Editor’s Note: Prior to PR News’ Media Relations Conference in December in Washington, D.C., PR News and partner PublicRelay, a media monitoring and analytics firm, convened a Communications Leaders Roundtable. During the 90-minute session, 18 senior communicators (listed below) exchanged views on trends, developments and best practices.
Major themes are summarized below. Per agreement, their remarks are unattributed. Following that is a summary of questions and responses during the session.
Data
The difficulty of working with data was a common theme. Several of the participants said they were overwhelmed with data and needed guidance on what to collect and measure. Many said their top challenge was getting the C-suite to rely more on data and less on hunches. “Let the figures guide you,” was the plea of one participant to the C-suite at her company.
Social Media, Trust and Noise
With the session coming only weeks after the NY Times’ expose of Facebook, trust and reputation came to the fore. Several participants wondered aloud about the future of PR’s reputation in the wake of the Times’ story.
The story included details of Facebook’s hiring a D.C. PR firm that allegedly collected and disseminated negative stories about other tech companies to divert attention from Facebook. It also allegedly spread negative information about Facebook critics. Facebook fired the firm the day the story appeared in the paper.
A roundtable participant said her top issues are guarding against fake news on social media. Another is breaking through social’s noise so the brand’s narrative can be heard.
Another chimed in, “Bots are taking over the world. So many tweets come from bots and are fake news.” Difficulty knowing when to engage with critics on social media was another challenge the executives mentioned, as was difficulty measuring the effectiveness of social media. “We’re measuring, but we’re unsure if we’re doing it correctly,” one participant said.
Traditional Media and Relationships
“It’s a sea change. Reporters have opinions…I thought reporters were supposed to be objective...but since they are judged by clicks and how many followers they have,” it influences the kind of stories they do, one participant said.
This led another participant to confess that while her brand desires earned media, “We’re concerned about putting our executives in harm’s way.” Another added, the number of reporters has risen in cities such as NY, LA and DC, but in general newsrooms are smaller. “Brands are having a hard time because the few reporters left seem to be constantly chasing” the big stories of the day.
Many at the table agreed when a participant said, “All our CEO cares about [is coverage] in the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal.”
While several agreed the state of media was worrisome, there seemed to be consensus when the importance of relationships with reporters and other stakeholders was discussed. “Communications still depends on relationships,” said one, though she conceded reporters’ increased duties in smaller newsrooms makes forging ties difficult.
On the other hand, another participant said, “Who’s media? And who’s an influencer?”
There was agreement around the table when a participant mentioned journalists were not alone in being asked to work harder. “Communicators are being asked to do more with less…less budget and staff…and the expectations are the same,” one participant said. This participant added, “How do you concentrate on being strategic when you spend so much time putting out fires?”
What is the State of Media?
There was an audible gasp from some of the assembled participants when one discussed battling the marketing department, which wants all news broken on social only, not shared with traditional reporters.
“Marketing is constantly in the C-suite’s ear pushing this [strategy] to control the narrative,” the participant said, adding, “We feel [a social-only policy] is cutting off a lot of the audience.”
That led to talk of marketing breaking unconfirmed news on social, putting PR in a tough spot when reporters call to get confirmation. “We can’t confirm” so much of what comes out of our company, the participant said, adding, “How do you then make an announcement about a story that’s already been out there” for a while?
Other participants mentioned employees breaking news on social ahead of communications making an announcement. “Employee activism” on social is only going to grow, one said. Another noted, “I want our employees to talk, too, but there have to be guidelines…we had to set some examples…it wasn’t pretty.”
Discuss Measurement at Your Company
Measurement was an area that many participants identified as a struggle. What to measure was a key question.
One participant said, “We measure impressions only, even though it’s the least reliable metric around.” Another said, “Impressions may be meaningless, but they’re a starting point.” Said one participant, “Our C-suite laughs when we use impressions…what’s most effective for us is comparing [metrics] year over year.” Another said, “We look at how people are engaging with our content.”
“In my company all they seem to measure is sales…I remind myself daily that many people in it don’t realize how PR” raises awareness, which can help lead to sales, one person said. “This is why education is a must.”
Several participants discussed whether it’s possible to make a direct correlation between PR and sales. “Companies are out there saying they can” do this, one executive said, “the technology works, but the analytics are suspect…tying sales” directly to PR “is the biggest bugaboo.”
For example, this person said, if a news article mentions a murder near a Starbucks, should that story get credited as a mention of Starbucks? “It’s AVE all over again.”
One participant said “the most powerful metric we have is stories [PR] killed…that goes to reputation management.”
Building Relationships
“At the end of the day,” one participant said, “PR is all about building relationships…my mother was a PR professional years ago. She always told me, ‘Pick up the horn.’” Several agreed, with one saying, “I tell my young staffers it’s not enough to email” journalists, “you need to call them.”
Said another, “That’s an issue for millennials…they don’t like the phone…[but] I don’t know how else you build trust” with journalists and “offer nuance.”
In response, a participant said, “But you have millennial reporters who only respond to Snap and texts.” Said another, “Let’s face it, it’s still important to pitch media, but young people come [to PR] not knowing how to do that.”
An executive added, “With our budgets tightening, earned media is free…so relationships with journalists are critical.” Another pointed out the importance of relationships for building “a reservoir of goodwill…you need it with external audiences but also with media.” This participant said her department sends birthday cards and wedding gifts to journalists. Another added, “Most of what I do has nothing to do with our business. I ask [journalists] about how they are, their parents, what schools they went to…relationships are critical.”
To Whom do you Report?
This question received a range of answers. A sampling:
“I report to marketing. It’s a struggle.”
“I report to sales. My boss has a PR background and also is a lawyer. It’s bizarre.”
“I report to corporate services and share a budget with sales.”
Discuss Budgets/Investment Priorities
The discussion of resources and investments was spirited, and responses varied widely. The group was asked, After staff costs, what’s your biggest spend? “Paid social is my top cost,” said a participant, who added, “I’m trying to reduce [PR] agency spending…I prefer [working with] our people, since they are closer to the business.” Several participants said they were struggling with the question of agency vs in-house work.
Another executive said, “We continue to do more with less…our budget will remain flat [in 2019]…the estimation of PR’s worth is strong [at my company], but it’s not translating into more budget.”
One participant shared a budget trick that led to a lot of conversation. “I look at others’ communications efforts. If they’re good, I tell my bosses…it’s an example of what communications can do.” Another participant added, “I look at a competitor doing something great…then I tell my bosses, ‘we can do that too, but we need a larger budget.’” On the flip side, one communicator mentioned tracking examples of competitors’ communications gaffes. “I take these to my bosses and show them how these mistakes hurt the company’s market value. This can be very powerful in the C-suite.”
Added another, “We’ve talked about the importance of building relationships with media, but we also must have them with the C-suite…with budgets, we are salespeople.”
When proposing a budget, one executive said, it’s critical to know the audience. “Are you pitching the CEO, the CTO, the CFO?” Several communicators agreed. Yes, one said, “You have to read the room and know whom to ask for money and when.” Along those lines, one executive admitted creating content profiling influential company executives. “It helps when I get around to more important topics.”
Added another, “You have to tell your story [to get budget] and you must use data.” Yet another executive said, “I’ve found it effective to argue, ‘What’s the cost of not spending for communications?’” Another participant agreed and added, “Nobody will remember that you didn’t spend money…they’ll remember you built” an effective communications program. One executive noted, “My team grew by being responsive to business priorities, I pushed sales. Sales loves us.”
“I shamelessly milk what we do in the community…I rarely get turned down when I ask for budget for community relations,” another said.
The Participants
Doug Duvall, AVP, Corporate Communications, Amtrak
Carolyn Evert, Head, Northeast Communications, JP Morgan Chase
Jen Warren, Director, Global Communications, Belkin
Sheryl McGaw-Douse, PR Group Manager, Sandals Resorts
Amanda Miller, Director, Corporate Communications, Paypal
Jennifer Mastin Giglio, Executive Director, Communications, Washington Nationals
Lorri Christou, VP External Communications and PR, Choice Hotels
Rosemary Jones, Head, Communications and Marketing,
Bermuda Business Development Agency
Bob Lapinsky, Media and PR Advisor, Accident Fund
Tricia Ross, SVP, Financial Profiles
Spencer Shireman, Marketing Director, RR Realty
Rachel Stultz, Sr. Manager, External Communications, Alliance Data
Kahina Haffad, Community Relations Manager, Loyalty.com
Katie Hoxtell, Marketing Manager, Oshkosh
John Haber, President, Cascade Strategy
Eric Koefoot, President/CEO, PublicRelay
Diane Schwartz, SVP/Group Publisher, PR News
Tyler Suiters, VP Communications, Consumer Technology Association