A client recently asked me to draft some "best practices" for organizations dipping their toe in the PR waters.
I think it's important for any organization seeking PR to understand how it works, but more importantly, how journalism and journalists operate.
I've had the benefit of being on both sides of the equation.
Overall Expectations:
There are never any guarantees. It’s called “earned media” because you’ve earned the privilege to have your brand or leadership mentioned, without cost, in a publication/podcast/video, etc. Journalists owe you nothing.
PR can never guarantee that pitches will result in coverage. If anyone tells you otherwise, run the other way.
PR is not about instant gratification; it’s a long game that requires building relationships and trust, and ultimately putting out a quality, newsworthy story that will gain the attention of journalists and influencers.
Earned media is a partnership between the PR practitioner and your team. They will provide you with opportunities and pitch you for coverage but need you to be responsive and collaborative to help put your best foot forward.
Earned Media Protocols:
There are many different kinds of earned media opportunities, and you'll need to seize on them quickly. Your PR team's job is to bring you those opportunities as they arise.
In some cases, journalists might need an expert that day on a topic your leaders can speak about. In other cases, your PR pro may pitch you to a publication they're aware is planning to report on a topic in the future.
Sometimes there's breaking news and your PR pro may pitch your point of view to help journalists contextualize their stories. These are particularly time-sensitive and will require quick responses and collaboration to be successful.
It’s important to note that while marketing and PR work hand-in-glove, they are not the same. Avoid sales pitches or marketing language in your copy. Instead, find ways to offer value to the journalists and ultimately to their audiences. Why will that audience care about what you have to say?
Media Requests 101
Time is of the essence: When a reporter reaches out for comment, they're typically already under a tight deadline. Please designate a point person on your team who can respond to requests. Respond to their requests for comment as soon as possible. If for some reason you aren’t able to meet that deadline, let your PR pro know immediately, and when appropriate, offer an alternative source for the journalist. Don't ever ignore a journalist’s request or assume that someone else will respond on your behalf. If you wait too long, you've missed the boat and the reporter has already moved on to someone who will help them.
Some journalists will provide you with questions ahead of time, and some won't. When I was a reporter, I didn't make that a practice because I wanted to elicit spontaneous responses from my sources. Your PR pro can always ask but cannot guarantee they will provide them.
After The Interview
You have no editorial control over how or when the story will appear, the headline, or the quotes they choose. You can’t ask a journalist to change their story unless they’ve misreported facts, misquoted you, or taken words out of context.
Typically, journalists have no control over when their content will run. Please don’t bother them about that.
If you're lucky, sometimes the journalist will send you a link when the story is published, but more often than not, your PR pro will have to sweep the internet to find those stories and share them with you.
Journalists LOVE when you share their work. Please plan to share links on your social channels and websites when the pieces go live. It’s good for your brand awareness, and it endears you to the reporters who covered the story. Journalists work for businesses and the more clicks they get, the better it is for business.
DO NOT EXPECT backlinks in an article. Some journalists will include them, but others won’t or cannot because of their publication’s policies. Your PR pro can ask them nicely, but cannot force them to include those links.
If the article happens to be behind a paywall, don't ask the journalist to let you re-post the story in full on LinkedIn to bypass it. That wall pays their bills and you shouldn't ask them to give it away for free.
Be appreciative and be thankful. Journalists owe you nothing. If you earn the privilege for them to cover you, act like you've been there before!
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