Ever feel like you’re shouting and nobody is listening?

Let’s get back to basics. The #1 objective in public relations is to portray you or your client in the most positive light and build lasting relationships with key media to ensure great coverage. Yes, you’ve heard that before but the real question is, how do you get the media to say what you want them to say about your company?

Sending out press releases with corporate messaging to extensive media lists isn’t going to increase public awareness of your brand. In today’s message-swamped world, you need to grab your target audience. But first you need to seize the attention of key reporters and editors. The only way this is going to happen is if you avoid some of these common PR pitfalls.

A press release is NOT a regurgitation of your company brochure – you really need to think about the content of your outgoing media messages. Regardless of the medium you use, ensure that your content is newsworthy and by that we mean that ‘people outside of your organisation want to read it’.

Speaking of newsworthy, don’t ‘newsjack’ if there is no connection. Ensure that your messages are clear, bold, concise and only if appropriate, align it with topics that are currently on the news agenda. But be very careful your company is not seen to be profiting from another’s misfortunes… if this is picked up by members of the public, it could turn into a media storm for your company and will definitely damage your reputation!

Don’t send a reporter or editor a press release which isn’t appropriate to their audience. It shows that you are too lazy to do your homework and target your content to their particular needs. Never mind not running your story, they may just block you altogether. So, put in the work to identify who your key publications and editors are, and make sure you understand what makes them want your copy!

Think multichannel – Not every channel – with today’s media landscape, key influencers for your target audience operate on a number of different platforms. As such, you can’t afford to not engage on multiple platforms. 25% of reporters on social media are happy to receive pitches through these platforms. That’s one in four who are open to receiving your news through social media.

So if you want to get your messages heard, make sure you’re implementing an integrated communications approach. Where you need to be savvy is in your channel selection. Not every message needs to go out on every possible channel. Be selective and know who your major influencers are. For each campaign, think about which medium will deliver your key messages to your audience.

So the bottom line to changing your bottom line is this – if you keep doing what you’ve always done, you will get what you’ve always got. To change the results, you need to change what you’re doing!