Roxy's Little Black Book of Tips and Tricks by Roxy Jacenko

Author:Roxy Jacenko
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Published: 2018-10-12T16:00:00+00:00

PR 101—always do your research

The golden rule of PR is always do your research! I refer to this as ‘PR 101’, the essential skill that all publicists should master.

If you’re looking for a profession where you can finish at 5 pm and then switch off for the weekend, PR is not for you. You must always be alert and on the lookout for opportunities for your clients, seeking unique angles or inspiration. You should always be doing your research. Yes, even on the weekends!

Being prepared and taking the time to read magazines, newspapers, websites and blogs, and keeping up to date with the influencers of the moment are essential for PR success. In order to ensure your pitch is relevant and newsworthy for the media, you need to know media outlets inside out, including their audience, style and other stories they’ve published that are related to your pitch or similar.

In order to build a relationship with the media and influencers, you need speak to them individually—remember the lesson on email etiquette back in the Business chapter? It’s so important to know their preferences, their position, the publication and the way it’s evolving and changing. Doing your research will give you some context from a professional standpoint and also enable you to ask them questions that make them feel like you care—how was your weekend away in the Blue Mountains? How’s that adorable new puppy of yours? Everyone likes to be treated as an individual.

Research is also super important when engaging influencers as part of a campaign. The influencer needs to make sense for the client and their product, not be selected purely because of their follower count. Research is essential to discover their preferences, style and preferred way of engaging with a brand or product. (We will cover working with social media influencers in depth in the Social Media chapter.) I see far too many companies failing to do their research when it comes to influencers—they’re the new media, so treat them accordingly.

Taking the time to do your own research is also vital as a matter of courtesy. Spending five minutes before sending that email or sending that invitation could make or break a relationship.

A great example that comes to mind happened several years ago. We received a personalised invitation for a client and her mother to attend a Mother’s Day morning tea less than one month after her mum had passed away. While of course it’s impossible to always know these things, on this particular occasion the mother’s passing was quite public and a quick check of Instagram (or in fact simply paying attention and knowing who it was they were inviting) would have alerted them to this. This insensitive incident, where the timing was way off, could so easily have been avoided.

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