Press Kits: Are They Obsolete?

If you're thinking about moving away from having a press kit because you have a web site that provides information about your company, don't do it.

A press kit remains an invaluable tool for working with media to get that all-important editorial coverage. Even more importantly, it is a targeted tool to convey those points about your business that you want the media to cover.

At its very least, a well-structured press kit should contain an overview of your company, fact sheets about the company and its products, and a bio of you primary spokesperson.

Offer it on your web site and on CD, but don't neglect that all important paper copy. Media Relations is about helping the media, so be prepared to provide your press kit in any way that the media requests it.

After all, it's just good customer service — and the media is your customer.

The Importance Of Being Organized

Despite the changes that have occurred in PR over the last year with social media and other channels of communications, media contact remains the heart of what most PR people do.

Businesses want and need editorial coverage. They recognize that the public processes a news story about a product, service or location as an implied third party endorsement.

Yet, it's surprising how many PR folks don't use one simple approach that could help them generate more and better editorial coverage.

They don't keep track of their media interactions.

Some PR agencies and in-house PR managers have attempted to address this deficiency by contracting for computerized software programs designed to help their staff track and organize their media contacts electronically. But, like any computer program, if you aren't organized to use it, you don't regularly enter the relevant data. And, you won't have the most current information to refer to later.

The old-fashioned (and tried and true) notebook or looseleaf approaches are low cost and still popular for those agencies or businesses on a budget. Simple and easy, there's no new computer program to learn. Here's how it works: You speak with a writer and you simply take notes. Each time you have a conversation, you take notes and date them. Now you have a record – a log if you will – of every press interaction.

You can refer to this as you do follow up later (only the luckiest PR folks get a story on the first run). You'll know when you last spoke with the writer and what was said. And – heaven forbid – if you're hit by a truck on the way home one evening, your colleagues can continue your work simply by referencing your log.

Now, the written log is not as sexy as the software and, granted, the tracking software also does lots of other organizational things like sorting and identifying media. But, if you're a small agency with a few clients in just a few industries, chances are you're already aware of key media you need to know. And, strong editorial calendar research will yield you more.

The point is that organization is the key – no matter what methodology you use.

Organization will help you to be more productive as you free up that brain space and make more and more media calls. And, because pitching is often a numbers game, this will also help you to be more successful at generating coverage.

So pick a high-tech approach or take the low-tech road, but for heaven's sake, get organized.

As an organized PR person, you'll find you can be both more productive and more successful.

Communicating Through Multiple Channels: Talk The Talk, Walk The Walk

How do you manage your marketing communications?

We're living in a transitional time. Advertising, marketing, public relations – they're all evolving. The lines are blurring. While the end goal remains influence and persuasion, the tools and techniques — and the channels we use to deploy our messages — are multiplying and becoming more intertwined.

New opportunities to affect meaningful and influential communication emerge everyday. There's a proliferation of tools, an avalanche of techniques.

If you have a product and you want to market it effectively, you have to get on board the train of changing times. And, whether you're in strategic marketing, creative development, advertising or public relations, here are some questions you should be thinking about:

Do you push out your marketing messages via ads, press releases, text messages, e-mail blasts, direct mail, your Web site? Do you engage your audience via Twitter, Facebook, blogs, chat rooms or any of the many forums available today?

Are you serious about learning? Serious about evolving your approach to communicating your marketing messages? Do you take what you learn from audience engagements and fold that into strategic discussions? Do you see an audience member's comments or questions as an opportunity to learn?

Do you reach out and learn through interaction with others within your company who might touch your target audiences in ways different than you do? Do you see technology as a tool to help you learn?

Does your corporate culture focus on the top “creatives” as the wellspring of ideas? Do you say all the right things about everyone getting involved in the creative process, but never find the time to put that into action?

Do you value all your company's intellectual resources? Does your company use its human capital wisely? Are your employees encouraged (and trained) to think strategically at all levels?

Do you consider what your receptionist can bring to a marketing discussion? Your sales team? Any front line employee? Your Web designer? Your customer service department? Is the advertising department huddled together as an elite brain-trust talking among themselves — or do they reach out and seek others' input? Does top management involve PR professionals at the beginning of an issue or once the program is in place and it needs “publicizing?” Who's on your top strategic team? Is it a blend of several disciplines?

When managing your message, do you recognize that your message will probably need to evolve? Do you act on that realization?

Round and round we go. . .push, pull, collaborate, refine, engage, evaluate, consult, interact, share and refine again.

Effective communications and marketing hinges on the collection of ideas from many resources and the execution of ideas through multiple channels.

We live in fast changing times. Don't just talk the talk, walk the walk.

Don't Tease Your Audience. Update Your Blog.

A blog can become an important part of your PR strategy — but only if you keep adding fresh content to it.

The blogosphere is littered with abandoned blogs and blogs distinguished mostly by long droughts between new postings. Sporadic updating is akin to a date with a tease. You intrigue your readers only to disappoint by not delivering. Do this over time and you lose them completely.

Search engines thrive on fresh content. It's the key to search engine optimization and to moving your blog up the search listings. If you want your blog to be found and read, you have to feed it fuel so it can race to the front of the line. If you want it to engage your readers and build an audience that is engaged with your communications and gives you feedback, you have to add fresh content at least once a week. After you do, spread the word via email, Facebook, Twitter and however you can. In short, tell the Web world that you have posted something new.

Send out the bait and bring them in. Don't bait the hook and you won't catch a thing.

Fresh content doesn't mean a long posting. It doesn't mean it has to be Pulitzer material. It just has to be fresh, interesting and helpful to your target audience.

So don't be one of those businesses that starts a blog, then leaves the thing alone in the dark recesses of the Web. Give your blog the attention it deserves and update it every week to 10 days. If no one inside your organization has the time to do this, get with a good PR firm and bring them on board to communicate your voice.

The Perfect Press Release Versus Getting The News Out On Time

Issuing a press release is about more than communicating your news in a clearly written fashion. It's also about timing.

This is particularly important in product publicity when you are issuing a release in the pursuit of editorial coverage. Most product or service announcements are not big news. Unless you're Microsoft, your biggest hurdle will be convincing the media that your news is worth editorial space.

It's important for your press release to be clear. All the facts should be correct. The release should be straight-forward and not sound like an ad.

Yet one of the most important parts of issuing a press release is frequently overlooked. That's timing.

So write the release and move it through your internal review process quickly. Don't let it get stuck in an internal bottleneck.

No matter how well-written it is, it's only useful if you actually send it out to the media. If it's held inside so long that your news gets stale, it won't matter if your prose is Pulitzer Prize winning when you finally get around to releasing it. You won't get coverage and no one will see it.

So resist the temptation to polish and polish that release. If the facts are correct and the writing is clear, just get it out.

Check Your Facts Before You Boast About Client News

There's nothing more embarrassing than boasting about something to the media, only to have to take back the boast. It's even worse if you've bragged about a client's award or recognition, gotten publicity for that, and then been notified your facts are wrong.

Whether it's an ethical choice or an honest mistake, providing the media with incorrect news undermines the PR profession.

When the facts are uncovered, the media will think you tried to fool them, so it affects your credibility as a publicist. Sure, reporters should check their facts. But in these days of media cut-backs, maybe some decided to rely on you -- their (formerly) trusted source -- to give them the right info. They won't make that mistake again.

If you notified the client of the award, the client probably took your word for it and basked in the happy glow of recognition. But once it's discovered you subjected the client to a public correction, the client's confidence in you diminishes.

We all make mistakes in life, but for publicists those mistakes can often be, well, very public. And the consequences can far outweigh the “wonderful” editorial attention that the incorrect information secured.

So check your facts before you rush to capture that publicity. Because in both the short and long run, the only publicity that really helps your client is the publicity that's based on truth.

Working With The Media: They're Doing a Job Just Like You

If you want to get good publicity, respect the media.

That means answering their phone calls and acknowledging their inquiries. You can't have a “relationship” with the media if it's all one-sided. Someday, you'll want to make a press announcement that will cast your company in a good light. But don't expect great coverage if you've got a reputation for snubbing the media or treating them unprofessionally.

Like any relationship, media relations is a two-way street. There will be times when they ask you questions you don't want to answer. Before you rush to “no comment,” consider crafting a reply that shows you cared enough about their inquiry to actually think about it.

That doesn't mean you have to give away the store. “Acknowledging” a reporters inquiry is not the same as responding to it. You don't need to provide a direct response to the question at hand. But relationships begin with interaction and respect for each other, so step back and think about how you will respond.

Remember, the media is doing a job just like you. You might feel they are adversarial when they are being inquisitive. You could feel their approach is confrontational when they see themselves as aggressively pursuing a story. But you don't have to choose between fighting or taking flight with a “no comment.” You can interact with the media in an intelligent way that will build you some capital with them for when you need them to help you get a story out.

If you don't know how to do this, get with a good PR firm and get some advice and counsel and some media training fast. You'll be glad you did.