and unintentional implications.
- Bulleted lists. Two new and potentially controversial suggestions when writing bulleted lists are to use dashes instead of bullets and to always use periods (rather than semicolons) at the end of each section, even if it is a phrase and not a sentence. (AP Style reminds writers that it is still correct to use bullets if preferred.) Although a standard practice, the new edition clarifies to always capitalize the first word of a bulleted or dashed phrase.
- Emoji and GIFs. In the interest of staying relevant and reporting about content and culture on the internet, writers can use “emoji” when referring to both singe and plural examples, rather than using the incorrect “emojis.” The new edition also notes that you can include uses of emoji or GIFs in your articles by describing the visual symbols or images. The example provided by AP Style book is as follows, “Chavis sparked a flurry of responses against the airline after tweeting a GIF of large crowds at the gate, with the message “#missinghoneymoon” and an emoji string of a worried smiley, a ring, an hourglass and an umbrella on a beach.”
- Co-worker vs. coworking. Another timely update is to drop the hyphen in “co-worker” when discussing freelancers or remote employees. For example, “Our style is ‘coworking’ to mean sharing workspace and amenities when people don’t actually work for the same company but instead are self-employed or remote workers.” Notice, no hyphen; however, it is correct to use “co-worker” when referring to a colleague within the same company.
- Polls and surveys. The updated stylebook also includes a new chapter with extensive guidelines around reporting on polls and surveys. Reviewing these changes will help journalists and writers prepare for post-2018 midterms and any other coverage of survey results.
- Types of foods. Foodies will eagerly await reading and writing articles about nearly two dozen of their favorite trendy foods such as ahi, amaro, chorizo, churros, gingersnap, gluten-free, grain bowls, India pale ale, Instant Pot, Kobe beef, locavore, matcha, multicooker, soba, superfoods, udon, began and za’atar. Microsoft Word will still notice some of these words as misspellings, so update your dictionary accordingly.
- Days of the week. A new addition that will likely impact drafting press releases and articles is that when referring to when an event took place, writers should use the specific day of the week (i.e., Thursday or Saturday) instead of “today” or “tomorrow.” For example, “On Saturday, I will not go into work.” Today and tomorrow are not incorrect, but should only be used outside of news articles.
Although these changes are now part of the “rulebook,” AP Style encourages writers to always use their best judgement and balance sensitives with AP guidelines. If you’re interested in becoming a master AP stylist, you can purchase the new edition here.
In my last blog post, I provided my initial takeaways from The New Strategic Selling, by Robert B. Miller and Stephen E. Heiman, and how its approach to complex sales cycles can be replicated when advising our PR and communications clients about their businesses.
In this post, I’ll examine the various “buying roles” involved with a complex sale and how to influence them. By gaining a better understanding of the buyers that will ultimately approve your sales proposal, you increase your likelihood of winning the sale.
Critical factors to consider with each of these individuals include:
- Organizational impact – Where will your proposal have the most immediate and lasting impact?
- Level of expertise –Who are the contacts that decision-makers will turn to for inside advice?
- Location – Are your influencers located geographically near each other?
- Personal priority – This will increase the likelihood of a buyer to influence the outcome of your proposal.
- Politics – Unavoidable, unfortunately, but this is why it’s key to identify your buying influencers early so that you can examine their relationships, potential conflicts and motivations.
We start with the Economic Buyer, the person who gives final approval to buy your product or service. This person’s ultimate focus, according to Miller and Heiman, is “the bottom line impact you can make on this organization.” This person controls the funds for your sale and the book asserts that it’s imperative to identify them early in the process.
In our case as a PR agency, this individual typically serves in a finance capacity and has the ability to not only approve our sales proposal, but the scope of funds to be allocated for our work. While this contact won’t be involved with a PR agency on a day-to-day level, they will be the person receiving the monthly invoices and it’s key that they have a solid understanding of the results and value we are providing to their business.
Next up is the User Buyer, the person that is concerned primarily with how this sale will impact everyday operations in their own area or department. Their questions will center around reliability, service records, retraining that might be necessary, ease of operation and potential impact on employee morale. Again, in our case, this contact typically serves in a public relations, marketing or marketing communications role, and is the person we would interface with on a day-to-day basis.
They may have key performance indicators (KPIs) tracking to their individual or department performance, so it’s critical that a PR agency have a strong understanding of how success will be measured in this person’s eyes.
Then we have the Technical Buyer, or the person whose job it is to play gatekeeper. “It’s the technical buyer’s task to limit the field of sellers and come up with a short list,” the book explains. As a PR agency that might be coming in to pitch an organization, it can be difficult to gauge who this person might be. Sometimes it’s another team member who works closely with the User Buyer (i.e., another contact in the marketing department), or it could be an executive that serves as a media spokesperson and interfaces frequently with the PR team.
Finally there’s The Coach, whose mission is to guide you into the sale. This buyer influencer can be found in either the buying or the selling organization (or outside of both) and their focus is on your success with this sales project. The Coach has credibility with the buying organization and wants your solution to succeed.
For PR agencies pitching a company on their services, examples of coaches could be contacts who have worked with your agency previously and who have provided a reference and a foot in the door to present to the team (we love these people and are always grateful for their help). Another example could be a reporter or industry analyst contact who has developed a strong relationship with a PR contact and who would recommend their services to a company. This is a keen reminder that “relationships” are the fundamental part of both public relations and business development, and also that the world is generally a very small place. You never know when your next “Coach” influencer may pop up next!
In my third and final blog post based on The New Strategic Selling, I’ll examine best practices for assembling an action plan, and how to develop strategies when time is short.
Founded in 1851, The New York Times (NYT) is considered one of the leading newspapers in the world. Winning 125 Pulitzer Prize awards for excellence in journalism, Yale University noted that The Times has earned itself a “worldwide reputation of thoroughness.” Although no easy feat, securing coverage on behalf of a client in the NYT is any PR pro’s dream come true. A meaningful way to do this is to submit an op-ed to The Times.
An op-ed is an essay that runs on the opposite side of the editorial page in a newspaper. Written by anyone from experts to everyday people, the op-ed section often gives readers fresh perspectives on current events and can solidify your client’s position as a thought leader. To give your opinion piece the best chance of being published, I conducted some research into how the op-ed editors at The New York Times like to be pitched. Here’s what I learned.
Op-Ed Submission Guidelines and Process
As described by Trish Hall, the former op-ed and Sunday Review editor, The New York Times accepts opinion articles on any topic, for the op-ed page (Monday through Saturday), the Sunday Review, Opinionator and other online series, and The International New York Times.
The Times looks for submissions that run from 400 to 1,200 words and that are submitted exclusively. The Times actively seeks pieces reacting to news of the world, and writers are encouraged to submit op-eds relating to news events as quick as possible. The New York Times encourages authors to write in their own voice. Writing to “seem smart” often has the opposite effect. And it’s best to focus very specifically on something specific from a unique perspective. For example, if you want to write about the general problem of incarceration in the United States, the odds are that it will seem too familiar. But if you are a prisoner in Washington and you have just gone on a hunger strike and want to talk about it – that is an exciting read. Submissions should be sent to [email protected].
NYT’s news assistants read the op-ed submissions. They pull out everything that seems to have potential and send those pieces to several editors for review. If those editors find something interesting, they send it to an internal group that is responsible for editing the pieces on the pages in all the editions, in Opinionator and in the Sunday Review.
These editors have daily meetings to discuss the news, ideas, and which writers might be best suited to which subjects. Although no article is guaranteed publication, once accepted, the NYT will do everything it can to make sure the piece runs on one of its platforms. This process could take months because The Times will wait to publish the article for what seems like the moment when the greatest number of readers are likely to find a piece relevant and interesting.
If the article is accepted, the author will receive a contract giving The Times exclusive publishing rights. Additionally, the contract lays out some of the author’s responsibilities, the most important ones having to do with originality and truthfulness. The Times requests that the author discloses anything that might be seen as a conflict of interest, financial or otherwise. The NYT also needs all of the material that supports the facts in the story in order to fact check, so writers should be prepared to disclose all of this information.
Once the contract is signed, an editor will work with the author to make the piece acceptable to both parties. If the piece has the start of a fascinating idea but is jumbled and not well-thought out, it will probably need rounds of revision. If this is the case, do not be discouraged. The goal of the editing process is to make the author’s thinking and writing as clear and orderly as possible. As a rule, the writer will not get to choose the headline or the art that goes with the piece.
Because the number of submissions is so large, the NYT unfortunately has to pass on much material of value and interest. If there is no reply within three business days, assume that The Times will not be able to use your article.
To gain some inspiration, follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter (@NYTopinion), and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter. Securing an op-ed for a client in The New York Times would be a huge win and I hope that these guidelines will get you one step closer!
In November 2017, I blogged about building motivation as a learned skill and applying it to the PR industry, based on Smarter Faster Better by Charles Duhigg. I have now finally finished the book and must say I truly enjoyed it.
I found the information in the book interesting, and applicable to my work as an intern. That said, I also suspect it would be helpful for individuals in senior management positions as well. The two chapters that I found most intriguing were “Teams” and “Managing Others.”
In the chapter about teams, Duhigg opens by setting the scene at Google, and describes a study that particularly interested him. Created by Google’s People Analytics group, the study (“Project Oxygen”) investigated why some managers were more effective than others. At the end of the project, the team identified eight critical management skills that effective managers possessed. They were the following:
1. Being a good coach
2. Empowering and not micromanaging
3. Expressing interest and concern in subordinates’ success and well-being
4. Being results oriented
5. Listening and sharing information
6. Helping with career development
7. Having a clear vision and strategy
8. Having key technical skills (e.g., in PR, this might be knowing AP style, having an ability to write, or an ability to work with a wide range of media)
Now that Google had a list of successful traits for leaders, they decided to examine company and employee surveys from previous years to study team dynamics. The goal of that study (“Project Aristotle”) was to find out what made the teams and their members successful.
Google began by asking employees what they thought made a team effective. Through trial and error, Google established criteria for measuring a team’s success, which included external factors such as sales goals, and internal factors such as team morale and camaraderie. Google was stumped, however, as they could not find a correlation between a team’s composition and its success. After combing through an ample amount of data, they needed a new angle.
Given this, Google switched its focus toward examining group norms and behaviors. According to the Sociology of Sport Journal, group norms are the “behaviors, traditions, standards and rules that determine appropriate behavior within a group.” Google was interested in studying how the unwritten rules, standards and roles within the group relate to success as a team.
Duhigg then introduces the reader to Amy Edmondson, a Ph.D. student at the time who studied organizational behavior at Harvard, who found that successful teams often had psychological safety. Edmondson defines psychological safety as “a shared belief, held by members of a team, that the group is a safe place for taking risks. It is a sense of confidence that the team will not embarrass, reject, or punish someone for speaking up.” More importantly, it describes a level of respect and trust, as well as a feeling that what you say matters, what you do matters, while also understanding that what others do matters, thus creating a sense of belonging and togetherness among the group.
In PR, there are instances where you’ll work with an external team, along with your internal team. At Communiqué, we work together internally on many occasions. Often, we hold brainstorming sessions where we solicit ideas and input from one another. Our team embraces critical thinking and encourages thought from multiple angles and perspectives. With external teams, it is important to create comfortable group norms that promote psychological safety. This may include defining roles and expectations, or getting to know each other’s work habits and preferences.
By embracing psychological safety, it’s more likely that teams will build a culture of trust. According to Duhigg, “A culture of commitment and trust isn’t a magic bullet. It doesn’t guarantee that a product will sell, or an idea will bear fruit. But it’s the best bet for making sure the right conditions are in place when a great idea comes along.” Team members that trust one another and feel safe are more likely to produce helpful and impactful work.
Culture is important to most businesses; establishing one that promotes psychological safety is imperative. Based on the research done at Google, teams with psychological safety produce successful results on a more consistent basis. Along with psychological safety, establishing group norms that work for your team are equally important.