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A recent
study by the Public Relations Society of America showed
that almost three quarters (74.5%) of the marketing
executives questioned believe that publicity and media
relations were the best indicators of a PR firm’s
effectiveness. Translated to investment, the greatest
percentage of measurement dollars was allocated to the
quality of publicity placement. Unfortunately, many
executives and PR folks still equate publicity with
press releases. That concept is more incorrect now than
ever.
Literally
thousands of press releases cross the wires every day.
Some companies believe that they can get coverage simply
by inundating editors with releases. What they fail to
recognize is that there is nothing that can cause more
angst amongst journalists than getting bombarded with
trivial press releases. In fact, poorly written or
innocuous releases can cause a company more harm than
good.
A recent
study (see this month’s article Using Online
Effectively) of journalists showed that while press
release volume has increased over the last two years,
74% of the press releases were of no genuine interest.
Announcing
an internal promotion, a change of address, or any
number of mundane events is not news. Taking a
journalist’s time to evaluate that you actually have
nothing to say is not the best way to get an article
written about your company.
While over
90 percent of both clients and agencies believe that a
PR firm should thoroughly understand a client’s business
and strategies, only 55% of the firms say that they
conduct the needed research to analyze what is needed to
match the company strategy with a communications
program.
Public
relations are all about publicity – a fundamental concept
that we have embraced from the beginning. What is the
point of a campaign, if there is no concrete result
obtained, whether it is a news story, an interview, or a
scheduled public speaking engagement? These results
require more than a series of simple press releases –
they require proactive media relations, creative ideas,
and dynamic execution.
The next
time you are tempted to send out a press release, stop
and think – how can we actually have an article written
about this? Is it worth an article? If so, who would
want to write about it? How would I contact them? And
how would I turn on their “light bulb” quickly to get a
response? --now that’s media relations. |
