While many people perceive ‘comms’ as an easy and accessible tool in their armoury, I still get asked a lot of questions about the basics of PR. From missing ingredients in thought leadership articles to press releases written in the first person. There is, as ever, best practice approaches, which is of course why you should hire a professional. To help separate the wrench from the hammer, I’ve listed a few key PR tools below, so when you do speak to a PR professional, you have a broad idea about what you’ve got in your tool belt.
Press Release
A press release is one of many tools used in external communication and public relations (PR). A press release can ONLY be used for news – which is literally something ‘new’ about a business, product, or service.
Press releases are always 100% factually accurate, written in the third person, and usually include a quote attributed to a key spokesperson giving a view on the importance of the news.
Press releases follow a triangle or funnel shape – with the most important information at the top (starting with the headline) and less important details towards the end.
Press releases are sent out to journalists on an agreed date – and the journalist uses the information included as a basis for their news article.
Thought Leadership Articles, Blogs & Bylines
Often known as bylines or blogs, these are opinion pieces. Written in the first person, they’re never sales tools. They’re pitched to publications interested in running articles written by guest authors.
Never will a publication take an article listing the benefits of your product or service. There are paid options where this is more acceptable, so if this is the route you want to go down, scope out those options. If not, make sure your article offers value to the readers, utilising your expertise.
Experiential & Picture Stunts
For a substantial investment, PR people can set up some sort of creative real-world activation. Anything from a stall at a train station to a bespoke hand painted outdoor billboard. Arguably, this overlaps with marketing as it’s paid for activity, but a PR person can help elevate it through press coverage.
Media Relations
A key element of PR is having good relationships with journalists so when you send them a press release or byline they know it’s an email that’s worth opening. It works exactly the same way as any other professional business relationship.
Commentary & News Hijacking
I get asked about news hijacking a lot and it’s one of the hardest tools to use. When a big news story runs (and I mean BBC News big) and you get in touch with the journalist within minutes (and I mean minutes) to tell them you have an opinion on the story. News by its very nature is immediate and fast moving, so you can’t wait a day or so after the story has run. News hijacking only works if it’s immediate and you, as a spokesperson, are immediately available to speak to a journalist.
The other opportunity is commentary. Often journalists need a few different views to include within their article. They’ll usually ask for a comment and give you a few hours to respond. It’s not as immediate as news hijacking, but you do typically need to respond on the same day.
These are harder tools to use because they require the perfect story which fits with your business or expertise, can often be controversial stories so you need to be open to reputational risk, and it needs spokespeople to be readily available. If you’re someone who’s risk averse, has back-to-back meetings every day, or takes two weeks to respond to an email, then this tool is probably not for you.
There are of course plenty of other external communications tools to use, but these are the ones most frequently asked about and often misunderstood. PR professionals are usually amiable helpful folk, so don’t be afraid to talk to them about the different options available. Most importantly, listen to them when they give you their view. Not all of the tools work for every business. For example, a big consumer brand would do well with a picture stunt or news hijacking, but this wouldn’t work well for a risk averse business-to-business niche company. As with every tool belt, the tools you use depend on the job at hand.
Victoria Fairclough is a PR & Communications consultant at Fair Communications. For more information visit: www.faircommunications.co.uk
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