In Stephen Ambrose’s book “Undaunted Courage,” readers learn about the courageous Lewis and Clark Expedition, and the advanced planning and preparation that went into such a grand, historic adventure. It got me thinking just how important a fraction of such planning is for a client’s public relations program.
Depending on the nature of the agency/client relationship, PR plans can go many different ways.
But there are some key objectives necessary for every plan. They include:
Setting the parameters of a PR program and the appropriate expectations of results with clients
Providing guidance on program priorities
Establishing a roadmap for tactical execution
Usually, the account executive spearheads the development of a plan in conjunction with other members of an account team, and certainly with the insights of the client’s PR and marketing leads.
From my perspective, each PR plan should be original to a client, given its circumstances, yet still draw upon the best practices of the agency.
Furthermore, the account executive should confirm the form-factor of such a plan. Is a narrative proposal in Word, a PowerPoint presentation, or an Excel spreadsheet with tabs the best way to communicate the agency’s thought process? Ask your client before embarking on one vs. another.
It should go without saying, but any plan should be built on sound research, outlining key issues and trends related to a client’s business and market space, and include target audiences, competitors, and influencers. Brainstorming among client team members is one effective way to generate fresh ideas, and to develop strong communication goals, strategies and tactics in support of the client’s overall business objectives.
A detailed PR plan should consider the following program elements:
Situational analysis
Share of voice and social amplification
Influencing the influencers
Target verticals
Target audiences
Business goals
Communication goals
PR strategies and recommendations
PR tactics (may include such things as editorial calendars, and speaker, award and event research based on the program’s direction)
Target influencers (media and others)
Budget
Calendar of activities
PR metrics
Any optional program elements for client consideration, such as analyst relations
At its heart, a PR plan establishes the communication objectives, strategies and tactics toward reaching a client’s business goals. Such materials are crucial to ensuring that all key constituencies from executives to line-of-business and marketing leaders are aligned with the direction of the program. Such a plan serves as a beacon, and ensures that everyone agrees with the program’s elements, metrics, budget and results.
And much like Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and the Corps of Discovery, achievements will be celebrated.
While every tool in the PR arsenal from press releases to bylines offer value in generating attention, a strong case study has the potential to stand above the rest as a real-world example of how a vendors’ product helped a customer solve a vexing business problem.
A strong case study can help a company begin to move beyond talk to illustrate action specifically the positive outcomes, enhanced revenue or cost savings a prospect can achieve by taking the action of implementing your product. Customers want to know you have experience solving problems just like the ones their company is currently experiencing, and a case study provides the perfect opportunity to demonstrate exactly what your company and product accomplished to deliver value to a similar organization.
A well-executed case study must tell a story. In this story, the hero is the customer that boldly and courageously implemented your product to better serve her own patients or customers. The vendor plays the role of the humble servant, providing support and guidance to help the hero accomplish her goals and save the day.
In its most basic form, a case study’s story consists of “Problem -> Solution -> Results” but a strong case study requires more. Think of it as a job interview in which your primary challenge is to convince a prospect why your product is the one she should hire for the position.
When developing your next cast study, be sure to include these four essential elements:
Customer quotes: Don’t just tell us how the customer feels about your product, show us by using the customer’s own words. A customer’s own words always carry more weight and create a greater impact than what a vendor says about its own solution. The best way to obtain valuable quotes is to interview end-users of the product.
Quantified results: Nothing is more demoralizing for a case study consumer than to feel interest and curiosity while reading through the introduction, problem and solution sections, only to come to a disappointing results section that contains vague language of improvement and no key metrics. It’s a sure way to turn off a prospect who was beginning to consider your solution. After implementation, did your solution help the customer make money, save money, see more patients, or improve operations in some other quantifiable way? Let us know about it in as much detail as possible. While some customers are understandably reluctant to share specific dollar amounts, they’re more likely to approve of using percentages, such as “grew revenues 50 percent one year after adopting the solution.”
What’s next: It isn’t lost on most people that a case study must include detailed information on how a customer has already used a vendor’s solution, but it’s easy to forget to include details about future plans. Does the customer plan to expand use of the solution with a new patient population, offer it at a new location or purchase a complementary product? Including this information will help prospects conceive of a long-term strategy for their adoption of your product.
Call to action: Another easy-to-forget aspect of a case study is the call-to-action (CTA), which provides the vendor with an opportunity near the end of the piece to request a specific action from the reader. Whether you’re offering the reader more content to consume or a free giveaway, or asking them to fill out a form, be sure to make the experience as easy as possible for the user to complete.
Wherever your latest prospect is in the customer journey, a solid case study holds the possibility of providing that nudge to take the next step. When you sit down to plan out your next customer case study, don’t forget these four essential elements.
The writing “Bible” for public relations is the AP stylebook. Anytime a PR professional (or anyone writing for media publication for that matter) is unsure of what to do, such as whether to capitalize an executive’s title in a press release, a quick glance at the print or online version will provide the correct answer. (For the record, the answer is “no” as this blog post points out.)
This reliance on the AP stylebook can lead one to think that its rules are all set in stone. But one would be wrong, as the post, “10 Recent AP Stylebook Changes and Reminders You Should Know About,” from Cision points out.
Whether you are debating whether the correct spelling for a particular type of wine is syrah or shiraz, wondering whether someone who uses the emergency department a lot should be labeled a frequent flyer or frequent flier (the former is correct), or how to use a number in a headline (use numerals for all, even though in the body you write out one through nine and then go to numerals from 10 on), the AP stylebook has the answers. And it’s continually being adjusted, so don’t assume!
I’m at that point in my career in PR as an agency account director that I can take a clear-eyed stock of what my job is really like and entails. I’m fascinated by some of the main characteristics I don’t think they’d necessarily be noted in a class on PR, yet they are undeniably the best perks of the job. Here they are, in no particular order:
#1. PR is a career you can explain to your child in one sentence. This is surprisingly difficult for many jobs and careers, but in my case, it’s pretty simple. Here’s what I told my son, who was about 9 at the time, when he asked me what my job was: “I help get people in the news.”
Now, his follow up question, “Why?” required a more extensive explanation. But the job description itself remained a piece of cake
#2. People are (mostly) quick to respond to your emails and calls. Well, maybe not reporters, alas. But effective PR requires quick, responsive action and the thought leaders I communicate with on a daily basis understand that. Also, I’m communicating with them about interesting media opportunities. In short, people have a reason and a desire to quickly respond to their publicist.
#3. You’ll be a problem solver. If you are thinking about a career in PR, prepare to make judgment calls all day long. This is fairly terrifying at first, but you’ll never be bored. Throughout your day, you will be confronted with one decision after another to make. Should you pursue the media opportunity that just came across your desk? How do you fix someone’s problematic edits to a press release without insulting them? Your client’s customer who agreeably sat down for an interview with a top trade publication just emailed you asking to see the article before it’s published–something you know most reporters won’t agree to. How do you respond?
These are just some of the issues I’ve had to address in the last 30 minutes. In case you’re interested, here’s how I solved them: I researched the website traffic numbers of the media publication, plus the reporter’s past articles, and also sent out a query to my colleagues at the agency to see if they’ve worked with this reporter. I tactfully explained to the client why I thought we needed to tweak the language, and provided some alternative phrasing. And I explained to the client’s customer that reporters generally don’t share articles, but we can ask if quotes can be shown ahead of time.
After a while, you get pretty good at thinking on your feet. Just don’t ever be hesitant to ask for feedback from your colleagues. We’ll never know it all, and if you work with a smart team, you’ll get lots of great ideas. Don’t be afraid to ask, and of course, don’t hoard your own knowledge. Share the wealth.
#4. You can change the course of history. If you are doing your job, you are absorbing a tremendous amount of knowledge about your industry niche. Pairing this with your client’s own mission, you can shape the court of public opinion. Right now, I’m involved in explaining, educating and advocating for healthcare’s shift to value-based care, which could have implications on our health for decades or even centuries. If all goes as planned, we’ll have physicians pay as much if not more attention to keeping us well as they do to treating us when we’re sick. Our life expectancies could become significantly longer.
One caveat: I won’t get credit for any of this. Publicists usually aren’t publicly known faces. Well, except for one brief shining moment in the early 2000’s.
#5. You will get to meet and speak with people you might never have crossed paths with in a different career. In my four years at Amendola Communications, I’ve sat in a user meeting for nuclear medicine physicists; had dinner with a celebrity OB-GYN; and work regularly with a young woman who has scaled the heights of Kilimanjaro. I also frequently interact with thought leaders and executives at the top of their game, brilliant physicians and nurse leaders and some of the most dynamic communications professionals in the PR industry today. Pretty invigorating!
Public relations really is one of the most interesting careers one could tap into. Still, it’s not for the faint of heart. As with any results-driven profession, there is stress and self-doubt and many highs and lows…sometimes, all of this within a 30-minute time span. But here at Amendola, we’ve got that covered too: an always full chocolate drawer.
Many young organizations seeking to amplify their marketing and communications initiatives look to a public relations agency to help augment existing sales and marketing initiatives. But PR is not a one-size-fits-all discipline and it isn’t limited to media relations, as some still believe. Which means there are all types of ways to become a PR client.
Certainly, media coverage can be powerful, but is your organization built in such a way as to attract the kind of coverage needed to move the business needle? Or are there other facets of PR that you should consider that are more targeted and a better fit for how your business works? Let’s start by taking a look at what your current organizational strengths are.
Media Relations Why and Why Not?
Not all organizations are well-suited or prepared to generate media coverage. Earning coverage is already not an easy task, but can be impossible if your organization doesn’t have some key assets.
Asset #1 A Story
To get coverage in the media, whether it’s a trade publication or The New York Times, you need a story. The growing number of journalists publishing on the internet means there are a lot of places for you to potentially see your story. However, despite enthusiasm and passion within your organization for the projects, products, services and industry trends that you’re involved in, journalists often still don’t see the value to their readers. Some questions to ask yourselves that can help determine if your story is a winner for journalists:
How unique is your business or niche? If you do something that a lot of other companies do, or if you produce a commodity product, it will be more difficult to find a story hook.
Do you have SMEs that possess a truly unique experience and point of view on key trends? Personalities can drive coverage, particularly if you have people that are uniquely qualified to discuss certain topics.
Do you have customers in the healthcare realm this typically means providers that are willing to share experiences and outcomes either (or both) patient health outcomes and financial outcomes?
Asset #2 Data
Building off that last point top tier business journalists are always looking for data. They are a skeptical bunch, and claims of performance are not enough. Validation data represents something that media can sink their teeth into. All the better if you have a third-party such as a healthcare provider or a representative from a respected professional association share their data and perspectives on your story.
With those two key assets in mind, we can look at two very common asks that PR pros get from clients; interviews and content marketing.
Interviews
Every organization would love to have its leaders interviewed. But, despite the number of media publishing online, the amount of top-tier publications with editorial staff dedicated to doing interviews and writing in-depth stories is shrinking. That means that the ones that do interviews can be extremely selective. To stand out, you absolutely must have both of the key assets we’ve discusses a great story , and data to back it up. For B2B organizations, this almost always means linking the reporter up with a customer e.g. a physician, a hospital system executive, etc. that can speak to how a solution helped them solve a problem with data that supports the point.
If your organization has a difficult time coaxing customers to speak out on your behalf, interviews will be harder to come by. But there is another option that might work better.
Content Marketing
Such organizations may have a much more successful program if they lean more heavily into content marketing. By producing your own content and sharing it online, through social media, and through email marketing campaigns, you can control your message and time your stories based on your calendar.
Content is also a good alternative to interviews for these kinds of organizations. If your organization is staffed with a group of subject matter experts, you can often find a home for your story by writing it yourself. Most media are understaffed, yet still hungry for content, so bylined articles by your leaders are a great way to get your message out to targeted audiences.
Finding the right fit
Many, if not all, organizations can benefit from including PR in their marketing mix. It’s important, though, to have a good understanding of how your organization can best utilize PR for maximum success.
Setting out on a program heavily focused on media relations may not be the right fit if your organization doesn’t have unique and compelling data to support its claims of market differentiation. But even without a bench of enthusiastic customer champions ready to help you share your story, you can still find success through other channels, such as content marketing.
While it is often a satisfying and rewarding career, sometimes public relations can be like river dancing through a mine field. Unlike marketing, where you have the ability to manage every aspect of the process, in PR there are a lot of variables over which you have no control. Those variables can lead to some significant (and embarrassing) interview mistakes.
Now, it’s true that even the best-laid plans can go awry. I’m not talking about things such as a stock market crash, the discovery of the Lost Ark, or some other “stop the presses” news event occurring on the same day as your big product announcement that causes all your interviews to be canceled. Those you have to chalk up to you-know-what happens and live to fight another day.
What I’m talking about is the unforced errors that can come as a result of poor preparation or not paying attention to the details. Here are a few you’ll want to be sure to avoid.
Not thoroughly testing the product before a demo
This happened at previous agency I worked at, although thankfully not to me. The agency had a client who had developed educational software for use in schools, and had scheduled a press conference in Washington, DC to debut it and hopefully gain government support for it.
My colleagues at the agency worked diligently to get major news outlets to attend, including cable news networks who brought camera crews to document this wonderful new development. The CEO started putting the product through its paces, which went fine for a while. Then it happened.
He talked about how the software would prevent students from going on to inappropriate websites, and he proudly entered the URL of a well-known porn site that shared a name with the president’s residence. Sure enough, up popped images that were decidedly not safe for school, work, or press conferences.
At that point the camera crews started packing up, the print journalists left, and the client was left staring at an empty room long before the scheduled demo was over. Needless to say, the big press event didn’t generate any publicity which was probably a good thing given the stories that could have come out.
Had the client run the demo that day before the press conference, they could have identified the problem and fixed it before the press arrived. But they didn’t. The moral of the story is never leave anything to chance.
Not preparing properly for an interview
A good PR professional will usually put together background information for the subject matter expert (SME) before an interview. The information will include the topic the journalist is interested in covering and how it relates to what the company does. In some cases, the journalist will even send sample questions prior to the interview so the SME know ahead of time what areas of the topic the journalist plans to focus on.
That’s all great information. But just like patients need to take their prescriptions and follow the doctor’s plan of care if they want to get healthier, the SMEs need to study the background material and come in prepared if they want to improve their chances of making it into the story.
Interviews that veer off-topic like a sports car speeding down an icy road are unlikely to produce much that’s usable to a journalist. SMEs who stumble through their answers sound like they don’t know what they’re talking about even when they do and thus are more likely to be dismissed by a journalist who has multiple sources.
Remember that unlike your company’s PR agency or internal writers who have to make something out of what the SME says, no matter how off-the-wall it is, journalists are under no obligation to use them as sources. Proper preparation will yield better results.
Turning an interview into a sales presentation
This is related to the previous point, but is kind of the other end of the spectrum. In this case the SME knows what he/she wants to say, but it doesn’t really have anything to do with the interview topic. Instead, the SME wants to tout product features regardless of the questions.
Going that route is one of the fastest ways to get an interview to end early and to find your organization left out of the story. Remember that the journalist isn’t talking to the SME to purchase the company’s product. He/she is trying to help readers learn more about a topic.
Not saying something quotable
Remember Ben Stein as Ferris Buehler’s economics teacher? If not, here’s a quick video reminder:
Everything the teacher says is true. But it’s not memorable, interesting, or engaging. Thus the blank looks on his student’s faces.
Part of good preparation for an interview is thinking of what you’d ideally like the SME to be quoted as saying about the topic. Then write it out, have it handy, and have the SME look for a way to work it into the conversation. Putting together a few good options is even better.
Some people are better at coming up with sound bites on the spot than others. If you have an SME who is one of those, you may not need to take this extra step. But if you don’t, give him/her a helping hand and you’re more likely to see your company included.
Droning on, and on, and on, and
I’ve definitely been in interviews where it sounded like someone pushed the “play” button on the SME and then went out to get a sandwich. It can be painful. It also makes you wonder how long the SME can hold their breath under water.
An interview is supposed to be a two-way conversation between the journalist and the SME. Tough to have a conversation, however, when one side talks non-stop for a half hour.
Be sure SMEs know they should keep answers relatively short, and take frequent pauses in case the journalist wants to go more deeply into something he/she said. Asking “does that make sense?” or a similar type of question also gives the journalist a chance to speak, and possibly redirect the conversation if he/she isn’t getting what’s needed.
Dropping your guard too soon
This one also happened to someone else’s client during an in-person interview at another agency. The conversation had gone well, and the SME and journalist were packing things up to leave.
Then the journalist asked an offhand question about some confidential information about the company, and the SME (who was CEO, as I recall) was only too happy to share it, figuring that the interview was already over. Wrong. Guess what became the headline of the story?
As Yogi Berra used to say, “It ain’t over “˜til it’s over.” SMEs should never say anything to a journalist that they don’t want to see used in the story, even if it feels like they’re through with the formal interview.
Unless someone specifies a comment is “off the record” (and even then sometimes with those rare unscrupulous journalists) it’s all fair game. Remember that and a lot of embarrassment and hand-wringing will be saved.
Go for the win
Things are going to happen during interviews from time to time that prevent your organization from making it into the story. But your SMEs don’t have to help that process along.
Avoid the unforced errors and you’ll find you get a lot more value from your PR investment.
What sorts of interview errors have you seen? Share your stories in the comments below.
