To ensure your company is presented in the best light to the widest possible audience, regardless of whether you outsource your PR or handle it in-house – it can take time, and lots of it.
Despite what some will tell you, there’s no such thing as FREE PR. If you are a business owner, time spent on PR is time lost on revenue generation. If you have a staff member do the task for you, their hourly rate and costs needs to be attributed to your FREE PR.
PR takes constant time and energy including:
Curating Media Lists & Forging Long-Term Relationships
Creating a targeted media list you have personally curated for accuracy can take many hours of your time – and that’s just the start. Your list needs to be constantly updated and maintained. Media contacts are renowned to be hard to get access to (think strict and impending deadlines!) and also move on quite frequently.
Crafting a Newsworthy Release
Press releases that are likely to attract attention must be specifically targeted to the media they are sent to. This means they need to be researched and crafted correctly – in the best format to catch an editor’s eye. You may need to pitch different angles to different media contacts – the worst thing to do is assume your release can be a one-stop shop.
Pitching
Pitching to your media list isn’t just about hitting ‘send’ and sitting back to reap the rewards. It involves follow up’s, angles and time – lots of time. Conversations need to be had – is it relevant, are you working on anything that could suit, what else can we give you to support the story.
Doing PR in-house has its benefits, but you must be prepared to understand upfront that there is no such thing as FREE PR. If you don’t have any other option but to manage your own PR, try and find ways to get some help with the area’s you are less confident or experienced in – for example you could get some help crafting a release and keep your media list small and manageable for you to send out and follow up.
Renee
Can We Help You?
Wise Up offers a professional public relations management solution for businesses who want consistent and complimentary public attention and awareness. We set strategies to convey and amplify the personality of your product or service, meet your objectives and link your brand messages with imaginative and topical communications.
Headed up by Renee Raper our PR Specialist, we have first-hand experience on ‘the other side’ so we understand best what will attract an Editor’s attention, and what will not. Trust us with your next branding campaign. Our clients have been featured on Sunrise, in the Sunday Telegraph, in top Newstand Magazines, and we’ve even made it all the way to Mashable in the US!
Check out some of our PR Packages here or contact us for information on some of our new DIY packages to get even more bang for your buck!