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There are certain aspects of working in Public Relations and Media Relations that seem to get ignored because they’re too much like hard work. Maybe it’s because a large part of Loop PR’s ethos is based in our staff members former lives as journalists that we realise the value of that most easy to ignore little device, the telephone.
Sometime I like to spend time trying to convince clients of the value of online PR - getting them into the social media space. Frankly there are enough people calling themselves social media ‘experts’ who spend a little too much time interacting online with other people who also call themselves social media ‘experts’.
Sometimes there appears to be no view on the end game for the client. They want to either sell stuff, stay out of the press or encourage people to act in a certain way … but they often find themselves badgered into believing it’s better to have more followers on the latest ‘semantic, micro blogging mash up’ which, coincidentally, has just 15 users in Seattle who are all JAVA programmers.
There are, of course, good examples of brands engaging with social networks and being fleet of foot with any negative comments. It would be vulgar to mention some of Loop’s huge successes so I’ll be magnanimous enough to link to this excellent list from Being Peter Kim of companies who are utilising the online space very effectively.
Is email really the answer?
And that brings me to my point … social media is hugely empowering and exciting but, as far as public relations goes - it’s just another tool, a technology to understand and integrate into a well thought out campaign. And some PR companies (and freelance consultants) can become a little too excited and narrow minded about tools - like email for example.
Email is probably one of the worst used and most abused tools. It’s the tool that gets the PR industry the most flack because, once an under pressure account manager need results, they see the ‘mail merge’ button. Any form of targeting goes out of the window and you (as a client) are used like spam, journalists get hacked off and that’s well before anyone has even considered picking up the dust covered phone in the corner.
I have some advice for the next people coming for interviews at Loop. If we ask how you’d approach a campaign for a new client and you haven’t mentioned the words ‘story’, ‘phone’ and conversation in the first 5 minutes … our eyes will start misting over.
An old style experiment
Once you get a job, and this applies to any PR bod, try this for one day.
- Don’t turn on your computer. Your clients have your mobile number if there’s a REAL emergency.
- Pop down to the newsagent and buy some newspapers and magazines and select some journalists from each you’d really like to understand your client. Then, and this is the real head-spinner, call them up and see if they’d like you to buy them lunch or a coffee/beer. You aren’t going to pitch to them - you are going to have a chat with them about what they cover, what interests them and what their bosses want from them.
- Pick up the phone. Nothing really gets done with email alone - you don’t pitch for new business via email do you? You don’t pretend you’re having an evening in the pub by drinking beer at home and emailing your friends do you? So why should a journalist just take your email and run with it … what does that say about your respect for their profession. So ring up all those people who didn’t respond to your last ‘spamming mail merge’ and talk to them, what are they looking for in future, how do they like to be approached etc …
That’s not so crazy is it? I bet you’d get far better results for your clients and you’ll get a sounding block for future story ideas into the bargain.
Tools are great, email can be great and social media when properly understood is a fine way to empower your client’s consumers BUT there’s no substitute for getting on the phone. Journalists and PRs will have far better relationship as a result.
