Though it is always best to hire the best public relations agency, you can also start PR by yourself if you are smart. You need good knowledge, patience to research and a lot of other skills to get started. We, as the best public relations agency, have some tips for you to get started:
If you have something to share about your brand, there is no reason why you can’t. But of course you need to know about the basics.
What is PR?
Public Relations is a wide industry. It has assumed many meanings over the years. In the simplest of terms, PR is the active maintenance of the relationship between company and public.
When should you consider doing PR?
Imagine you open a small cafe in your society and you want people to know. Passing flyers, asking people to write reviews for inviting a reporter or influencer is a good start. You can also ask your local paper to cover the cafe for you. Then, you have to start speaking about the USPs of the cafe and why you want people to visit.
Similarly, if you have any product/service that you feel is ready to roll out, you have to consider getting the word out. This can be done through social media also. It’s in your control to post on various accounts, ask people to tag you, give you reviews and all. This way people will know about your brand.
To be your own PR agent, you need to be an expert in writing news. So what should your news include? The headline should grab attention, the first paragraph should have the 5W’s and 1H so that people know everything about the article. It should talk about how you are different, why people should consider you and how you are moving forward. Your pitch needs to be grammatically correct as weak grammar messes with the heads of journalists. Be concise, short and informative.
When your pitch is ready, always ensure that you know who the relevant journalists are who are ready to cover your piece. Finding this out may look like a difficult task, but it isn’t that hard. Obviously it requires time, patience and research to figure out the different beats of journalists and figure out the ones who are relevant for your brand. After finding out your main journalists, look for the platforms they work with and get their contact information and email ids. You can try LinkedIn to find out their contact infos or you can message them there in a professional manner.
Finally, time to send out the pitch. You always need to follow up but make sure that you don’t constantly irritate the person at the other end. Whatever you do, never forget to be professional.
If you are finally able to break through and get an interview, you have to make sure that you are a confident speaker and you face the camera with the confidence they want. If you feel you can’t do that, make someone else from your brand do it. If you want the spotlight on just you, then have a media specialist train you.
Final tip: Make and build networks. Be friendly in a professional setting to every media outlet-big or small. That is the way you grow.
