PR Insiders

PR is a fairly young industry. The average age of a person in the industry is 35-39, according to a study by the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics. This is why it’s such a vibrant and exciting space. Yet millennials are known for job-hopping more than generations past. How can employers in PR retain millennial talent? An experienced executive shares a few tips.

If economics is the dismal science, then measurement surely must make a compelling argument for being PR’s grim discipline. There are plenty of tools for PR measurement, but which one to choose? And then, what should you measure? Yet there are ways around these issues and many of them probably are well within your means and abilities. More than that, measurement actually can be an upbeat exercise. And while we’re at it, the connection between dismal and economics may be faulty.

If economics is the dismal science, then measurement surely must make a compelling argument for being PR’s grim discipline. Similar to regular exercise and eating a balanced diet, measurement is something communicators know they should… Continued

Building a mutually beneficial relationship with journalists is arguably the biggest challenge for a PR professional. In a perfect world, emailing a story pitch about your business should be enough to connect with a journalist. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a perfect world. In the real world, where we live, journalists are busy and their inboxes are probably always inundated with pitches. So how do PR pros ensure that they make the cut and grab the attention of journalists? Here are tips that will help.

All industries recycle trends. If an expert declares a style, medium or influence is dead, beware! You’ll almost always see it again several years later in a modified form. Who thought we’d use record players again? And yet here we are in 2017 collecting vinyl. Were you around to see skinny (tapered) jeans and knit ties go out in the 80s? Well, they’re back in style. It’s the same for communications.

It was an effective pitch: brief, tailored to the media outlet that received it, clearly and cleanly written. It pitched an essay about a relevant topic: best practices for small companies and startups seeking to obtain media coverage. That’s why the pitch, from a PR firm representing a communications director at a brand, and its attached essay made it through several layers of editors until it reached your blogger, with a message affixed from a PR News colleague: potentially usable content. It went downhill from there.

“Journalists are grammar nerds.” – Kristen Page-Kirby, Senior Arts Editor, Washington Post Express “You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression.” – Attributed to several people, including: Will Rogers, Oscar Wilde, Mark… Continued

For those of you who are dealing with customers and stakeholders (who isn’t?), a little customer service goes a long way. Little, as in, call someone back (text or email is also fine) within a reasonable time frame. Treat them like you don’t want to lose them. Bad customer service experience can not only inconvenience you, it can change the whole way you feel about a brand.

Rarely do I mess with cookies, except to eat them. But an experience over the last two weeks with a furniture retailer had me clearing the cookies from my computer. So annoyed was I by… Continued

Please put down your smartphone for a moment (after reading this paragraph on your smartphone) and ask yourself if you’re addicted to your smartphone. You may try to weasel out of answering the question by… Continued