What keeps Communications Managers Awake at Night?

A Guide for PR Managers 1

What keeps PR Managers awake at night? Thank you for downloading this e-book. Being at a senior level in a communications role can be tough, and may result in sleepless nights questioning strategies, PR plans and crisis control. We gathered up all of our best content relevant to PR and Communications Managers, we also included a real-life case study from one of our clients. Remember, all of the following articles are available on our award-winning blog at mediahq.com/blog where you will find hundreds of insightful articles on media and public relations. You can also listen back to episodes of our Mediaflash podcast at soundcloud/mediahq. The MediaHQ team.

WHAT IS MEDIAHQ.COM? MediaHQ.com is Ireland’s leading media directory. With contact details for over 8,000 journalists listed on our system, our media intelligence is unrivalled. We have helped hundreds of brands including Paddy Power, daa and Fáilte Ireland share their stories through our press release distribution hub. To find out more about the system, email us, [email protected] or call 01 473 2050.

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Ask yourself

Do you need to fix your PR plan?

A well-planned PR strategy is important for all businesses, even if they don’t issue releases every day. It allows you to have a handle on what is going on and gives you the space for spontaneity when something unexpected crops up. If you work on a team, it is important that everybody understands what each other is doing. Invest in some markers and a couple of post-it pads, and publish your daily tasks and ideas on the office walls. That’s just one practical way to solve a messy PR plan. Here’s what else you can try. Know your objectives Measurement has always been tricky in PR. It’s not like a marketing campaign or sales blitz where you simply look at revenue to decide whether or not your strategy is a success. Have a clear set of goals in mind when you are setting up your PR plan. It could be that you want your story to appear in each of the national daily broadsheets or you want to get your CEO on an influential radio programme. Just as long as you know what you are measuring your return-on-investment against. Identify the right media You can issue your release to 500, 600, 700 journalists, but that will not increase your likelihood of getting picked up. In fact, the more journalists you email, the more likely your story will be irrelevant to them. We cap the number of recipients of a give press release to 300, partly to avoid sending a press release to the spam box, but also because it is good practice to focus your message to suit your readers (journalists, remember).

Work within your budget This goes without saying, but you should bear in mind the balance between the costs and benefits of your PR plan. You need to measure your PR ROI.

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Get planning for 2017

PR Strategy Checklist

1. Define the role of PR in your marketing mix An easy way is to start is with a classic SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats). 2. Before you begin, listen Traditional market research isn’t sufficient as the basis for a PR plan incorporating traditional and social media. In order to get the strongest and strategic programs is to investigate what customers are posting and tweeting about the brand—or, as the case may be, what they’re not saying online. 3. Define your differentiators Marketing and advertising are highly useful for informing customers of new products or services or innovations like price changes, but a good PR strategy often rests upon true brand differentiation or the ability to create it. Think about the narrative that will carry the program and what mix of tactics can best communicate that difference. 4. Identify the biggest influencers Social media and the “attention economy” have created a new class of influencers. In many cases they deliver more sway, both pro and con, and greater influence than in the past. 5. Plan tactics in quarterly initiatives The overall PR strategy, positioning, target audiences, and key messages are typically fixed elements of a plan, but tactics might require constant review and change. 6. Build in flexibility As digital and social media grow in influence, PR professionals and their clients must be flexible to avoid missing opportunities. It is important to be constantly monitoring changes and quickly adapting to such changes in influence etc. Given the dynamic news environment in which we operate, building in contingencies for key announcements and tactics is only good sense. 7. Ensure message alignment It’s a myth that PR, advertising, and direct marketing must constantly push out the same message, but they do have to mesh rather than conflict. For example, paid media might be based on an innovative product technology, whereas a PR program conveys leadership. These are distinct yet aligned messages. Bonus Tip Always track objectives Bear in mind that the objectives for a strategic PR program are often not conversions. PR doesn’t stand alone as a consistent tool for demand generation. Rather, it works best to build brand awareness over the long term, position a company as a preferred partner or employer, create a leadership positioning, or build support around a relevant topic or issue.

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Uh oh we’re in trouble

Crisis Communications Strategy Tips

PR crisis management is all about preparation; having a solid plan in place will make it easier for you to focus on managing your company’s reputation during a media storm.

We’ve said it time and time again: Every PR pro experiences a crisis at some point in their career. It doesn’t always have to be catastrophic—even a small-scale problem can be really stressful. That’s why it’s a good idea to do some prep while things are going smoothly. Here are three tips to get you started on your crisis management plan. 1. Have your literature to hand There will be a lot of pressure on you to issue statements and respond to claims being made by reporters, your customers or whoever has pointed the finger. Even just having the bones of a press release or official comment will make your life easier. You should write out the general gist of your literature. Keep it as neutral as possible so you can get it out early without having to doubt every word. You can go even further and write up a series of Q and As that journalists can use to add context to the story while you try to make sense of the situation. 2. Who you gonna call? You should create an emergency contacts list on MediaHQ with all the journalists you need to reach in case of a PR crisis. You should include reporters that you have already built a rapport with—people that you trust will give your side a fair say. Don’t expect them to go easy on you though. Just because you have a good working relationship doesn’t make you friends. It is a journalist’s duty to the public to scrutinise what your organisation does. 3. Invest in media training You cannot underestimate the value of media training your staff. Even if they never have to face a press scrum during a PR crisis, it is important that your entire staff understands how the media works. This will help pull your team together when things go awry. You also won’t have to worry about them unwittingly posting any sensitive information on social media and becoming an accidental “spokesperson”.

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Communications Director Case Study

Engineering PR success with CIF

Shane Dempsey is Director of Communications with the Construction Industry Federation. Last Tuesday he sent a press release at 8.30am, and by the time he was making a mid-morning cup of coffee, his work had received national PR coverage. When the government announced funding to help deal with the current housing crisis. Shane, a seasoned communications professional, saw a strong media opportunity for the CIF.

Shane used the MediaHQ service to construct a press release entitled ‘CIF welcome government infrastructure fund as a significant step in house building crisis’ What worked? Shane logged on to the MediaHQ.com website early, and began writing his release. Sending out your release early is crucial for gaining media coverage. The release was topical and in the news agenda. The CIF communications team made sure that they were on hand to answer media queries and questions. One of Shane’s favourite aspects of the service is that he can use the database to send out his release, but it will appear as though he sent it from his own email and shows the CIF name. Why MediaHQ? Before joining MediaHQ, CIF updated and kept their own media lists. Over time they found these contacts tended to turn stale as the media is constantly changing. It was time for a new approach to their system. Now that he uses MediaHQ, once his release is perfected he can send it to his choice of over 8,000 journalists in a few clicks. Coming from an agency background and with 14 years of working in communications, Shane is familiar with the PR ‘norm’ of the updating of contact excel sheets or the little black book of media contacts. Shane said how this process takes up a lot of valuable time. Luckily Shane is an early riser who didn’t mind an early start to send his release. But the MediaHQ system also offers users the option to schedule releases making it easier for those who may not be the quickest in the mornings.

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