Messaging Strategy in Public Relations Review

Messaging for Public Relations

I have 3 weeks left of my CXL journey. The Growth Marketing mini-degree has been nothing short of intense. Really, when I think of these past 10 weeks, I feel intense is the best word to describe it. There is so much content to take in and information to absorb. Whenever I’ve had a moment of free time, I feel like my first thought is, “I should be doing my CXL right now.”

Intense, in this case, is a good thing. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the courses provided by CXL and the time and effort I’ve put into this mini-degree. I’ve previously written about everything from the fundamentals of growth marketing to the basics of Google Analytics, but that doesn’t even begin to cover everything I’ve learned throughout this process so far. It’s bittersweet that I only have a couple of weeks before I take my final exam and finish out the program.

This week, I am choosing to write about the Messaging Strategy in Public Relations course instructed by Ray Young. Although this course only lasted 23 minutes, I felt it included many valuable takeaways worth sharing with others.

What PR is and is not.

Public Relations (PR) is earned media by pitching stories to producers and reporters. The goal of PR is to bring [positive] attention to the client. PR is NOT paid advertising. PR can guarantee results — we just don’t know when and how much. 

A good PR effort involves figuring out the right measurements and positioning. The first step is goal setting and identifying a target audience, followed by customizing the messaging strategy to match the intended receivers. Good PR efforts can also involve media training and spokesperson prep.

PR is collaborative. It works with direct mail, SEO, social media, online advertising, etc. Failed PR campaigns do not deliver [the right] results. When it comes to negative news, if a campaign isn’t mitigating the bad press, then it isn’t doing its job. This leads to unwanted outcomes and collateral damage that make it hard to rebuild a client's reputation.

The 2 Sides of PR

The 2 sides of PR include crisis communication and positive public relations. 

Crisis communication is also called defensive PR and is typically used reactively to something negative in the press. Positive PR is about getting information out to people so they’re aware of what the client is doing. Positive PR is proactive and works to share information that generates a response and/or reaction.

Goal Setting and Attribution

Historically, goal setting and attribution have presented issues in PR. When building an image, it cannot be proven that it will directly drive sales. We can track sales during campaigns (and various initiatives) to see how/if they are impacted. In recent years, the measurement style of choice is trending toward digital analytics. Although we may use digital analytics, we can (and will) still measure traditional PR media such as radio, TV, and print. 

Using digital analytics, we can track reach, social mentions, engagement, followers, views, shares, and more. Some metrics to consider are quality of the mention (related to your client), quality of the article (or work in general), and the number of articles about a client or their industry.

Clients know their goal. Once we have outlined the goal, we work backward to target the right audience. After we’ve found our audience, we can create and implement a plan to effectively get placements.

Defining your audience

For larger firms, Public Relations agencies will outsource research companies to make phone calls and distribute online surveys to collect both quantitative and qualitative research. For smaller companies - with smaller budgets - it is less feasible to conduct the proper research to implement the right PR strategy.

When defining the right audience, we can ask ourselves:

• Who is the right audience?
• Who comes in / visits (physically or online)?
• Who do you talk to?
• Who are the people already using your products/services?

Messaging is the next piece to consider after handpicking our audience. The most effective messaging maintains focus and is tailored to specific segments within the total audience. We will discuss this further in the next section.

Writing and Editing

“We can make that argument that this is the single most important part of PR.”

Many different types of content can be produced for PR purposes:

• Press release
• Op-ed (opposite the editorial page)
• Bylines Article
• Blog Post

Press Release

Press releases are written like news stories. They include a headline followed by the most important information (to the less important information) and, finally, a boilerplate to finish things out.

Op-Ed

“Opposite the editorial pages” function as opinion pieces that tend to be precisely that, opinionated. These typically promote ideas rather than a company or product. These should be more personal and relatable — they should not have a sales-influenced tone whatsoever.

Bylined Article

Bylined articles should be written in an unbiased manner. These typically discuss a subject in the author’s field of expertise.

Blog Post

Blog posts can be somewhat similar to opinion pieces. They are opinionated and written in a subjective tone. They are also written in the first person (like the one I’m writing now).

Connection to SEO

Search engines gravitate toward quality-written content. “Natural writing” is more appealing and can be accomplished by using the formats previously highlighted (press releases, op-eds, bylined articles, and blog posts).

PR Writing Guidelines

In PR, we should spend the most effort on the subject line. Keep it short and succinct: 65 characters or less. We should also focus on the headline and make sure it is descriptive and relevant to the content to follow. Ray recommends using a question or a short excerpt.

“Get to the point, tighten up your writing,” Ray mentioned multiple times, “If you can take it out, then take it out.”

Keep it simple.

The Pitch

Traditional Media

When it comes to traditional media, do the research. When looking for people to pitch to, it’s essential to find out who they are and what they are writing about by researching their latest stories, building a relationship on social media, and making the pitch relevant, timely, and brief.

Tips:

• Send your pitch in the morning (first thing)
• Try to pitch them before their meetings (or after)
• Email is a valuable tool because it doesn’t conflict with meetings
• Alternative options: Twitter, FB, LinkedIn

Pitching Bloggers

Pitching bloggers is a bit different from traditional media. Bloggers desire to be understood, and when pitching to them, it may need to be more personalized. When pitching to a blogger, keep it “high-level” while being specific and relevant to them and the content they create.

Most bloggers and social media influencers attend conferences, which can be a great way to meet, network, and connect with them. In the age of COVID-19, this may not be an option. Still, virtual conferences, webinars, and summits are currently saturating the online space, providing another option to meet them where they are.

When it comes to paying bloggers, they typically have their own set rates. One should plan to negotiate, but make sure to pay them what they’re worth seeing as it’s their job. It’s also vital to equip them with the right resources to be successful. When we want them to write about something, we need to send it to them to experience it first-hand (like an app or product) — sharing data, information, and initial research doesn’t hurt either.

Media Tours

Media tours can be defined in several different ways. One example included in the course was an NYC tour that hit as many media outlets as possible to meet producers in TV, radio, etc. Media tours tend to pack a lot of media into 1 or 2 days. 

Another example of a media tour could be a movie star promoting their movie. Media tours function across multiple mediums of communication and advertising. They can promote a variety of things like books, albums, and products. Satellite media tours are a series of back-to-back media hits with local and/or national news. The goal of any media tour is to raise general awareness of whatever is being promoted.

Larger Digital Media Strategy

Extensive digital media strategies serve and provide third-party validation that nothing else will. Digital media is often more influential than traditional media formats. Digital media can include but is not limited to: interviews, blog posts, and guest posts. Using these forms of media is the best way to increase validity. 

Digital strategy varies based on size. Consider this: our website is our home on the internet. It should be the center of our digital strategy — everything points back to it. In a state of growth, it is essential to uphold our presence on social networks by increasing the quantity (and quality) of content. Smaller companies should focus more on producing as much content as possible to increase their reach and awareness. As a company accumulates more interest and a larger audience, it is important to take on a more professional tone and to hone in on quality while posting on a consistent basis.

Conclusion

Our messaging strategy starts with goal setting that leads to finding the best audience for our client (or our own company). It is important to remember the two sides of PR that pertain to reactive and proactive content — positive PR is almost always preferred. 

Remember, it has been difficult to prove how utilizing public relations and establishing an image can drive sales in the past. Tracking sales throughout the duration of a campaign is vital and using A/B testing to experiment with copy and design variations is crucial. Digital analytics and media should be the primary tools in any PR professional’s (or digital marketer’s) tool belt.

In this article, I wrote about multiple messaging strategies when it comes to public relations. Once again, PR is NOT paid advertising (although that can be a part of it on occasion). We know that PR drives results when campaigns are adequately planned and implemented, but we cannot predict how much and when. The most important takeaways when creating an effective messaging strategy is identifying a target audience, customizing the message to that audience, and implementing media training for those who will be featured in the spotlight.

If you’d like to discuss any of the concepts I’ve mentioned or what I’m currently learning please visit my website, https://posyloudurrportfolio.com or reach out to me on one of my social channels. Thanks for reading!