Most PR pros know to analyze their targets’ work before pitching. Few make the time. Even if they did, what exactly would one look for? Here’s an exercise anyone can do, and it can reveal quite a bit about how they might cover your news.
Here’s a retake of a piece we published earlier this year. What exactly do readers want and need? Most PR pros see the world in terms of companies, technologies, stories and beats. There’s another way to look at things, and it might shake loose new opportunity.
No airplanes? No problem! We’ve moved our coverage-challenge brainstorming fully online, and we’ve learned (and re-learned) many a lesson, in prepping for the sessions and in conversation. Here’s a Q&A summarizing problems and solutions relating to pandemic responses and social unrest — and some general pitching do’s and don’ts.
Most journalists like to say that they don’t need help from a PR professional, but in my career I’ve found their assistance valuable in specific situations beyond general news requests. If you’re looking to be proactive and find areas where you can assist a journalist, these areas can be the start of establishing a relationship for future pitches and client outreach.
Reporters and editors love roundups, because it lets them quickly provide readers with lists of different companies providing similar offerings around a single topic, especially when that topic is timely (witness all the Covid-19 roundups lately). But PR agencies tend to dislike them, because they don’t get as much credit for a roundup placement…
[PR pro Amanda Orr writes:] Like much of the country, communications teams both in-house and at PR firms have been in a holding pattern. As we look at the Johns Hopkins tracker on a daily basis, watching the numbers of infections and fatalities climb, we knew (at least I hope most of us knew) that this wasn’t the time to send emails or make cold calls…
David Strom says: “My inbox is overflowing with a virus: all Covid, all the time, with pitches and experts offered from all walks of life. It isn’t just the infosec vendors, either: I’ve gotten pitches from genealogy vendors, and how sports reporters are coping now that there are no professional games being played.”
Writes PR pro Alex: “Hanging out with reporters is my favorite part of the week and, having done it for a while, I’ve noticed some personality types that seem to recur. Here’s a pair of some of the most colorful media personalities I’ve encountered, and tips for getting on their good side.”
We asked Tier 1 and B2B journalists, “What role should PR be playing at this time?” Here’s what they had to say. Their answers were given Mar. 22 and 23.
Finding out that a client lied to you can be demoralizing, but it can also become a larger business problem if you don’t identify the lie until it’s too late.
YOUR ACCOUNT
FRIDGE NOTES
Here’s a true story. An Oct. 8 Adweek headline says, ‘Press Releases Have Become Way Too Hyperbolic.’ The deck says, ‘Experts Warn the Loss of Credibility Could Lead to Catastrophe.”
TechCrunch redesigned this week. Still green, less clutter. Built for the phone. Events and newsletters rank higher in the home page scroll than startups, venture and AI. No enterprise section. Parent Yahoo invested this money to build engagement. More changes due in 2025, EIC Connie Loizos says.
Adweek’s Mark Stenberg reports that Wired is getting into the awards business. The Wired 101 Awards will debut in October. Be on the lookout for the announcement.
BI’s publishing software knows what you’ve clicked on before and where you came from. Through Google Analytics, BI also knows how all readers react to certain content. Once you visit, BI knows whether to ask you to subscribe, or to register, or just to let you see everything for just that one visit. Conversions rose 75 percent this year. Digiday got the scoop (subscription required).
Fascinating piece from Lars Lofgren about how a Forbes subsidiary — under the Forbes name — has managed to dominate Google search results…
…and now it turns out that Forbes — both iterations — are set to be purchased by the venture arm of Koch Industries. Nice scoop, Sara.
Now that it has sold off its classifieds business, the owner of Politico and Business Insider will go shopping for more titles. Don’t be surprised if News Corp. sells the WSJ to Axel Springer, especially if Lachlan Murdoch loses his grip on the media empire built by his politically conservative father.
