“PR is not rocket science”
Here we go again with another way to save money in tough economic times/the GFC/the current climate. Bear with me. The latest PR cost-cutting initiative comes from agency Handle Communications, which has set up the website Handle Your Own PR. It’s designed to help cash-strapped small businesses do their own PR by buying media contact lists and press release writing tips.
Now judging by my last blog on guaranteed press coverage or your PR for free, I’m interested to hear your views on this latest idea. Does it devalue the services of a PR agency? Because if you can still achieve results by doing it yourself (with a little paid-for help), why would you pay a professional significantly more to do the whole job for you?
Simone Heydon and Jules Brooke, who’ve been running Handle Communications for six years, say the website’s been created to allow small and home-based businesses to do PR themselves.
“PR is not rocket science,” says Jules. “You need a strong media release, some great media contacts and the time to dedicate to your campaign.”
The site explains what PR is, how to go about setting up a campaign and media release writing tips. It sells a variety of media contact lists and a media release writing service. It also tells you what to gather before you start (“gorgeous photography and media samples”), how to approach the media and what not to do (“don’t call the editor too many times—no one likes a stalker!”). I agree with them on the last point, that’s for sure!
I’m not sure whether this approach devalues PR or if it provides those who can’t afford to engage an agency with something between giving it a go with no knowledge and paying a PR to do the job for you. Isn’t something better than nothing? As the Handle team says: “The Handle Your Own PR offering is a little like cutting your own child’s hair; you know the professional hairdresser will do a better job, but sometimes you just can’t afford to use them and sometimes you want to have a go yourself!”
What do you think?
Fair play to them for offering that although it\’s same in-house vs agency PR debate. There are a number of companies that are very succesful in doing their own PR; there are others that have great PR via an agency. There are pros and cons to each. An agency with great media contacts, who speak to them regularly, who fully understand what they want is a big advantage (of course, as any journalist will tell you, there are an equal number of PR pros that can\’t claim any of that). The big advantage of doing it yourself is understanding your business inside out. I\’d say any agency that doesn\’t have a good understanding of its clients\’ business or market should be thouroughly ashamed though. And the advantage an agency has is the ability to be more objective and therefore not come out with hugely self serving content. All too often a business thinks its the most important one in the world, or its products are the best. A good agency can help put that in the perspective of the broader industry or media agenda – thats where the skill lies.
PR should be accessible to small businesses – it’s the most cost effective form of marketing a small business can do. Especially when times are tough I completely understand why small businesses would want to do it themselves. But PR isn’t just about media relations – it’s about ‘public’ relations. This is where the payment by results argument also falls down. The media are one influential audience, there are more. An effective PR campaign engages a number of audiences, whether its prospective customers, bloggers, analysts or industry experts consistently over time to actually change and improve perception. If ‘PR’ is dumbed down as talking to a few journalists and sending out media releases, (which I’m sure in some PR agencies this is accurate) then why shouldn’t small businesses have a go themselves?
I think it is the same as with everything – you get what you pay for! But in these time certainly this may make PR more affordable, particularly for small business.
Totally agree with Jocelyn Hunter from VIC – and I would like to emphasize that the R in PR stands for relations. PR is all about building relationships with key influencers, so that time that a small business may dedicate to a campaign should not just be about writing a release and distributing it to a list of contacts.
For one off campaigns I think the ‘Handle Your Own PR’ advice might do the trick. However if a small business wants ongoing PR (which is how you would cultivate your relationships) then the operator needs to ensure they regularly dedicate time to PR. Otherwise it is best to engage a PR professional who does it for a living to facilitate the relationships for the business, whether through an agency or hiring someone in-house.
I successfully launched a DIY PR Kit with an optional coaching program in response to the SME needs I’d observed over 10 years running the agency. They all wanting to leverage public (not just media) relations, but were not yet in the financial position to use our agency regularly. The SME gets the best of both worlds: a 60+ page kit of guides, templates, tactics, planning – and, if they wish, access to PR professionals who coach them to be accountable in their campaigns – with the important objectivity Alec refers to. ‘PR is not rocket science’ No, but like any marketing tactic, it needs to be well executed in a meaningful, authentic and consistent manner. http://www.justgowrite.com.au/Coaching.aspx#diy
For the reasons cited above, our online Newsmaker.com.au service is designed for professional PR and marketing people, whether in agencies or in-house. It’s true “PR 2.0″ giving the best of both worlds. As a member, you use our database to build highly targeted media lists with automated email distribution. You are guaranteed online coverage in Google News, email alerts and many other online news sites; you can share your release with all your networks with a couple of clicks; and see how many times your release has been viewed. Other features include the ability to upload media files.
PR is indeed a great route for small companies, but the likelihood of major publications on or off-line seeing small business’ releases as newsworthy is low. The owner of http://www.littleshoes.co.uk struggled to get any coverage despite some really interesting data and stories (did you know that a girl with UK size 1 shoes is half as likely to like Bridget Jones’ Diary compared to a UK size 3 shoe-wearer?). The sheer tenacity required to badger editors to run anything significant is off-putting. Our company – http://www.spongenb.com – try to attain coverage in our own Trade Press but meet simple refusal (the editor of one magazine offered coverage if we disclosed our client list, which he knew is covered by NDAs). Getting PR is easy, but the good stuff is met with snobbery and inward-looking journalism.
Reading through the comments, it looks like we all agree that PR is important to small business but needs to be delivered without the agency price tag. However, being objective about your own business is hard. It’s like being objective about your children. That’s my main concern about the DIY kits. One of the hardest things about PR is working out what is newsworthy. When you are enthusiastic about your business everything is important, so sifting through for things media will pick up on is extremely difficult. My recommendation is that small business owners should look to freelancers for support. In my experience they understand how business works, are focused on results and work hard. For a fraction of an agency fee.
I think their haircut analogy is spot on.
It’s the same as whether you write your own newsletter and ‘design’ it in Word or get professional writers and designers to do it. Your homemade newsletter will do the job even though it doesn’t read as well or look as good.
You won’t do your own PR as well as a pro, but you might get somewhere.
It really isn’t that hard, but don’t tell anyone or I’ll be out of a job.
This is a good idea, if all you want is one-off media coverage. But as one writer said, if you want proper, sustained PR, you need a professional.