This month marks my 12th year with Young & Associates. As I reflect on the last decade, it is certain the PR industry has evolved its fair share. While a lot has changed from how consumers digest content to how we conduct meetings and communicate with clients, there are a few things that remain the same:
1) Tenacity is a key tenant of PR
A tenacious, hardworking agency devoted to its clients is necessary to produce results. Meeting clients’ needs, requests and deadlines is imperative for maintaining success. How do you find an agency like this? When you engage with a potential PR partner, ensure that you will be working with the individuals who initially present the program and carefully review their activities and results with current clients.
2) Strong relationships with reporters are key to success
Potential touch points with journalists have multiplied, but reporters’ schedules seem to be busier than ever. While today there are more ways than ever to connect, e.g., Twitter, LinkedIn, HARO, thoughtfully building a connection with journalists is always the best bet for securing positive media coverage down the road. That means closely following journalists’ stories, their social media presence and reaching out from time to time with brief emails to determine if you or your client can serve as a resource.
3) Writing is always at the core
Writing will always be the foundation of an effective PR program. A decade ago, our focus might have been on press releases, byline articles and case studies. Now we have the luxury of producing a greater variety of multi-faceted content pieces. From eBooks to infographics to blog posts, our communication channels continue to grow allowing us to bring even greater visibility to clients.
Cheers to the next decade! I can’t wait to see what is in store.