All companies seek favorable attention and mentions in the media. Companies can directly pay for ads (print or Pay Per Click) or use Public Relations to have stories written about their company.
Working With a Public Relations Professional
Editors, the gatekeepers of the various media are bombarded with Press Releases and other missives.
PR has been used successfully to “get out the message.” Many companies handle PR in house with someone assigned to the task. In smaller companies, it may be the owner or a senior manager. In larger companies, staffers in the Marketing Department or Corporate Office handle these tasks. Do you need a publicist? It is crucial to understand the responsibilities of the publicist.
Responsibilities of the Publicist
- Understand the products and services they are publicizing.
- Understand the needs of the media where they are pitching the company.
- Identify opportunities for positive media coverage, which capitalizes on the company’s mission and objectives.
- Function as counsel with respect to external communications.
- Develop communications strategies around key issues.
- Promote a positive image of the company.
- Create publicity around products and services.
- Consider potential crises and create written plans to avoid or mitigate the crisis.
- Monitor media mentions of the company and advise management of positive and negative mentions.
- Maintain existing and create new relationships with media figures that may be able to help the company.
The Takeaway
Whether your publicist is an internal employee or an external vendor, their effectiveness is multiplied when the business person fully understand the role of the publicist.
Those are my ideas. Over to you:
- Do you handle your PR in-house or do you contract it out?
- Have you recently considered changing from in-house to contracted services or vice versa for your PR needs?
- How effective do you feel your PR efforts have been?
Please provide your thoughts and ideas in the Comments field below. Thanks!
Copyright © 2010 Rob Berman
