PR Notes - Unit II Final

1
BA (JMC) 204
BASICS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS
FOURTH SEMESTER
UNIT II: [PR Agency: Tools and Techniques]
1) PR Agency: Concept, Structure and Functions

2) Media Relations: Multi – Media Release (press, audio, video and social media),
Press Conference, Press Kit, Press Briefings and Familiarizing Tours
3) Tools and Techniques for Public Relations: House Journal, Bulletin Board,
Visit by Management, Open House and Annual Reports, Exhibitions
4) Use of Digital Media and Emerging trends in PR
PR AGENCY
A public relations firm or agency is a professional services organization, generally hired to

conceive, produce and manage un-paid messages to the public through the media on behalf of
a client, with the intention of changing the public’s actions by influencing their opinions.
Communications are often in the form of news distributed in a non-personal form which may
include newspaper, magazine, radio, television, Internet or other form of media for which the
sponsoring organization does not pay a fee.
PR professionals usually target only certain segments of the public, since similar opinions tend
to be shared by a group of people rather than an entire society. However, by targeting different
audiences with different messages to achieve an overall goal, PR professionals can achieve
widespread opinion and behavior change.
A public relations firm is independent from the client and provides a third-party perspective on
the client’s business, goods or services. Typical PR firm clients include businesses (sole
proprietorships, partnerships, LLC’s) and corporations, non-profit organizations and government
agencies.
A public relations firm can be as small as one person (sole practitioner) or more than 1,000. In
general, those of 9 or fewer employees are considered to be small firms). If a PR firm has 10 –
75 employees, that is considered a medium-to-large firm. Above 75 is considered large and
represents a minority.
A PR firm with a large number of employees generally has multiple locations. In some
situations, the additional offices are “service offices” located near a client facility and are there to
provide nearby “service.” In such cases, the essence of the PR firm that includes creative
services, production, etc. are at the headquarters location. The “services offices” are meant to
be staffed with account personnel.
NOTES BY MS. DIMPLE ARORA, ASST. PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF

JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATION, TIPS, GGSIPU
2
The continuing evolution of the PR firm is such that a PR firm (pr firm) can provide far more than
conventional public relations. A full service PR firm is one that provides a comprehensive menu
of services, including analyst relations, crisis management, e-business strategies, investor
relations, labor relations, media relations, public affairs, PR, traffic, branding, product
placement, event planning, sports marketing, tradeshow support and an ever-evolving list of
attributes that contribute to the marketing and sales of their client’s goods and/or services.
For economic reasons, and because taking on a new client includes many initial internal
expenses that are generally meant to be amortized over time, PR firms prefer to establish an
Agency of Record (AOR) relationship with their clients. An AOR relationship includes a contract
for a stipulated duration, encompassing details regarding fees, ownership and rights, as well as
termination clauses.
Work done by a PR firm without the benefit of a contract (or written agreement) is referred to as
“project work.” In that case, each and every “project” stands on its own and is priced and
managed accordingly.
CONCEPT OF PR AGENCY
We don’t buy ads.

We don’t write stories for reporters
We don’t put up billboards.
We don’t come up with catchy phrases to make people buy more products they probably don’t
need.
So what do public relations agencies do?
PR agencies, as opposed to advertising agencies, promote companies or individuals via

editorial coverage. This is known as "earned" or "free" media -- stories appearing on websites,
newspapers, magazines and TV programs -- as compared to "paid media" or advertisements.
PR agencies and advertising agencies share the same goals: promoting clients and making
them seem as successful, honest, important, exciting or relevant as possible. But the paths to
creating awareness are vastly different. Most people understand advertising is paid for by the
client and should be viewed with skepticism. Articles or TV appearances in respected
publications have the advantage of third-party validation and are generally viewed more
favorably.
The Public Relations Society of America defines the management of public relations as:
 "Anticipating, analyzing and interpreting public opinion, attitudes and issues that might
impact, for good or ill, the operations and plans of the organization.

3
 Counseling management at all levels in the organization with regard to policy decisions,
courses of action and communication, taking into account their public ramifications and
the organization’s social or citizenship responsibilities.
 Researching, conducting and evaluating, on a continuing basis, programs of action and

communication to achieve the informed public understanding necessary to the success
of an organization’s aims. These may include marketing; financial; fund raising;
employee, community or government relations; and other programs.
 Planning and implementing the organization’s efforts to influence or change public

policy. Setting objectives, planning, budgeting, recruiting and training staff, developing
facilities — in short, managing the resources needed to perform all of the above."
The tactics used by a pr agency include the following:
 Write and distribute press releases

 Speech writing
 Write pitches (less formal than press releases) about a firm and send them directly to
journalists
 Create and execute special events designed for public outreach and media relations
 Conduct market research on the firm or the firm's messaging
 Expansion of business contacts via personal networking or attendance and sponsoring
at events
 Copy writing and blogging for the web (internal or external sites)
 Crisis public relations strategies
 Social media promotions and responses to negative opinions online
Firms and individuals should hire a public relations agency when they want to protect, enhance
or build their reputations through the media. A good agency or PR practitioner can analyze the
organization, find the positive messages and translate those messages into positive media
stories. When the news is bad, an agency can formulate the best response and mitigate the
damage.
“A good agency is a strategic partner who helps clients successfully talk to and with their
audiences,” says Bob Gold of Bob Gold & Associates of Redondo Beach, CA. “An agency is a
good listener to the marketplace and knows what conversation starters will work, but also what
just might catch fire. How well can your agency push back on ideas without offending? And are
they an innovative partner, or a bunch of “yes men and women?”
Gold advises clients to look for the best cultural fit. “Can your agency find and “get” your voice?
And do they lead the conversation, like a good dinner partner or are they too busy gathering
clips?”

4
Effective publicists have great relationships with many different journalists in many different
industries. Many PR pros are former journalists, so they know the best ways to pitch a story
and to reach editors and reporters. Since they are not employees of the firm that hires them,
they can give an honest, outsider view of the firm and the potential for what story ideas will
work.
The relationship between client and agency should not be passive. Clients should inform the
agency what messages they would like to promote and make suggestions on where they would
like to appear. Very few stories make the front page of the New York Times, but with a media
atmosphere that includes blogs, websites, TV shows, magazines and other media that evolves
every day, a good PR agency will help clients increase their visibility via increased recognition
on as many respected editorial platforms as possible. Long term, public relations can be an
investment in the brand and the visibility of a firm or individual that results in increased
recognition and reputation.
STRUCTURE OF A PR AGENCY
The PR industry has changed enormously over the past 30 years. At one time it was enough to
be a skilled ‘generalist’ communicator; however, the rapid growth of consumerism means
products and brands each need a particular voice. In addition, the way government and politics
have evolved means that the way they communicate with the public has also evolved. The rapid
adoption of communications media and the growing role of PR means that PR professionals
now tend to be specialised in certain segments of the market.
The size of the PR industry
In the UK the PR industry employs 61,600 people and turnover in 2011 was estimated to stand
at £7.5 billion (source: PRWeek and the PRCA’s PR Census 2011).
There are not directly comparative figures for the USA but the PRSA reports that according to
the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are more than 7,000 PR firms in the USA and this does
not take into consideration any internal or in-house communications. The value of the PR
industry in the USA in 2012 is estimated to be $10.5 billion.
Each year the Holmes Report compiles a report on the top 250 PR agencies in the world and
from this data they have produced a map of where these agencies are located. The map shows
that the largest concentration of PR agencies globally can be found in seven cities: London,
New York, San Francisco, Washington DC, Paris, Hong Kong and Singapore.
The function of PR is carried out either by a PR department within a business, or by an external

agency. Businesses that have in-house PR departments are often very large and able to commit
substantial resources to long-term PR. Many smaller businesses and organisations use
agencies, paying for their expertise and creativity.

5
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE:
Internal communications (in-house PR)
This can also be known as in-house PR and it can range in size, depending on the organisation,
from a single person or a small team to a large corporate communications division. Occasionally
an internal communications team may bring in an outside agency to work on a specific project. If
an organisation is large, with a large team, it is likely that as strategic communicators they will
be involved with reputation management and with the preparation of issues and crisis
management plans. PR plays such a key aspect in these areas that often senior managers
become board directors as they become more involved with the company’s main decisions.
Public sector
The public sector covers governmental agencies, councils and police forces. PR in these areas
may focus on helping to explain policies and actions as well as informing the public about their
rights.
There are two main types of public relation campaign used within the public sector.
• ‘Information campaigns’ provide information to the general public and involve one-way
communication.
• ‘Communications campaigns’ involve discussion with the public about policies and actions;
their intention is to influence the knowledge and opinions of the public and stakeholders, but
they involve two-way communication.
External communications
External communications consists of PR consultancies and these vary hugely in size and
experience; some consultancies operate as part of a large international group while others may
only have a small team of staff working for them.
However, most consultancies will operate a similar hierarchy of staffing, with the main job titles
shown below. Consultancies work on a fee basis with a budget for costs and time being set at
the beginning of a project. They will report to their clients via face-to-face and telephone
meetings as well as through the use of written reports.
When a business commissions agency work, they will generally seek an agency either for a
specific project (for example, the launch of a specific product) or for an ongoing contract (for
example, providing a full PR service over a long period of time). The organisation will normally
approach a number of agencies, which will produce pitches based on the brief supplied by the
client. A number of members of the team will contribute to the creative treatment and the final
pitch.

6
Job roles in external PR consultancies
Job roles will naturally vary from organisation to organisation, and the hierarchy outlined here
may not always be in place. The following is a general overview of the roles you will find in PR
consultancies.
 Company director – owner of the company will control strategic direction of company.
 Associate director – will undertake all aspects of strategic account direction,
relationship management and business development for the company.
 Account director – plans, organises and directs day-to-day operations of a department.
Will develop strategic client proposals and finalise client budgets. They are accountable
for the whole team and ensuring client satisfaction and retention. One of the principal
roles of an account director is to secure new business from existing and potential clients.
 Account manager – will run an account with a team of account executives. Their job is
to be the principal point of contact for the client and to develop client proposals and
ensure the implementation of plans. They will manage the client budget. They are also
expected to manage and mentor other members of staff.
 Junior/Senior account executive – an account executive works within a wider team of
people on client accounts; it is possible that they will work on several client accounts at
any one time.
Tasks can typically involve:
 liaising on a daily basis with clients and the media

 media relations
 monitoring the media, including newspapers, magazines, journals, broadcasts,
newswires and blogs, for opportunities for clients
 preparing regular client reports and attending client meetings
 collating, analysing and evaluating media coverage
 event management, including press conferences and promotional event
 attending and promoting client events to the media
 commissioning market research.
Account assistant – this is an entry-level position and the role is to support the teams.
Tasks can typically involve:
• research
• maintenance and creation of media lists and editorial calendars
• database management
• PowerPoint® presentations

7
• maintenance of photo files
• press kit assembly and distribution
• general administrative duties.
Areas of focus for PR consultancies
Consumer PR – put most simply, this area of PR is concerned with building relationships
between a company and its existing and potential customers. Consumer PR has the most to do
with commercial transactions between consumer and company, and so it can also be known as
marketing public relations (MPR).
Fashion PR – has the same focus as consumer PR in that it aims to build relationships
between a company and its existing and potential customers. However, it specialises in
promoting fashion brands, whether they are designer or retail.
Food PR – as above, this is another consumer sector where you will often find companies
specialising.
Sport PR – this is a very varied field as it covers the PR of major international athletes, sports
teams and tournaments as well as smaller minority sports. As large sports team become big
businesses – for example, the Premiership football teams
– sport PR also incorporates internal communications into the mix. Additionally, should the
organisation be a large association such as for the Olympics, the PR professional will also need
lobbying skills.
Financial PR – the two main areas of financial PR are standard media relations (with an
obvious slant to financial and business media) and investor relations, which involves
communicating with the professional investors of the business to raise funds for growth. It is the
job of the financial PR professional to communicate a company’s financial activities and
business strategy, making it appear attractive to both institutional and potential investors. This
enables a company to raise funds by releasing shares on the stock exchange or by issuing an
initial project offering (IPO) as well as at other key times in a company’s lifetime. This area of
PR practice is regulated by the FSA.
Healthcare/pharmaceutical PR – this area involves working with pharmaceutical companies to

promote their products. Sometimes this may be to the public if it is an OTC (over the counter)
medicine that you can buy at pharmacies and sometimes it will be in a business-to-business
type manner when promoting drugs or medical devices for hospital use. There are also
crossovers with not for-profit PR, as you may be working with organisations to help raise
awareness of a medical condition and its treatment. This area is heavily regulated by ABPI.

8
Healthcare has an important and immediate impact on human welfare. You must be conscious
that the PR work you undertake in this area must be ethical and be perceived as ethical.
Not-for-profit PR – this includes third sector organisations such as charities and voluntary
organisations, and they can range in size from local community groups to large national
organisations. Communications strategies for charities are vital as they must connect with both
public and stakeholders as a means of survival, be it for a volunteer drive for staff or as a means
of raising money to continue their work. Third sector organisations also often have to be
effective at lobbying. With charities, PR professionals have to draw up particularly creative
campaigns that the public can identify with, as there is so much competition for their donations
and ‘compassion fatigue’ can become an issue. Charity work is strongly associated with ethical
and moral behaviour. It is important that any PR work you carry out is, and is perceived as,
ethical and moral.
Business-to-business (B2B) PR – effective internal communication can work alongside B2B

PR since it can help to make their staff ‘brand ambassadors’ as they deal with suppliers and
customers. B2B PR deals with industry and trade titles; although there are a smaller number of
titles and readers, overall they are more targeted publications and so have greater influence
than readership figures might indicate.
Digital/technological PR – this encompasses the need to explain technological innovations

either to other organisations or the general public, and the promotion of online businesses. It
may include specialisms in search engine optimization (SEO) and social outreach programmes.
FUNCTIONS OF A PR AGENCY
Public relations agency monitors the attitude of the public in general in favor of the company. It
sends out information and spreads communication to the public for building goodwill of the
organization. The public relations agency counsels the top management to adopt positive
programmes. They eliminate questionable practices so that negative publicity does not arise
against the company.
A Public Relations agency performs the following functions:
1. Press relations: A PR agency performs the function of creation and dissemination of

information to Press. This is known as publicity.
2. Product Publicity: The product information presented in the ‘Paid space‘of media is read or
heard by a company’s customers or prospects. The agency publicizes the product through
sponsoring efforts.
3. Corporate communication: PR agencies promote the understanding of the company and its
products and services. For this purpose, they undertake external and internal communication.

9
4. Lobbying: Lobbying means dealing with legislators and government officials to promote or
defeat unfavorable legislation and regulation. Professional lobbyists are employed in order to
influence the key decisions of the government affecting company’s prospects.
5. Counseling: Public Relations agencies advise the top management on matters related to
public issues. This also includes advising the company in the event of product mishap.
6. In-house journals: Many service organizations such as hospitals, health care, beauty parlor
etc. publicize their own magazines which are circulated among customers and the role of PR
agencies in developing in-house journals is quite significant. Apart from in-house journals,
companies publish annual reports, brochures, articles, company’s newsletter and audio-visual
materials. Creating websites on the history of the company and its present developments also
influence the target markets.
7. Special events: PR agencies help organizations attract media attention by arranging

newsworthy organizations. These special events are the backbone of service marketers.
8. Public service activities: PR agencies help companies build goodwill by contributing money
and time to good causes. Large corporate ask executives to support community affairs.\
MEDIA RELATIONS
Press Conference,
Press Kit,
Press Briefings
Familiarizing Tours
Media Relations involves working with media for the purpose of informing the public of an

organization's mission, policies and practices in a positive, consistent and credible manner.
Typically, this means coordinating directly with the people responsible for producing
the news and features in the mass media. The goal of media relations is to maximize positive
coverage in the mass media without paying for it directly through advertising.
Many people use the terms public relations and media relations interchangeably; however,

doing so is incorrect. Media relations refer to the relationship that a company or organization
develops with journalists, while public relations extend that relationship beyond the media to the
general public.
It is possible for communication between the media and the organization to be initiated by either
side. However dealing with the media presents unique challenges in that the news media
cannot be controlled — they have ultimate control over whether stories pitched to them are of
10
interest to their audiences. Because of this fact, ongoing relationships between an organization

and the news media are vital. One way to ensure a positive working relationship with media
personnel is to become deeply familiar with their "beats" and areas of interests. Media relations
and public relations practitioners should read as many magazines, journals, newspapers,
and blogs as possible, as they relate to one's practice.
Organizations often compile what is known as a media list, or a list of possible media outlets
who may be interested in an organization's information. The media can consist of thousands of
magazine publications, newspapers, and TV and radio stations. Therefore, when a
"newsworthy" event occurs in an organization, a media list can assist in determining which
media outlet may be the most interested in a particular story.
Working with the media on behalf of an organization allows for awareness of the entity to be
raised as well as the ability to create an impact with a chosen audience. It allows access to both
large and small target audiences and helps in building public support and mobilizing public
opinion for an organization. This is all done through a wide range of media and can be used to
encourage two-way communication.
Possible reasons an organization may reach out to the media are:
 Launch of a new product/service

 Initiation of new factories/offices
 Financial results
 Organization sponsored events or awards
 Launch of organization promotional campaigns
 Recent disasters, strikes or organizational closures
 Awards/accolades for the company
 Visits from company dignitaries/celebrities
 Involvement in local/community activities
 Community engagement
Public Relations was born as Media relations. Ivy Lee, a financial reporter is considered as
father of public relations. It was early 20th century Ivy Lee found there is something seriously
wrong in the relationship between the Media and the industry. He being a financial reporter had
his two legs one in the industry and the other in the Media. He made some efforts to bridge the
gap between the Media and the industry. Hence, Media relations started. Later the concept of
media relations was widened to become public relations.
Even otherwise communication with the media is very important. It is media through which
people form an opinion about a company. Again most of the publics get information about the
company through media. Hence in most instances the media is the initial evidence for the
message, and it is through the media that the message is conveyed to the ultimate target
audiences. There are occasions, and organizations, for which media relations will not be the
best or the most precise PR technique, but generally media work will be of utmost importance,
even if only a part of the role.
11
It is something of an art. Practicing this art requires a multitude of talents: a flair for creativity, an
eye or ear for the interesting or unique story, an understanding of media, and a solid knowledge
of the company, issue, or product being presented to the media as newsworthy. There are far
too many stories warranting good coverage. But sometimes someone in the newspaper office
fails to give it a fair treatment; it finds its way to the waste bin. So it is always important to read
the media thoroughly and know what interests media?
Media Relations form the most basic activity of public relations. Media Relations, in fact, take a
good part of the practitioner’s working day and are exacting in demand. Some of the tools for
maintaining effective media relations are organizing press conferences, holding press briefings
and arranging press visits or facility tours for media men.
MULTI – MEDIA RELEASE (PRESS, AUDIO, VIDEO AND SOCIAL MEDIA)
Multimedia news releases serve as a comprehensive resource for giving journalists detailed
information about a story and for engaging consumers. These news releases can contain
embedded (and downloadable) video, images, links, audio, social bookmarking, and more.
Many PR experts and journalists believe multimedia news releases are quickly replacing the
traditional press release, and some bloggers and journalists are even saying traditional press
releases are already dead.
A few of the benefits of multimedia news releases:
It creates a deeper story – With a written press release, you have a very specific press release
length you need to meet. You need to keep your words to a minimum so journalists can quickly
get an idea of what your story is about.
Now, the multimedia news release lets you include a video, links to additional resource pages,
or other media to tell more of the story. This gives the journalists and other readers more
information, allowing you to communicate your message more effectively.
Journalists aren’t your only audience – With online press release distribution, journalists are
no longer your only audience. In addition to sending your press releases to key influencers, you
can also publish them yourself on PR distribution websites, blogs, and other online medium.
Here, your customers will read your news releases.
By adding video and social bookmarking to your news releases, you let your other audience
interact with your content and share it online with their friends and social networking
connections. This helps you spread your message further, educating more people about your
company, products, and services.
It lets the journalists find new angles for the story – Too many press releases today are full
of nothing but spin and “pat-on-the-back phrases.” By sending out a multimedia press release
with a brief description of your announcement/story, you give the journalists the additional

12
information they need to put their own spin on the story. The journalists are going to go with
their own spin on the story anyway, so you might as well give them all the tools they need to do
it.
In this way, the multimedia news release is like a bunch of building blocks. The journalist can
view all the different pieces-videos, links, charts, pictures, etc. – and arrange them in a way they
determine builds the best story.
PRESS RELEASE
A press release is a written communication that reports specific but brief information about an
event, circumstance, or other happening. It's typically tied to a business or organization and
provided to media through a variety of means.
Don't expect the media will grab the press release and run it. It may depend on whether the
event or circumstance is something that might interest their readers or listeners, or if it benefits
the community in some way. If you're lucky, your press release may be picked up by bloggers,
Tweeters and others who read it and find it worthy of promoting within their social networks.
Two Basic Types of Press Releases
Some press releases are available for "immediate release." This means anyone can share the
information as soon as the release is made public. Other press releases may have time limits
that allow only certain media sources to report them immediately. They're offered to other news
services, websites, or blog owners for publication at a later time.
The Main Purpose of a Press Release
There's a difference between "news" and "press releases." The main purpose of all press
releases is to promote something significant and specific. A press release is a document that
adheres to a strict format and serves three marketing and promotional purposes:
 To let the media know about an event, hoping it will pass the information along
 To let the media know about your business, hoping a reporter will see a story in your
press release and write an actual news article about it
 To help promote your business' appearance on the Internet via blogs, websites,
and social networks. It is direct readership publicity
Tips for Writing a Press Release
Press releases always begin with the name of the city where it originates from and the current
date. They should always be written in the third person. Write it as though you're sharing
riveting information. If your information isn't riveting, take a step back. Maybe there's something
you can add to your event or announcement that will make it more interesting. Of course, that

13
"something" has to happen. You can't mention that an A-list celebrity will show up at your event
when you know full well he won't.
Linking your press release to a current trend or occurrence in the news can also help grab
attention.
The bottom line is that if your event is boring, your press release may be yawn-worthy too, and
no one is going to want to run with it. Avoid dry, rigid wording for this reason. You don't want to
lose your reader with the first sentence.
A press release is not just a rendition of facts. Press releases always employ quotes taken from
someone significant to the event, like a corporate executive, for example. But quotes in press
releases are seldom a verbatim quote of what a personage actually said. They embody more of
an enhanced idea of what the person should have said - an idealized version of a statement that
pushes the press release's agenda. It's a rhetorical device.
What a Press Release Is Not
A press release is not a guaranteed marketing tool. Temper your expectations. Don't anticipate
every press release you write will always be picked up and passed along by mainstream media
sources.
Writing the Perfect Press Release
When you write a press release you will benefit from using the following structure. In principle
your news story will be basically the same whatever media you are approaching, although you
will see differences in how editors on trade journals and editors on national news desks respond
to your story. The trade journal requires a story that targets readers in a specialized field, while
the national media needs a story that has a general appeal to the average reader and viewer.
In a press release you need to write the most important information at the top of the text, that is
you put the conclusion at the top. This is quite the opposite of the normal academic approach in
a thesis where you build up to the final conclusion at the end of the paper.
Use the inverted news pyramid as your guideline.
Follow these seven steps towards the perfect press release:
1. Consider: Why send the news out today?

2. Create a headline that summarizes the text’s main message
3. Begin with a summary to provide an overview
4. Present the points that are the most important to your readers first
5. Elaborate on your story in two to three short independent sections
6. Include a Quote indicating the name and title of the person speaking
7. Provide contact information and links to additional information at the end of the text

14
A press release is typically ¾ of a normal page. After proof reading the text, you need to provide
a good photo or illustration that will underline your main message. It could be a photo of the
person who is quoted in the text.
Use a professional photographer for best results, as you are a professional company providing
the media with relevant news. Your supporting photos and illustration materials should underline
this professionalism. In many cases a good photo will help your news story in the media, as
“every picture tells a story…”
Contact with the Media
Now you are ready to launch your press release. Send it to relevant editors. Typically you can
find the e-mail addresses on the media’s website. Do not spam the press release to all
journalists on one media. Choose one journalist or send it to the central news desk if you cannot
find the journalist who is covering your topic of interest.
Do Not Spam the Press Release to All Journalists at a Single Media
After you have sent the press release it is ok later in the day or the next day to call the editor
and check if he or she has noticed your news story and plans to pursue it. Do not expect that
they will get back to you and thank you or acknowledge your contribution.
When you call be precise, brief and clear. State your main message. You might also want to use
the opportunity to provide additional information to add value to your story. Do not push the
editor too hard if he or she turns your story down – that happens every day! Just ask why and
learn from the experience.
Don’t You Ever…

When you are in contact with editors and journalists avoid the following – if you want to maintain
a good relationship with the media:
 Don’t send the press release to an editorial that does not cover the subject matter your
news story is about
 Don’t let the press release convey that it is part of a PR campaign
 Don’t promise exclusivity – e.g. for interviews, if you do not deliver
 Don’t exaggerate and write advertising language or write about a nerdy topic in a geeky
language
 Don’t send the press release to a media for which it has no relevance
 Re-Use the Press Release
When you have written and released your news story you should re-use and expose it in your
own media channels:
 Add the press release to your website and upload it in your social media channels
 Supply links to media reports from your website
 Use the news story in your newsletters

15
AUDIO RELEASE
Audio News Release (ANR)

Radio remains a prominent channel for reaching consumers.
An audio news release (ANR), also known as a radio news release or RNR, is a 30- or 60-
second scripted, voice-narrated audio segment about your product, service, company or brand
that includes a sound bite from your spokesperson or representative which is distributed to radio
stations and networks. It is a call to action sending listeners directly to your website or business
ANRs are traditional media vehicles designed to reach mass audiences across the country.
ANRs are low-cost/high-return solutions for clients looking to quickly and easily maximize both
their budget and their message. The ANRs are all-inclusive of script writing, production,
distribution, and metrics. Distribution is comprehensive and includes national placement on
radio syndications and airings on hundreds of radio stations across the country, reaching
several million listeners. ANRs are commonly used to inform, educate, raise awareness, and
equally to boost results or complement other broadcast vehicles as part of a campaign.
Usually, the recorded news releases feature voices of the organization’s spokesperson.
Sometimes a paper copy of a wrapper (open and close) to be used by the newscaster
accompanies the ANR. Sometimes the wrapper is pre-recorded.
By sending out PR-focused, broadcast-quality video and audio news releases with your written
press releases, you can provide journalists ready-to-use content and significantly increase the
chances of getting your message heard.
Leading organizations often include audio messages in their PR toolbox that can also include
social media promotions, blog posts and videos.
Different from Regular News Releases
ANRs have several significant differences from standard news releases.
Radio news releases are written for the ear. They emphasize strong, short sentences averaging
about 10 words that listeners can easily understand.
They are more concise and to the point. A standard one-minute ANR is about 125 words.
Timing is critical because broadcasters must fit their message into a rigid time frame that is
measured down to the second.
ANRs are more conversational and partial or incomplete sentences are acceptable. Standard
news releases are more formal and use standard English grammar and punctuation. Sentences
often contain dependent and independent clauses.

16
Creating Audio News Releases
Radio stations will only accept audio news releases that meet professional broadcast standards.
The first step, then, is selecting a vendor with broadcast journalism and public relations
experience, says Shel Lustig, president/co-founder of MediaTracks Communications. In
a LinkedIn Pulse article, Lustig recommends researching three areas about vendors.
 Service. Find out precisely what their services include. Do their fees cover writing,
revisions, recording, producing, distribution and reporting? What about studio costs and
voice-over talent? Are there add-on fees, such as charges for last minute changes?
 Placement and reach. Determine what distribution platforms they offer. Do they offer
guaranteed placement? Can they target specific geographic markets? Do they have
outreach options for Spanish-language or urban-focused ANRs?
 Reporting. Ask how they measure listenership. How do they obtain their data and how
recent is it? How do they track and report results? What kind of information is included in
the ANR final report? How will you interpret and communicate these results to my client?
Will someone explain radio industry terms to you?
After selecting a vendor, the basic steps for creating the audio include: writing, editing, review,
approval of the script, and the final recording. “Writing for audio is a specific skill – be sure to
take advantage of your vendor’s expertise for your ANR,” Lustig advises. And look for
opportunities to include audio that isn’t just a talking head.
Radio Monitoring Solutions
Monitoring is essential for measuring the effectiveness of the news releases as well as overall
PR campaign. Some radio monitoring services perform speech-to-text talk radio monitoring in
the top markets, deliver overnight alerts of radio clips via email, and store the text of radio clips
in an online database with a full-featured dashboard. Clients may also order high-quality audio
clips delivered as downloadable files.
The ideal monitoring solution offers comprehensive monitoring of social media and traditional
media, including broadcast media. A leading monitoring and measurement service can also
integrate all data sources into a single dashboard for easy viewing.
Bottom Line: Audio news releases (ANRs) can be one of the best ways to reach your audience
and promote PR and marketing messages. The most effective ANRs are concise, focused
messages with compelling news. PR pros need specialized skills to write quality scripts and a
radio monitoring tool to prove the releases’ effectiveness.

17
VIDEO RELEASE
A video news release (abbreviated VNR) is a news release that is issued in a video segment.
The segment is designed to look like a real news report, but instead of being created by a news
agency, it is created by a marketing team, a public relations agency, a business, an advertising
agency, a corporation or an agency within the government. A VNR is given to television
newsrooms and are used as a tool to shape the opinion of the public, to promote the products or
services that a business offers, to publicize an individual, or to support some other type of
interest, with the intent of gaining attention.
The idea behind a video news release is to provide the media with content that has been ready-
made for broadcasting and puts your business, your product, or the services you offer in a
positive light. News agencies might air a VNR in its entirety, they may air only a portion of it, or
they may incorporate it into a news report if it contains information that ties into a story or is
something that viewers would be interested in. How much they air and how they use them is up
to their discretion.
Elements of a Video News Release
A good VNR will contain each of the following elements:
 A professional news reporter, someone who has on-air experience with the news, or an
actor.
 Interviews with experts who usually have legitimate expertise in a topic, though that
expertise may be biased.
 Eye-catching visual elements, such as a company’s logo.
 Demonstrations of the products or services that are being discussed.
 A short run time; typically no longer than 2 minutes.
Things to Avoid
If you want a video news release to be effective and meet your objective, you are going to want
to stay away from certain things. The following things should be avoided when creating a video
news release:
 Highly promotional - Though the goal of a VNR is to promote a company, a product, a

service, or a person, it shouldn’t appear too promotional. If it does, it will be viewed as an
advertisement rather than “news”.
 Excessive producing - Some producing is fine, but too much can detract from the value
of a VNR. If it’s too produced, news agencies won’t be able to put their own spin on it,
which is what they intend to do.
 Inappropriate visuals - Video news releases should contain visuals, but they should
contain the right visuals. In other words, images should match the content that is being
shared.

18
Benefits of a Video News Release
A VNR can provide several benefits, and if done correctly, can serve as a powerful part of a
public relations campaign. Some of the most notable benefits that VNRs offer include:
 Audio and visual elements of the story, which makes it more engaging than a written
press release.
 They show journalists and viewers the story you are aiming to share rather than having
them imagine the story after they read it.
 They can boost the credibility of a company, organization, or individual, as they highlight
expertise.
 They are much more attention-grabbing than standard press releases, which mean that
they can be a highly effective marketing tool.
 They’re more effective than standard press releases because viewers can easily obtain
the information they contain in a very short span of time.
Criticisms of Video News Releases
Though they can be an effective marketing tool, not everyone agrees with them. In fact, critics
have referred to video news releases as deceptive propaganda that tries to influence viewers
under the disguise of real news. This is particularly true when it is not made clear that a VNR
isn’t real news. In fact, that’s why many people refer to video news releases as “fake news”.
Disadvantages of Video News Releases
In addition to being largely criticized, there are other disadvantages associated with video news
releases. Some of these disadvantages include:
 Costly production - A steep investment is required to create a video news release.

 High competition - There are so many organizations, business owners, and private
individuals that create video news releases, which makes the competition very high.
 They involve a complex, highly technical process.
 It can be difficult to create an effective VNR that will have an impact on viewers.
How VNRs are distributed:
It used to be that video news reviews were distributed to news agencies via video cassette.
However, today, they are fed through satellite, which makes them easier to assess. Once a
news agency receives a video news release, they give it a once over and read any
accompanying documentation that may be necessary. After reviewing, news agencies decide
how they can incorporate the VNR, which is based entirely on their discretion. For example,
they might choose to showcase the entire video, or they may decide to incorporate it with a
news story.

19
Organizations that Use Video News Releases
A VNR can be a tool that any type of business, individual, or organization can use. Some
examples of industries that use these public relations tools include:
 Government agencies, such as the US Department of Health and Human Services.

 Large corporations that sell a collection of products.
 Small businesses that offer unique and specific services.
 Vehicle manufacturers
 Cosmetic companies
 The food industry
Virtually any type of business can use a video news release as a way to market what it is that
they offer like to boost brand awareness, to establish authority, and to connect with and engage
with their target audience; however, companies, organizations, or individuals that intend on
marketing themselves to the general public can use VNRs.
SOCIAL MEDIA RELEASE
The social media release was pioneered by Shift Communications in 2006, widening the reach
to audiences after 100 years of the traditional media or news/press release. It is not a dramatic
change to the concept of a media release – more an improvement specifically catering for
mobile and social media.
At the time of launch the change was considered quite dramatic, but technology has caught up
over time since 2006, and the various components of a social media release have become
incorporated into the traditional release.
Social media releases look similar to today’s multimedia releases in format, structure and
design, but can open up dialogue in new ways.
However, they don’t replace traditional media releases; they are complementary because they
are intended to reach social media while traditional releases reach traditional media.
One key feature is that the social media release should be in a responsive format compared
with the traditional media release. Its layout adapts to the device being used to receive it.
A social media release is posted online rather existing simply as a Word or PDF document
attached to an email, etc. By being online, people can search for the release under relevant
keywords and can share on social media. Adding multimedia capability to a release increases
the number of views significantly.

20
It must be noted that if a person writes substandard material in a traditional media release, they
are also likely to write substandard content in a social media release.
Traditional releases are not readily picked up by social search engines; they remain invisible to
the social search engine.
Actively promote your social media release
The best place to publish a social media release is on your blog or social media newsroom
(which is hosted on a blogging engine). However, it’s important to recognize that SEO alone will
not necessarily draw attention to your news. It’s still important to actively promote and distribute
your releases via newswires and social media tools, and – wherever you promote your news –
to provide a link back to your social media release.
So how do we get more “social” with social media releases?
Social can be defined as:
 Hosting conversations – via moderated comments – directly at the hub of the social
media release (ideally in the corporate social media newsroom) or providing a link to
comments.
 Providing a trackback function – and displaying the results. This is not only a good
metric for marketers evaluating industry response, but also helpful to those looking for
additional perspectives on the news.
 Enabling links to social bookmarking sites is good. So is the creation of purpose-built
links that highlight other voices and provide context for the news.
 Using links and tags that drive all of the images, video, and audio posted to social
networks back to the social media release. These links and tags act as beacons for
the conversation. It shouldn’t matter whether users come across a traditional, multimedia
or social media release; it shouldn’t even matter if they find part of the release’s content
somewhere else on the web. By including relevant tags and by consistently associating
the release’s dispersed content elements (on YouTube, Flickr, etc.) with the release’s
permalink in the social media newsroom, you can create a trail that comes to the one
place – your social media release.
Elements of the social media release
1. Headline: exactly as it says, focus on brevity. Get to the point and don't try to be too creative.
A few keywords should get the job done.
2. Secondary headline (optional): If you have an extremely important nugget of information

that you think will get users to read on, put it here. Otherwise, skip to the overview.

21
3. Overview: A brief summary of the release and what you're covering. This is where you will
hook the reader or lose them, so keep it under two paragraphs, use keywords and put real
thought into every single sentence.
4. Body: The so-called meat of the release, this should be the news. Don't scatter bias in here;
just lay the facts out for what you are pitching (think about it like a journalist would, and cover
the who, when what, where, why and how.
5. Facts: You need some statistical data or bullet points to back up your claim from above. This
information should be easily shareable so if someone wanted to pull this right out of your
release, they could.
6. About the Company: Very brief company bio with a link to your website, Twitter feed and
Facebook fan page.
7. Multimedia links: The social aspect of the release, this should include videos on YouTube,
images, RSS feeds and more. You don't want people to be driven away from your message, but
you want to be seen as a useful resource.
8. Relevant links: This is a good way to promote your company and what you've done a bit
more. If you have related releases, include links to them here. While this particular product
might not be a fit, if you've kept someone's interest this long, they may find your other products
of use.
9. Tags: Recommended sharing methods, whether via social bookmarking sites, Twitter
hashtags or Facebook fan pages.
10. Contact: This may sometimes be overlooked, but don't forget to include your name, email,
Twitter alias and more. If you are willing to put all of that info out there and stand behind your
release, it lends it a bit more credibility.
Biggest Mistakes to Avoid
While the elements you do focus on are relatively uniform, there are also things that can quickly
turn your social media release into junk mail or a one-time visit from a journalist, customer or
blogger. Those mistakes include:
• The release is too focused on your company and not on the product or service you are
offering. Let the user learn about your company when they want to visit your website.
• Content is full of marketing lingo rather than being conversational/shareable
• Written to appeal to a broad audience on the web as opposed to specific bloggers or

consumers.

22
"A traditional press release focuses on a product launch or putting a product into seasonal
contact, and the main purpose is to either get print coverage or blog coverage," says Michelle
Olson, an account director at New York's The Lane Communications Group, where she focuses
on beauty and skin care companies. "But a social campaign is not only launching a brand new
product, it's launching a new social component, whether it's a website, instructional YouTube
video, or something similar, because users always want something extra now, whether that's
online or at the retailer. The better your social media presence, the more apt people are to try
out your product."
Distribution of the Release
Distribution is obviously vital to the success of a traditional press release. There are plenty of
free and paid services offered for public relations professionals, but it really depends on the
reach you are looking for out of your campaign. Are you looking for local or national coverage?
Do you want bloggers or traditional journalists? Do you want it to be a one-time hit or a viral
campaign? These are all questions you should ask yourself before you begin distribution. In
terms of social media releases, however, the process is a bit different.
"Social media releases can be effective but it's a good idea to put content into networks, where
people are looking for it. But something that people don't really realize is that social media
releases can't be distributed," according to Sarah Skerik, vice president of social media at
PRNewswire, a paid press release distribution service. "They can be spidered by search
engines, and shared - but they can't be pushed by wire services. Many multimedia-type
releases just sit on the vendor site. If there's no real distribution, it's best to have this sort of
great content pulling traffic to your own web site."
Since they can't be distributed by traditional means, it becomes even more imperative that your
release be inherently shareable, tweetable and likeable on social channels.
Measuring Engagement and Following Up after the Release
It's next to impossible to measure success of a social media press release without setting up a
type of measurement, which needs to be done before you send out the release. In essence,
there are three types of measurement to focus on in any social campaign, those being
qualitative, quantitative and Return on Investment (ROI). For marketing directors, they should
be most focused on ROI. But for public relations professionals, it's really the other two that
matter most.
In terms of PR, you want to know not only who is sharing the information that your release
provides, but how they are sharing it, so in terms of quantitative, it's all about raising the number
of Facebook likes, Twitter shares, and more. From a qualitative measurement perspective, it's
really about what they are saying about your information. For example, are they calling your
product cheap or inexpensive? From a branding perspective, those two words have a
considerably different meaning, so you sometimes need to help guide the conversation.

23
And the final point is that one of the biggest things you must do as a PR professional when
writing a social media press release-; engage. Just as you want your customers, journalists and
bloggers to actively share the product and come back for more, the key to social is making it a
two-way conversation. If someone asks a question about the campaign, respond quickly. If they
want to know where they can find more information, write them a message or direct them to the
company website.
As a PR person, you need to make the consumer feel like a VIP in a way by giving them a
personal touch. Because in a way, social media campaigns can be less expensive than
traditional advertising and it can be a great alternative for smaller companies to try and compete
with larger brands. But if you don't concern yourself with engagement, it can really hurt you and
you could lose a customer.
PRESS CONFERENCE
As a PR Practitioner, you will be solely responsible for organizing press conferences from time
to time. A press conference is generally used as an occasion for the release of news
simultaneously to all media, provided the subject is news worthy.
Consider the following carefully before holding a press conference:
 A decision about the spokesperson who will address the press conference, Remember
the PR person himself should never address a press conference. It should ideally be the
head of the organization or department.
 Prepare a press kit, which would ideally contain a press backgrounder, a news release
or releases, pictures, literature about the organization, a writing pad and a pen or pencil.
 Make the list of invitees from the media carefully. The list should comprise those who
cover your organization.
 Decide a venue, which is suitable for the media persons to reach.
 Make arrangements for the transport of media persons from a convenient place to the
venue and for the return journey.
 Decide on the timing. It should neither be too early nor too late in the day. The
conference should end at such a time that the media persons are able to get back to
their place of work to file the story on time.
What is a press conference?
A press conference is a tool designed to generate news – in particular, hard news that can
advance the cause of your organization. Hard news is defined as a story in the print or
electronic media which is timely, significant, prominent, and relevant.
Why should you hold a press conference?

24
Press releases, interviews, and informal media contacts are excellent ways of getting your
message across. They are the bread and butter of your media relations, and often of your entire
outreach effort. A press conference is an additional media technique, for special occasions,
when you really want to make an impression. More specifically, why hold a press conference?
Because:
 You can give more information than in a press release.

 A press conference is interactive; you can answer questions from the press, and
emphasize points you might not otherwise have a chance to make.
 You can announce an important development, and explain its significant local and wider
implications.
 You can set the record straight if your group received negative publicity.
 You can often generate the kind of notice or publicity – a spot on the 6:00 TV news, for
instance – that you’d otherwise have to pay a large amount for.
 When many media representatives are present, it makes your conference seem really
newsworthy -- the media presence itself adds to the importance.
 A successful media conference can not only generate news, but can also boost the
morale of your own group -- that is, your group can take pride in knowing that the press
will really turn out to hear what you have to say.
When should you hold a press conference?
The answer is- not very frequently. Do not fall for the temptation of calling a press conference, if
the subject does not demand a discussion between your organization’s spokesperson and the
media. In such a case, a press release will do the job. If however, your organization has to
announce a major policy, speak about a labor-management rift, or launch a product that
requires demonstration- things that would suggest the need for a face to face dialogue and not a
one side statement- then call a press conference.
You and your organization although could hold a press conference whenever there is an event
your organization wants to inform the community about. However, in some cases, you will want
to hold a press conference for fast breaking news. For example, if an education funding bill were
introduced in the state legislature, you might want to convene a press conference that same
morning to react to the bill's implications. This will leave little time for elaborate preparations--
you should just phone the press at a few hours notice.
Remember, you don't want to hold a press conference too often. It is a special event, and
should be treated as such. But here are some cases when a press conference might be a good
idea:
 When the event includes a prominent individual to whom the media should have access.
 When you have significant announcements to make, such as a campaign start-up or a
lobbying victory.

25
 When there is an emergency or crisis centered around your group or the issues it deals
with.
 When a number of groups are participating in an action, and the show of support will
emphasize that this action is news.
 When you want to react to a related event; for example, when a national report relevant
to your issue is released.
How do you hold a press conference?
Before the press conference:
You may have to schedule a press conference on short notice. If you do have lead time,
however, you and your group will want to start planning at least a week or two before the press
conference is to take place. The following steps should help you plan for your press conference:
 Define the message - Define the key message(s) that you are trying to get out to the
community. Your goal may be to introduce or shed more light on your issue, to
announce a new program or event, to react to a news story or to a criticism of or attack
on your effort, or to draw attention to an honor or award your effort has earned.
Whatever the message, it should be summarized in clear 3-5 key points to the press. If a
date, a time, an address or phone number, or other specific information is part of the
message – if the purpose of the press conference is to announce an upcoming event, for
example – make sure to give it more than once, and to have it displayed prominently in
your press kit. Double- or triple-check any such information to make sure you have it
right, both in speech and in print.
 Schedule the date and time - You will need to determine a date and time for the press
conference, and make sure it doesn't conflict with other press events or media
deadlines. One way to find this out is to check with the local media and the wire
services, who will know if your press conference conflicts with another. Here are some
other tips for scheduling your press conference:
1. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are the best days for press conferences, as they
are considered slower news days. Try to have your press conference on one of these
days if at all possible.
2. The best time to schedule your press conference is between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.
to ensure maximum coverage by the media. If you schedule it later, you risk missing the
afternoon paper or evening news.
3. Remember, you are competing with all the other news of the day; so don't be too worried
if everyone doesn't show up.

26
 Pick the site - Make sure you pick a location for the press conference that has adequate
parking and is not too far away for reporters to travel. Also, pick a site that provides
visual interest and relationship to each topic--such as the state capitol building, city
courthouse, or a local clinic or other site where the activities you’re talking about are
actually going on. Other considerations include picking a location relatively free from
high levels of background noise (e.g., traffic, telephones, aircraft), and one which has
adequate electrical outlets and extension cords for lighting, etc.
 Select and train your participants - You will want your participants to be
knowledgeable and articulate about the issue. They should be able to handle press
questioning and scrutiny as well. People with high credibility, such as local politicians,
the director of a local health promotion organization, or a physician may make effective
spokespeople. Firsthand testimony from people from the community affected by the
issue can be extremely powerful and convincing. Here are a few tips for participants:
1. Be clear and concise – avoid using jargon, rhetoric, or inflammatory language, and stifle
"ums" and "ahs." You want to draw attention to the issue, not distract the audience with
your words.
2. Assume the audience is intelligent – avoid sounding patronizing.
3. Don't fiddle with or clutch anything -- it's distracting and makes you appear nervous.
4. Appearance counts – participants should be dressed neatly and appropriately for the
occasion.
5. Always tell the truth. If you don't know the answer to a question, say so. Don’t
exaggerate or give figures that aren’t backed up by evidence, and don’t state opinions as
fact, or make charges that can’t be proven.
In addition to the press conference participants, you will need to find a moderator who is
experienced with the press and the issue. He or she will be in charge of convening the press
conference by introducing the issue and participants. The moderator also answers questions or
directs them to the appropriate participants.
A suitable response to a tough or misguided question might be, "That's a good question, but it is
not within the scope of this press conference. Our focus today is on...” If the question is
legitimate but you don't know the answer to it, it's okay to call on someone else from your group
who might know, or check out the answer and get back to that reporter later.
Contact the media
The first step in contacting the media is to create a comprehensive mailing list of assignment
editors at television stations, news directors at radio stations, and at major newspapers, and
editors at weekly newspapers. You may even want to include the wire services (AP, UPI).
Others you'll want to be sure to include on your list are reporters you have worked with before,

27
contacts in the media you may have, and reporters who may have covered the issue in recent
months.
You will also want to have a press advisory prepared and mailed about one week ahead of time
to inform the media about the press conference. A press advisory is similar to a press release,
with the difference being that press advisories can be used for background information to your
media contacts. The format is basically the same as that of a press release. For an example of
a press advisory, see the Tools section.
Follow up with the media
After you and your group have mailed the press advisories to the media, you will want to follow
up your press advisory with phone contact to the major media outlets. Give your press advisory
three days to arrive, then begin your telephone follow-ups with the people you sent your press
advisory to (if they say they never got one, offer to bring or FAX one to them). Also, follow up a
second time the morning of the press conference.
Develop a press kit
A press kit is a folder of information to give reporters background information about your issue
or program. Press kits are very useful, if your group can afford it. If a press kit is beyond your
budget, a press advisory will do. Your press kit should contain the following:
 A list of press conference participants.

 A press release, which should state your group's position on the issue, highlights of the
press conference, and a few quotes from participants.
 Background information about the issue (i.e., statistics, historical background, case
histories, or reprints of news stories).
 A few black & white glossy photographs (action photos are most interesting).
 Short (less than a page) biographies of participants.
 Related news stories from prestigious national publications (e.g., New York Times, Wall
Street Journal, etc.).
Putting the kit together:
The press release goes in the right side of the folder and the other information goes in the left
side of the folder.
Prepare the room
There are a number of things you can do to prepare the room you're holding the press
conference in. Here are some tips:
 Check the location of electrical outlets for microphones and lights.

28
 Set up the room with a table long enough to seat all your spokespeople, with name
cards.
 Provide enough seating in the room for reporters, and enough room for their supporting
equipment (e.g., cameras, microphone).
 Display visuals as a backdrop to your speaker's table: charts, posters, etc.
 Have a sign-in pad for attendance.
 Provide a podium for the moderator, perhaps with your organization's logo on it.
 Have coffee, tea, water, and any other refreshments set up.
At the Press Conference:
When the big day finally arrives, there are a number of things you can do to help your press
conference run as smoothly as possible. We will go through these, step by step:
1. Welcome members of the press as they arrive.
2. Have members of the press sign in, with their affiliation, and give each of them a press kit.
3. Seat the press conference participants behind the table facing the seated reporters.
4. Check the sign in pad to see which media outlets are represented. You may also want to
make personal contact with major media representatives before or after the press conference.
5. Start approximately on time -- no later than 5 minutes after the scheduled time.
6. Tape record the event, for your own records, and for possible media use.
7. Have the moderator welcome the press, and introduce the issue and participants.
8. Each participant should present for no more than 3-5 minutes, making his/her 3-5 key points.
9. After all the presentations, the moderator should entertain any questions from the press, and
direct questions to the appropriate participants.
10. After about 45 minutes, bring the formal conference to an end. Thank the participants for
presenting, and the media for attending. In many cases, you may want to encourage the media
to stay for further informal conversation with the participants.
After the Press Conference
To the extent that you can, make personal contact with representatives at least of the major
media outlets represented. In a small town, this could mean one or two people; in a big city,
there might be 20 or more. If you can have a short, pleasant conversation with these folks and
make a good impression, they’ll remember you when they need information or a story about
your issue, and they’ll respond when you contact them.

29
By looking through your attendance register, you should be able to determine which major
media were not represented. Not everyone may arrive, as your conference may be preempted
by some late breaking news story elsewhere. You may want to hand deliver a press release and
press packet to these people, send a tape feed, or, try to schedule an interview with a reporter
and one of the press conference participants.
You might also review the press conference with others from your organization that attended.
What went well? What could you have done better? And how will you improve the next press
conference you hold?
Press Briefings
Press briefings are different from press conference in that they are informal and do not require
elaborate arrangement. They are used to give updates. Press briefings can be both proactive
and reactive. By proactive, it is meant that certain clarification or points are required to be given
after a crisis situation. In this case, some media persons are invited for press briefings.
In case of critical issues, besides an informal briefing by the spokesperson, a written statement
is also handed over to avoid misquotation.
In case of reactive press briefings, a pressman seeks an audience with the chief spokesperson
for seeking certain clarification or to find out his point of view before filing the story. Similarly the
spokesperson may have been misquoted, and he invites media persons for clarification.
Press briefings are set up just like a press conference, but are usually set up to a schedule,
such as once an hour or every three or six hours. It is up to the people who are in charge of the
incident and how important they think the release of information is. For a large wildland fire a
press briefing may be held every few hours, but if you have a large event like a large street
party or race which has thousands of people at it, a press briefing every hour may be
necessary.
One rule of press briefings is if you set up a time schedule, stick to it. Even if you do not have
any new information to release, still have your briefing and advise that nothing has changed.
Press briefings are also used for special events such as advance information before a heat
wave or cold spell. The media is invited to the conference room and give safety tips and maybe
have some props on display for pictures and video. The event is like a press conference but not
as intense or formal. There is almost always a question and answer period during a press
briefing.
Press Tours/Facility Visits/Press Visits
Press Tour is a conducted tour of media persons to a project for personal observation and
coverage. It is defined as an organized visit of selected media persons to a project, factory or a
new installation of development project, for an on the spot study and reporting. It also includes

30
trips on launching new plane services to destinations either within the country or outside the
country. Press or media tour also are organized to places where natural disasters, such as
cyclones, tsunami, earthquakes take place.
As a public relations tactic, press tours create excellent opportunities to build relationships with
target media. Press tours are designed to get you in front of selected, influential members of the
press for face-to-face conversations that can increase the chances of positioning your company
for coverage in the media.
In many instances, a press tour can be organized in conjunction with your company's
attendance at a trade show or industry conference. Regardless of the timing and setting, there
are five tactics that make any press tour successful.
1. Leverage Relationships
As soon as you decide to initiate a press tour, make a list of all the editors and reporters you
and/or your public relations agency have relationships with in the area you plan on touring. Call
them first. An existing relationship -- no matter how slight -- significantly shortens the pitch
process. You spend less time introducing yourself and the company, and building credibility.
2. Don't be Afraid to Leave the Office
Meeting with reporters and editors on their turf can be a deciding factor in conducting an
informational interview because top journalists are often very busy (and not necessarily
motivated to meet you). Offering to meet at his or her office will create goodwill with that reporter
or editor, paying dividends beyond the initial encounter.
As reporters have busy, unpredictable schedules, don't make a meeting more work for them
than it has to be.
3. Bring the Big Guns
Admittedly, it's not always possible to have your CEO, president, or other top executives
participate in every press tour. However, if the targets are particularly influential in your market
-- and senior management is willing -- bring the big guns. Reporters spend their lives talking to
marketing folks. Face time with the CEO or president is very enticing. You may be surprised by
how many jump at the opportunity.
4. Be Sure You Have a "Why"
It's not always necessary to have breaking news. Part of the reason for a press tour is to "meet
and greet" the press and give them access to company executives, so they know who to turn to
when news happens.

31
However, don't expect to get time with a reporter if you can't answer the following question:
"Why should I meet with your company, now?"
More than likely you will need to provide some appropriate incentive to meet, such as a product
demonstration, discussion of upcoming plans/developments, or a hard news story, if one exists.
Reporters need a compelling reason to meet with you.
5. The Devil IS in the Details
Murphy's Law is always in effect during a press tour. It's one thing to organize a tour where you
are headquartered but quite another in a strange city. Keep in mind that traffic and construction
may cause delays. Be sure to leave plenty of time to get from one meeting to the next. Take
nothing for granted.
A successful press tour can jump start your company's public relations presence and position
you as a leading media resource. Relationships formed through a successful press tour will not
only result in potential article coverage for your company, but will set the stage for future press
attention. Remember to think strategically, prepare vigorously, and your press tour will exceed
expectations.
TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES FOR PUBLIC RELATIONS:
House Journals
House journals are known differently at different organizations. Some call it ‘House magazines’
or ‘House Organs’. From time to time, organizations produce their in-house journals. House
journal is a popular tool of internal communication.
Essentially, house journal is an in-house magazine of a company or organization distributed to

its employees, shareholders, dealers, customers etc. House journals are designed primarily to
help improve the employer-employee relationship. It also maintains good relations with the
external public.
House journals are very powerful tools of public relations. While it attempts to improve and
maintain the internal public of a company to gain their goodwill and dedication, it also reaches
out to the external public. Copies of house journals may be sold to its internal publics in order to
finance the journal while companies may sell house journal space for advertisements in order to
meet the cost of printing and production etc.
However, it should be made clear that house journals are not advertising media. Essentially
house journals meant for free circulation. An organization may publish a variety of house
journals for each group, or may be for each different product, or still for different manufacturing
unit.

32
House journals are classified according to the size, readership, frequency etc. A house journal
may be the size of a pocket book, or a standard full size or still a large size. Frequency is one
way of determining a house journal. House journals may be dailies, weeklies, fortnightlies,
monthlies etc.
The size of house journals may vary. Size can be determined by column and column width,
typesetting etc. Another important consideration is the frequency of the house journal. The
periodicity of the house journal is very important. They can be weeklies, or monthlies etc.
A small size house journal may have a limited number of pages, say 6 to 12. Large house
journals have more number of pages. The number of pages reflects the quantity and weight of a
house journal. The number of pages is an important factor for determining production and
printing costs, which are usually in the multiples of four.
The house journals communicate in two directions. They are meant to serve as a means of
communication for internal communication to the management and play important role in
communicating the views and desire of the management at various levels within the
organization. A house journal indicates the progress of a firm to the employees the
shareholders, dealers etc. They carry information on the financial position, market potential and
other activities which instill confidence and provide a platform for participation and display of
talents and creativity of the employees.
House journals promote industrial relations and good mutual understanding between the
employees, dealers and the management. The employees, shareholders, dealers etc. also can
also communicate with the management as well as others on matters of mutual interests.
Use of colors attracts the interests of the readers of house journals. There are two classes of
colors-chromatic and achromatic. The chromatic colors are yellow, orange, red etc. Achromatic
colors are black and white colors. For printing purposes there are four colors. They are identified
as cyan (blue), magenta (red), yellow and black.
However, in many organizations hierarchical relationship bogs down the independence of

thought of some employees and there is a good reason of lost of creativity since they have to
work only in one line. Another reason for disadvantage of house journals is that they cannot be
compared with the professional advertising agencies and do not conform to the standards of
journalism. Nevertheless, there is a growing popularity of the house journals among the
corporate houses.
There are two important methods of the distribution of the house journals- handing out, and
posting copies. Handing out is the cheapest and satisfactory method of distribution of house
journals. In these methods copies are distributed among the employees from department to
department or office to office etc. Posting copies is yet another important method of the
distribution of the house journals.

33
Dealers, stockholders and other external publics generally require posting. A separate mailing
list is maintained from time to time. Posting can be done in two ways: flat and roll and wrapped.
If the journal is mailed it becomes more attractive and more inviting to read. A rolled and
wrapped magazine can look a mess when unrolled and unwrapped and hence an enveloped is
generally required and appreciated. The matter of folding should be fixed when planning the
size of the page and choosing the paper.
The general contents of a house journal are:
1. Cover photograph.
2. Editorial.
3. Feature articles.
4. Board of management and official news.
5. Other photographs of various activities taking place in the organization like cultural programs
etc.
6. News about service matters-promotion transfer etc.
7. Suggestions, complaints etc.
8. Letters to the editor.
9. Research and development activities.
BULLETIN BOARD
What is a bulletin board?
A bulletin board is a powerful instructional tool that when utilized properly can add to a
meaningful learning experience to the learners. As its name implies, it is a surface intended for
posting messages or public information.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD BULLETIN BOARD
• It should be with finished edge.
• It must be fixed on the wall to prevent accidents.
• It must be colorful and attractive.
• Have at least a unified theme for clarity.
• Avoid overcrowded display

34
• Be guided by the principle of balance, unity, harmony, portion and contrast.
The concept of the bulletin board as the central tool for your communication:
The employer/employee communications challenge
Managers regularly have information and messages to transmit to their employees. Generally,
businesses post messages in the staff room and, in some cases, send them by email.
The effectiveness of these methods is debatable, since often the memos are not read and
nothing really allows you to know who has taken note of them. This results in managers
constantly repeating the same messages.
When using more traditional ways, managers must schedule regular employee meetings for
important messages — once again, monopolizing the time of managers and employees.
One of the most well-liked and useful method for effective internal communication is
the Bulletin Board.
It’s very simple, but its capabilities are powerful:
 Statistics and lists of employees who saw your publication.

 Ability to request an acknowledgment of receipt; your employees must confirm that they
are aware of your publication.
 Ability to leave comments on a publication.
 Enables you to segment your communications based on positions (e.g. send a message
only to assistants).
The interaction generated by the comments will surprise you, not to mention all the positive
aspects of employee engagement.
Lastly, the employer has access to the archives of each of the employees.
Here are some relevant examples of use of the bulletin board:
 Publish your organizational policies: Clear policies will help to avoid all kinds of
misbehavior and much loss of time.
 Upcoming events: Group bookings for the holiday season? Express your needs, advice
and expectations.
 Training/updates: Present a new product/service and specify how staff should offer it to
customers.
 Birthdays/work anniversaries: Highlight important events while showing your
appreciation to your employees.
 Various discussions: Increase employee engagement by opening up the discussion
with them!

35
Visit by Management
Manager’s Point of view

 Diagnose individual needs for development
 Observe Performance development progress
 Support developmental progress by coaching
 Build knowledge of territory dynamics
 Measure effectiveness of promotional strategies
Company’s Point of view

 Support performance of its major asset-people
 Obtain feedback for resource allocation
 Get feedback on market dynamics, opportunity
 Measure effectiveness of programs
 Make decision based on broad range of information, not dominated by a single area
Representative Point of view

 Get support, recognition for performance progress
 Get assistance with observing doctors’ behavior and assessing response
 Enjoy having a knowledgeable colleague along for conversation regarding company
activities
 Lean about others success and challenges
 An opportunity to share ideas or test solution
36
What affects Field Visit Plan?

 Work with new Representatives on documents, route sheets, routine paperwork, etc.
 Spend time with Representatives who really need you
 Never disregard the more experience Representatives
 Work with every Rep.
 Based schedule on Rep’s level of dev need.
 Alter/Change schedule according to current situation
 Adjust for perceived change in Reps Behavior
Preparing Representatives for Field Visit

 Review most recent sales and call data
 Remind them on phone. Give assignment and get them to call within a specified period
of time
 Plan the day, allowing time for coaching
 Review objectives for Managers development support
 Plan for any special activities
 Review last Field visit Report
Open House and Annual Reports
Open house is an important tool to build rapport with the community/neighborhood where the
plant is located. It is also a widely employed way of building pride and morale among the
employees and their families.

37
The Public Relations departments organize visits for employees' families and community at
large, to visit the plant to see the product manufacturing process and a tour of the company.
There may be exhibits, films and other activities also. This is done on a few chosen days in a
year which are referred to as 'open days'. The visiting public may also be provided with
hospitality by plant owners.
It is important, however, to make suitable arrangements to receive visitors, answer questions

and take them on a guided tour. This entails the provision of trained guides and also hospitality
for the visitors.
It is usual in many industry-conducted tours to provide refreshments to visitors at the end of the
tour. If, however, the factory is situated out of town, and it has taken a long time for the visitors
to reach there, it is advisable to offer refreshments on arrival. Factories producing eatables,
generally not only offer the visitor refreshments, but may also present gift packs - for example, a
chocolate factory or a biscuit factory can present their products which surely will be appreciated
by the visitors and help in creating goodwill.
Delhi Milk Scheme, when it was set up, organised open houses for school children. The children
were treated with flavored milk on their visits. Similarly, Coca Cola organised such visits. The
visitors were also gifted with bottle openers, trays with 'Coca Cola' logo painted on them as
mementos.
In fact open houses and tours of the plant should be geared to serve a wide range of audiences,
from employees, community members, press, to elected representatives of parliament and
Iegislative assemblies.
Annual Report
Many states now require nonprofit institutions and foundations to file an annual report in order to
keep their tax-exempt status. Similarly, audited financial reports are usually required by
foundations or corporate givers considering funding requests. Although the primary aim of an
annual report is to provide information on the financial condition of an organization, more often
than not, the report becomes an organizational showcase and a fundraising tool used to
recognize and mobilize donors.
The annual reports produced by nonprofits are often similar to those produced in the for-profit
world. Each year, publicly held companies report to stakeholders/shareholders, employees,
staff, the investment community, and of course, the Securities and Exchange Commission,
which requires regular statements — on their operations and financial condition. It has become
standard operating procedure among corporate communications departments to create
profusely illustrated, handsomely composed reports that can cost $5 a copy or more to produce
(with print runs in the hundreds of thousands), not including staff and freelance time.

38
For nonprofits, an annual report serves an additional function as a promotional document,

providing a forum in which an organization's mission and achievement can be outlined and a
vision of its future can be mapped out. An effective annual report can rally various stakeholders,
building the case for continued support. And, since it is often provided the broadest reach of an
internally produced publication, it may be the single most important piece an organization
develops during the course of a year. For all these reasons, an annual report is usually worth
the extra effort, time, and expense required to produce it.
An annual report generally takes from three to nine months to write, design, and produce. Much
depends on how elaborate the report will be (number of photos and/or artwork used) the type
and amount of copy required (is a special essay going to be commissioned?), and the internal
clearance procedure. Is one person or department responsible for creating it, or will it be
developed by committee? How many people have editorial input? How many will need to see
the design? What kind of design/production team will tackle the report? Do photos need to be
taken or will stock pictures do?
Some preliminary planning is always helpful. A meeting with the organization's senior executive
and/or senior staff should be arranged to discuss the report's purpose, its possible themes and
design, its utility over the course of the coming year, and when it should appear. A budget for
producing the report should also be discussed and agreed on.
Authority for developing and producing the report should be delegated. If at all possible, the
report should be made the responsibility of one staff member or department; the writing, editing,
and design should be supervised by one person. In most cases, financial and audited
information will be supplied by the organization's comptroller or accountant.
Exhibitions- as a tool of PR
Many companies find themselves participating in exhibitions without realizing what it is they
want to achieve. Exhibitions can produce excellent results for an organisation if the public
relations practitioner makes use of all the opportunities they present.
Exhibitions are not a public relations medium, but a tool if used to create awareness, enhance
reputation as well as to sell products.
Public Relations, as defined by the Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa (PRISA), is the
management, through communication of perceptions and strategic relationships between an
organisation and its internal and external stakeholders. Exhibitions, on the other hand, are ways
of presenting products, organisations or services offered directly to the public with the intention
to sell.
Exhibitions, although expensive, are among the most effective ways of communicating with the
public. People visit exhibitions for three basic reasons. First, to be entertained (maybe it is to get
out of the office for a few hours), second, to find out how a new product or service actually

39
works and last, attendance could mean that a business transaction might be agreed upon
between the two parties. The public relations practitioner plays a vital role in all of this. He
needs to convey his company's image positively to the visitors, and promote any product or
service the organisation offers, without forcing anyone to buy the product or service.
The effort of the public relations practitioner should be three-fold:
 Inform prospective clients of the exhibition before and during the show
 Obtain positive media coverage for the organisation, and
 Achieve follow-up coverage and feedback after the exhibition has taken place.
As the main responsibility of any public relations practitioner is to build the image of the
organisation by obtaining positive media coverage, exhibitions are great opportunities to
achieve this goal. Too often these opportunities are overlooked because organising of the
exhibition takes priority. That is why the public relations programme should be planned in such a
way that a publicity campaign for each exhibition is included and deadlines for publications are
met.
Here are a few tips for obtaining the best media coverage before, during and after the exhibition:
 After you have confirmed your participation at the exhibition, send relevant information
about your organisation to the media liaison officer of the exhibition organisers. It could
be used for pre-exhibition publicity. This will help increase the number of visitors
attending your exhibition stand.
 Always have a senior representative or an important company personality on the stand,
as the organisers could call for a press conference.
 You could also secure positive media coverage during the show if an important guest
comes to visit your stand. You could also make announcements on big business
contracts that you have obtained during the exhibition.
 Make sure that you have a post-exhibition press release available. Journalists reporting
on the success of the exhibition could mention your achievements during the exhibition.
The role of public relations in organising or participating in an exhibition does not stop at only
obtaining positive coverage for the organisation. Public Relations plays an important role in
attracting both exhibitors and visitors.
The organisers should persuade potential exhibitors that a particular exhibition would be of
substantial benefit to them. It should be clearly stated who the target market of the exhibition is,
and approximately how many visitors are expected.
Build a good image of a specific exhibition by mentioning previous successes achieved. This
would also assist potential exhibitors to decide whether they should or shouldn't exhibit at that
event. By obtaining media coverage of an upcoming exhibition, by advertising or editorials,
awareness is created and exhibitors and visitors are more likely to participate.

40
If an organisation is persuaded that this exhibition meets all its goals and objectives, it should
make sure that the target audience identified by the exhibition organisers matches its own.
This is the responsibility of the public relations practitioner. A seven-step public relations
programme (as lectured by the PRISA Education & Training Centre) should be drawn up for the
exhibition:
1. Analyse the situation: one of the tools of a situation analysis is a SWOT analysis. This stands
for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.
2. Set specific goals and objectives: in other words, what would you like to achieve by exhibiting
at this exhibition in a long and short-term period?
3. Decide on your target market: would the visitors attending this exhibition really be your
targets? Would they understand what you are trying to convey or sell? It's no use exhibiting
children's toys at a business and marketing exhibition.
4. Define the specific messages that you would like to convey to your identified target market.
You might have ten different target markets, therefore you need ten different types of
messages. You would not use the same message for the media that you would for the junior to
middle level visitors, or technical people.
5. The action plan is extremely important. Here you will decide on which activities you would
include before, during and after the exhibition. Draw up an activity chart and clearly write down
in which month you would do what activity, to make sure you meet deadlines. An active publicity
campaign should be included in this to ensure that you receive the publicity you require. 6. The
budget should be drawn up long before the exhibition, to make sure all expenditure is covered
and surprises do not arise two days before the event. Always provide for a 10% contingency in
your budget to cover shortfalls, if any.
7. And lastly, what value would all of this be if you have not evaluated the success of your
participation at the exhibition? You should have evaluation techniques in place during the whole
programme to ensure that if something goes wrong, you have a back-up plan. You also need to
inform senior management about the success of the exhibition to prove the value of public
relations to the bottom line of the organisation.
Exhibiting is about the good reputation of the company. An exhibition would fail miserably if staff
were not trained on how to man the stand and if the objectives and benefits of the exhibition are
not clearly explained to them.
Here are a few tips and guidelines for selecting staff to man the stand:
 Select staff according to the following criteria; personality, sense of responsibility,

knowledge of the company and products, and personal appearance.

41
 Brief the selected staff on the cleanliness of the stand, punctuality and certain
responsibilities.
 Visitors should be welcomed by friendly, helpful, motivated staff. It is suggested that they
do not say "What can I do for you?" as this gives an impression of unwillingness to really
help. Rather start the conversation with a comment about your product or service; this
will get the visitor interested in what you have to offer, eg. "Let me show you, or tell you
about ABC."
In conclusion, the role of the public relations practitioner is not merely about communicating.
Public relations must have a voice in the decision making process of the organisation and
definitely be part of the management team to ensure that the exhibition is a success and all the
necessary steps are followed.
USE OF DIGITAL MEDIA AND EMERGING TRENDS IN PR
DIGITAL MEDIA & THE FUTURE OF PR
As the saying goes ‘change is the only thing constant’, as communication professionals we

have to prove our mettle every day.
The Media & Communication industry in the last few years has been blazing a new trial with a
whole new culture of reportage & reactions. A cult that is being largely led by the public or the
‘Social Press’ so as to be politically correct has grown on to take the better of the ‘Editorial
Press’. And as this new tribe of unstoppable opinion ‘makers & breakers’ drive the whole
agenda of creating new perceptions and realities, the editorial press is fast conditioning itself to
this new cult of no holds barred communication.
A radical change in media consumption has also forced the mass media to reorient their
strategies ex: HT shutting down the business bureau to ramp-up presence online, many
newspapers have moved their key sections for better online visibility. And this further adds on to
the clutter with brands frantically vying for a fair share of eyeballs through these leading news
portals. And this is where PR will grab the gauntlet of Online Reputation Management with a
well-calibrated communication approach that finds resonance with the right audience at the right
time. And, ‘Precision Targeting’ will be the order of the new age communication strategy.
For a quick flashback, a couple of years ago PROs followed a rote way of working as they
would scurry for a press coverage irrespective of the news value in the material only to finally
get the editor’s cold shoulder. Until now PR has only played a good cop with clients but now
they have to strike a balance being a bad cop as well, in other words ‘be cruel to be kind’ which

42
means setting the right expectations while conditioning them to the new format of news making
that would only translate to a more meaningful media mileage. This can be achieved only by
constantly educating them about the ground realities.
Today, PR is no longer about making news through the staple old press releases but influencing
your target group to make the statement for you. News making culture today is solely not about
what you want to say but to also ensure striking the right chord with the news readers. With so
much freewheeling chatter and clutter across the owned media space, there needs to be a
social media policy in place, which the new age PRO will have to put in place.
In the recent backdrop, the role of a PRO could be compared to that of a Phoenix that rose from
the ashes to live through another cycle. The new cycle will see the PROs function in a different
environment shouldering new & heavy-duty responsibilities of Reputation and Perception
Management that would no longer use the same brush to colour the world around. ‘Different
strokes for different folks’ will be the new work ethic and the holy grail of the new age PR
lobbying.
As it may sound like a broken record, digital media has become the melting pot of different
communication cultures. The influence of which has been extremely profound in building a bold,
free-spirited & a well connected virtual society. As this spectrum of new media makes fiery
inroads into the mainstream, traditionalists are left to rethink their modus operandi. And this is
where PR has to look beyond the obvious while ‘telling great stories from behind-the-scenes
(‘BRANDS’)’.
Today, as lines are blurring between PR and other Communication functions, a new method to
the madness that is both fittingly disruptive & well-timed is what will keep the traction going.
Hence, the new age PR pro would power up as a logical advisor, an influencer and a moderator
to keep the brands afloat from getting muddled up in the farrago by making technology work in
their favour more than working for the technology.
Most of the competition in industries today don’t come from companies but majorly from the
clutter and this is something to be solely tackled with a smart ‘know-what & a know-why’
strategy. Which means if you have a good hold of ‘What to do & Why to do’ then ‘how to do’ is
going to be much more straight-forward. Therefore, the new skill sets call for a smart usage of
tech while un-learning old skill sets to keep the process alive and real. However, at the
epicentre of them all would be creation of path-breaking ‘Content’ to field this new game.
As all the professionals would concede, in the world of communication there is only ‘Now’ and
no ‘Tomorrow’. Gone are the days when PR could get away with being Jack of all trades but
master of none, but now A PRO has to toggle being both.
And even before PR folks could brace themselves up to tame the digital dragon, Mobile is
already setting off tremors. However, for the uninitiated, digital is where all the action is. ‘Do or
die’…..Just a note of caution.

43
Back in the day, public relations professionals would give a statement on air, release it in print,
or publish it online. Social media has disrupted the field, making public relations a faster-paced
and more delicate matter. A social platform like Twitter can now serve as the primary
channel for a business, brand or celebrity to release official information about itself.
Businesses that fail to use social media to manage their reputations may not only lose reach in
the digital world, but may not even be noticed amid all the noise. For PR purposes, few modern
mediums pack the same punch as social media. Here's how professionals are now using social
platforms as their primary option for managing information about a client or company.
The Evolution of Public Relations
Before digitalization, public relations professionals primarily engaged with the public after a
major change. They announced new offerings, minimized reputation damage, and reacted to
industry changes as the face of the organization. With the blossoming of social media, that's
evolved. Now many public relations professionals play a much more nuanced role. They may
proactively engage in reputation management activities, counsel leadership, and identify
potential problems in a business's relationship with the public.
Social media eliminates the walls between members of the public and a brand, shortens the
time a company has to react to relevant stories, and blurs the line between marketing and public
relations. Often, public relations' and marketing professionals' roles overlap on social media.
Crafting and maintaining a positive public appearance requires a balance of engaging content
and a careful awareness and reaction to public opinions. For brand reasoning, explanations,
and crisis response, modern public relations professionals may look to social media as the first
line of defense in an increasingly connected world.
How Public Relations Professionals Use Social Media
Social media can help public relations professionals meet their goals or it can hinder the
reputation management process, depending on the situation. Some of the most common ways
public relations teams use social media include:
To find influencers - Influencers give brands a voice they could never use on their own. Social
media influencers have massive digital followings that brands can tap into to promote offerings
and protect reputations. When public relations professionals create relationships between
brands and influencers, they're really adding another line of both promotion and defense the
brand can use to its advantage.
To identify brand threats - Social listening gives professionals the power to understand the
public's opinion before it turns into a trending topic. They can proactively find and address
online threats and possibly prevent a major brand reputation crisis. To think like a public
relations expert, consider using one of the dozens of social listening tools out there to
understand what social media users really think.
44
To influence journalist's stories - The public can actually see PR professionals on social

media when they address a crisis, but many work behind the scenes to shape a brand's image.
When a trending topic arises, journalists often put their ear to social media to see what people
are saying. Public relations professionals will often join that online discussion in order to
influence journalists to present a certain angle. PR pros may not always end up seeing the
published story they'd like, but they can still use social media as a tool to keep their angle in the
public eye.
To swiftly react to negative press - Social media is one of the first places people look for a
brand's reaction to a negative claim. Public relations professionals may use a company account
to craft and publish an immediate response and to direct the public to another medium for more
information. Social media gives public relations professionals immediate access to a large,
attentive audience.
To make announcements - Word travels fast on Twitter, so public relations professionals often
use the platform to announce awards, product launches, and company updates. With
captivating short snippets and links, professionals can reach a much wider audience via social
media than traditional forums.
Social media is a natural fit for public relations and one of many tools businesses can use to
protect and promote their reputations. When public relations and marketing teams combine their
efforts on social media, brands often enjoy immediate positive results.
Think Like a Public Relations Professional on Social Media
Regardless of professional public relations support, all businesses can use their social media
accounts to help manage public opinion. Don't wait for others to create stories about your brand.
Create interest with some public relations influencing tactics. Create flattering and engaging
stories about your brand, react to other large stories, and react publicly to negative comments.
Think like a public relations expert and create content like a marketer on social media to boost
your reputation and earn new followers.
HOW HAS PR CHANGED IN THE DIGITAL AGE?
Modernize Your PR Approach
If you do this, you will find that there are a lot more opportunities even than there were before
the big data explosion of digital media. You will also find that there are better ways to tell stories
using visuals like photos and videos, and ways to measure that the impact of what you’re doing
things you wouldn’t ever think of before: the impact on a website, driving traffic, seeing who is
responding to your stories, getting your fans and likes, and having your story shared across the
Internet and being read on the other side of the world without it ever being on national television
or in a newspaper.

45
Ensuring that the media coverage that you’re getting, even traditional media, is always making it
on the web is super important. What that will do as it will drive traffic to your website. A lot of
traditional news agencies these days still haven’t caught up with the times and put stories that
broadcast on national television or in a newspaper. Not all of them make it online, so it is really
important to to run your stories to ground and make sure they get online, and when they’re
online that their linking to your company’s website.
Changing the PR Game with Web-Based Analytics
It used to be that the success of public relations was measured in terms of circulation or
viewership or listenership. That still to a certain extent is true today, but because of the digital
web, we’re able to add deeper layers of data to the impact that PR is having. For example, you
can look at your website analytics and see what pages people are looking at, or what referral
links are driving traffic.
You might think that the New York Times is the biggest driver of traffic to your website, but really
it could be some kitschy little blog that really focuses on your industry, and that’s what’s driving
your core customers that are reading about you online and are finding you that way. Also,
looking at the keywords that people are using to define you and making sure that those are
woven into the stories and storylines that you’re pitching so that they jump from the pitch into
the new story and then in turn drive traffic to your website.All of this is happening in real time,
and it’s really important to make sure that you don’t take your eye off the ball and that is: always
be driving traffic to your website with the new stories that you’re pitching.
Find the Right Reporter to Tell Your Story
Digital media makes it really easy to find the right news outlet and the right reporter to tell your
story. Instead of the “spray and pray” the tactics of old, what you can do is you can find a
reporter just by using a simple search on Google to find the right reporter in the right news outlet
to be able to tell your story to. What you can do is you can literally set up: here’s the story;
here’s the reporter; line it up almost like a sniper and tell with one shot, one kill, get your story
told.
Why Public Relations is Crucial for SEO
PR is now a key SEO strategy. In fact, a great new story on a highly influential, highly credible,
well trafficked new site will do better for your SEO then any group that you could hire anywhere
in the world that will get you links or tweak your keywords. I’ll tell you why: those websites that
are highly influential and credible are seen by Google as trendsetters. When they write a story
with your company’s brand name in it and a link to your website that is SEO gold! Most SEO
companies would love to be able to pay a site like the New York Times or TechCrunch to be
able to just post something simple with a link to your website because they know that is what
drives traffic and that’s what moves you up in SEO and in search engine rankings.

46
The Role and Influence of Social Media on the Modern PR Industry
Over the last few years, it has become apparent that social media has captured the fancy of
most people. The extensive use of social media has drastically changed the way people
communicate and share information.
In September 2015, Facebook said that 1.01 billion people log onto Facebook daily (daily active
users or DAU), which represents a 17% increase year over year. Twitter isn’t far behind
either. As per Statista, “As of the third quarter of 2015, the microblogging service averaged at
307 million monthly active users. At the beginning of the 2014, Twitter had surpassed 255 MAU
(monthly active users) per quarter.”
Social media has had a huge impact not only on people, but also on brands across industries as
they devise strategies to engage their audiences and win their loyalty. Public Relations (PR) is
no different as professionals constantly seek to communicate with and hear from customers,
who are ever-present and active on social media.
It, therefore, makes sense for PR practitioners to use it to their advantage. In fact, most of them
have made it an integral part of their practice and offer social media management services.
It’s not just Facebook and Twitter where brands strive to make their presence felt. Platforms
such as LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, and Google+ cannot be overlooked if modern PR
practitioners want to convey their story successfully.
Let’s take a look at how PR practitioners can use each of these platforms
advantageously.
Facebook
Wherever you go, you’re sure to find people using Facebook as if they were addicted to it. You
can love it or hate, but you certainly cannot ignore it. It is extremely popular among the masses,
and allows you to engage your audience through high-quality content in the form of posts,
images, videos, infographics, and links.
In order to succeed on Facebook, you will need to become a conversational brand. Only then
will you be able to build a strong base of audience. Once you’ve developed that, they will be
able to follow your page and receive updates about your brand as and when you post them.
Apart from that, PR practitioners can also explore other features that may be helpful in engaging
audiences. These include Mentions (open only to public figures), Facebook’s improved search
function that makes public posts more accessible, Facebook’s shopping tab (not available to all)
to partner with marketers and leverage it for better sales, Instant Articles (for iOS) to offer
valuable content to customers, and Facebook Events to manage the many events that will be
organized.

47
Additionally, Facebook’s ‘Donate’ button, Music Stories and Facebook Professional Services
are other features that can be helpful to PR professionals.
Twitter
Another platform that is widely used by PR professionals in modern times is Twitter. ‘Short and
sweet’ should be you mantra on this platform as you are limited to 140 characters, which is why
it can get challenging to get your message across and ensure that it is thoroughly understood.
However, Twitter is particularly great for making announcements to the public about businesses
or clients such as the launch of a new product, the winning of an award, an upcoming event,
introducing a new brand in a new market, or to keeping your audience updated during a crisis or
an emergency.
Of course, you need to let the hashtags (more on them mentioned later in the post) do the
talking for you. PR practitioners can also use Twitter to conduct research by keeping tabs on
what clients, competitors, friends, media or influencers are tweeting about. It is an effective
networking tool which makes it easy to connect with new people, follow them and get them to
follow you.
Using the Twitter app on iOS devices now comes with an added benefit to keep followers
engaged. With Periscope integrated into it, users can now view broadcasts as a live stream on
Twitter itself. PR practitioners can now tap into audiences with interesting visual content.
Periscope CEO Kayvon Beykpour says that a lot more is to come from this integration, which is
why PR professionals need to keep their eyes peeled and ears tuned in. Also, this feature will
soon be extended to other platforms as well.
Instagram
One of the reasons behind the success of Instagram is it’s ease of use. All you need to do is
click a photo and post it. Plus, the Search and Explore functions are turning the social network
into an easy-to-navigate news source.
Pictures can speak better than text. The main motive of Instagram is to offer interesting
accounts, photos and places to consumers. The biggest benefit for PR practitioners here is that
they get a ready-made source of influencers to investigate. Some of the most successful
Instagram campaigns have capitalized on this aspect.
In addition to showcasing their client’s offerings and credentials on Instagram, PR practitioners

can use visuals to create and raise awareness about issues and causes, take followers behind
the scenes to make a personal connection, and promote events before, after and while they are
in progress to entice, create interest and keep tongues wagging for a long time. Features such
as double-tapping and tagging people go a long way in increasing user engagement as well.
Pinterest

48
Through Pinterest, you can create value for your audience by curating content rather than
creating it. You can simply ‘Pin’ images and other content (typically DIY) systematically from
other sources on the Web into designated pages. These images can be viewed by your
audiences for inspiration or entertainment or both.
If PR practitioners succeed in getting this aspect right, they can build an army of loyal audiences
in no time.
Google+
The ability of Google+ to build avid communities of fans who support a cause or a person is
tremendous. PR professionals can explore this platform and find several communities related to
varied causes, interests and people.
PR practitioners can use ‘Circles’ to create groups of targeted audiences and send them
information that they know they will be interested in.
Face-to-face communication is a necessity when it comes to PR. This is where Hangouts

comes into the picture. Google+ ensures that everything that is posted is out there for the world
to see. This makes it an ideal platform to post media releases, announcements, podcasts and
articles.
LinkedIn
Most people are still of the opinion that LinkedIn is more of a professional networking platform
rather than a social one. But that has changed with its new emphasis on publishing. LinkedIn
can now be used as a blogging forum as well.
PR practitioners can use LinkedIn to highlight their client’s experience, disseminate content,
finding influencers, gaining industry insights, connecting with new clients, discovering media
opportunities, identifying new business opportunities and amplifying clients’ media coverage.
While networking opportunities are the biggest draw of LinkedIn, PR practitioners can also use it
to establish the relevance of their clients’ company page(s). Such a page can prove to be a
critical touch point for your brand.
The company’s Twitter feeds can be plugged into its LinkedIn page, which can be
supplemented with an RSS feed from the company’s blog.
Further, there are tabs that allow you to emphasize key products and support images and
videos related to the company’s offerings. Page admins can see the page activities with the help
of analytics.
PR practitioners can increase their reach by joining LinkedIn Groups where customers and
prospects are, or by creating one themselves. The focus, however, should always be on quality

49
rather than quantity. Being in numerous groups does not mean having more contacts or
referrals.
By contributing quality inputs on these groups on a regular basis, PR practitioners can help
businesses establish themselves as influencers or thought leaders. The groups are also helpful
when it comes to conducting market research. Marketers can create free polls and post them to
LinkedIn Groups to collect feedback on a product or service.
Why Hashtags Matter on Social Media
Hashtags are all over social media. They date back to 2007, when Twitter users began to prefix
their words and phrases with the ‘#’ symbol in order to create groups. Today, however, all major
social networks use it.
The hashtags importance lies in the fact that when you click on one, on any social network, you
will automatically be shown all other public posts that contain the same hashtag.
This can be tremendously valuable for small businesses and their PR because hashtags can
expose their content to a wider and a more targeted audience, and help businesses get
discovered.
However, be careful that you do not use too many of them as doing so can hurt your
engagement. It has been found that when you use more than two hashtags, your engagement
actually drops by an average of 17 percent.
Want to know how to use hashtags to your advantage?
Continue to write your posts the way you always have; only turn a couple of keywords into
hashtags individually. This can be done by prefixing the ‘#’ sign before each word. When placing
a hashtag before a phrase, do not include spaces in between the words or you will break the
hyperlink.
That’s it, it’s that easy!
PR practitioners can benefit a great deal by using social media optimally. Social media
campaigns can become a powerful tool in their arsenal.
Running a social media campaign, however, is no mean task. It requires planning, which
will help you devise a potent strategy. Without it, even the most experienced PR
professional can falter.
The following few tips should help you kick-start your social media campaign with a bang:
 Plan, plan and plan. Decipher the primary and secondary goals for the campaign. These
could be related to lead generation, direct sales, or increasing brand/product awareness.
Further, figure out how you will measure whether or not they have been achieved.

50
 Pick the right platform to run your campaign. When doing so, check for specific rules for
running a promotion on it. Facebook, for example, had stringent rules on running a
promotion on the Timeline, and selecting and/or contacting a winner. Non-compliance
can result in the termination of the business page.
 Choose from among a variety of free and low-cost apps to amp up your campaigns with
contests, coupons, offers and branded social landing pages.
 Before launching your campaign, make a list of the keywords to use in your posts for
SEO optimization. It may help to supplement your social media posts with low-cost
Facebook ads, LinkedIn ads, email campaigns, and other cross-promotional tactics.
 Make it easy for your visitors to reach a specific page on your website to carry out the
desired action by creating a campaign-specific landing page. This will help your
conversion rates rise.
 Reach out to influencers and garner their support by offering them a pitch they cannot
refuse. In turn, they will help in spreading the word about your campaign.
 Make sure to keep reviewing your success metrics throughout the campaign and even
after its completion. Doing so will help you understand the scope for further
improvement.
 Do follow up with your new contacts post the conclusion of the campaign to build a long-
lasting relationship with them. You can reach out to them with monthly updates,
newsletters or mass emails.
 Refrain from reacting to negative comments with aggression. Remember, it is impossible
to keep everyone happy. However, ensure that you can distinguish between a
disgruntled customer and a troll. Pacify the former with a genuine apology and an offer
to make things right. Then, politely ask them to remove their comment. Ignore trolls as
any interaction with them will only encourage their bad behaviour.
Did you know that social media is widely being utilized by publicists in electoral
campaigns as well?
In fact, U.S. President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are two of the
most shining examples of how social media can aid in boosting people’s images and project
them in the most favorable manner.
The 2012 Presidential election in the U.S. saw Obama clinch victory for the second time by
defeating Mitt Romney.
It is interesting to note that in October 2012, President Obama had over 20 million followers on
Twitter and Romney had 1.2 million.
On Facebook, Obama had over 29 million likes on his page and Romney had 7.9 million.
On Instagram, Obama had 1.4 million followers and Romney had 38,000 followers.

51
President Obama had higher followers on all of his other social media accounts including
Spotify, Pinterest and YouTube. Further, President Obama also utilized his social media
accounts more than any other candidate online.
Like President Obama, Prime Minister Modi too leveraged the power of social media and
reaped its benefits.
India has a huge population and what better way to reach out to the masses than through social
networks!
Doing so helped him tap about 12 crore first-time voters. He tugged at the heartstrings of the
previous voters of the party through his social media messages and urged them to vote for his
party.
He used the platforms to publicize the party’s policies and the idea of growth. His modern
outlook and manner of functioning inspired the country’s youth to make a difference to the
political system by voting for him.
Conclusion
Social media is a formidable tool and those who can use it right will always be at an advantage
over those who don’t. The above pointers should make it easy for you understand its prowess
as well as its functionality. Do make it a point to include social media in your PR strategy to
ensure that your Social Media campaign is a hit right from the word go.
EMERGING TRENDS IN PR
Gone are the days when PR was limited to just reputation management, press outreach for
newspapers, radios and television, press release distribution etc. With the introduction of
Internet, the opportunities for PR have increased. PR professionals need to adapt to the
changing dynamics. The shifting focus from Traditional PR to Digital PR is evident, and we
cannot afford to ignore the important trends in PR.
Ten important Trends in PR:
1. Dying Traditional Press Release Dissemination - The traditional practice of

announcing news of a company through a Press Release has become outdated. Yes,
companies still use Press Releases as a means to spread their news but it is not only
limited to that. These days, companies and their agencies have started adopting newer
and faster ways such as directly pitching to the journalist, or collaborating with a blogger
to publish it. It is easier to publish news and information online and amplify it through

52
social media. This will help you or any PR firm to increase your reach as well as
engagement.
2. Data Driven PR - The results of PR have always been questioned because they have
not been quantifiable. PR is critical for any business and it helps you give long-term
results. It is now possible to understand the impact of PR through proper data analytics
and mould your communication according to that. It is important that we establish Data
Driven metrics to help measure the correct results of PR activities. You can use data to
understand the type of audience you are targeting, behaviors, understanding the right
time to publish information etc.
3. Real-Time Marketing - One of the biggest trends developing in PR is Real Time

Marketing/reporting. As the name suggests, this is the process of leveraging events and
using social media (Live Video/ Live Tweets). PR professionals need to be prepared and
equipped for various situations and react to anything that may be happening.
4. Video Content - It is a proven a fact that displaying content through a Video creates not
just a better understanding but also help create a recall for your brand. A descriptive
video or even slideshows can help you deliver your message in a more effective way,
and your audience will prefer looking at a video on their phones rather than reading
blogs/news through written content.
5. Thought Leadership - A new and rising trend is building the thought leadership of
senior executives/CEOs of the company. This involves the senior management
publishing blogs, articles, views etc on various portals. Publishing such blogs on reputed
portals like LinkedIn and Quora will help increase credibility of the Leader as well as their
company.
6. Newer Ways of Content Amplification - Content amplification is a common practice

for all PR activities. Yes, you have built your content and published it as well. To
increase the readership and reach of that content, you need to amplify it through Social
Media. But using Social Media cannot be very fruitful. You need to combine it with Paid
Promotion as well. Using tools like Facebook Ads, Twitter Promoted Tweets and
LinkedIn Sponsored Updates, you can choose who exactly you want to target and gather
the type of engagement your content has generated.
7. Influencer Marketing - We cannot afford to ignore the growing importance of Social

Media in our lives. It is important to come up with innovative ways to reach out to your
audience. One of the rising trends is Influencer Engagement, the process of
collaborating with influential people on social media to post about and promote your
offerings. This can be through an organic, barter or paid collaboration. Choosing the

53
right type of influencers from your industry who have a high reach will give you a great
exposure.
8. Artificial Intelligence - Other than involving Artificial Intelligence in the basic activities of
PR like research, analysis and media mapping, you can integrate AI into various other
activities too. For example, using automatic audience targeting, or by introducing
Chatbot technology you can make the life of PR pros very easy.
9. Measuring Engagement - We have used data analytics to measure the kind of reach
and impressions our content has. But what will help us understand the real impact of the
content shared is by measuring the kind of engagement that it gathers. Analysing the
number of likes, shares and comments you are getting is crucial, but you also need to
gather understanding from such engagement. You can easily analyse the type of people
that are engaging with your content, and thanks to social media, you can even respond
to the negative and positive feedback you receive instantly.
10. Using SEO - It is an essential yet often ignored part of PR. Using SEO to find out
relevant Keywords and integrating them into your content will increase your chance of
being featured on the first page Search Engine Results Page (SERP).
11. Content Marketing - Content marketing is a strategy to create, curate & amplify a
content for building advocacy & thought leadership which can directly result in achieving
business & marketing objectives by influencing a set target audience. The way we are
doing public relations is purely dependent on the communication & messaging.


PR Notes - Unit II Final

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

PR Notes - Unit II Final

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

1

UNIT II: [PR Agency: Tools and Techniques]

1) PR Agency: Concept, Structure and Functions

A public relations firm or agency is a professional services organization, generally hired to

NOTES BY MS. DIMPLE ARORA, ASST. PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF

We don’t buy ads.

So what do public relations agencies do?

PR agencies, as opposed to advertising agencies, promote companies or individuals via

NOTES BY MS. DIMPLE ARORA, ASST. PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF

 Researching, conducting and evaluating, on a continuing basis, programs of action and

 Planning and implementing the organization’s efforts to influence or change public

The tactics used by a pr agency include the following:

 Write and distribute press releases

NOTES BY MS. DIMPLE ARORA, ASST. PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF

The size of the PR industry

The function of PR is carried out either by a PR department within a business, or by an external

NOTES BY MS. DIMPLE ARORA, ASST. PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF

Internal communications (in-house PR)

NOTES BY MS. DIMPLE ARORA, ASST. PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF

Job roles in external PR consultancies

Tasks can typically involve:

 liaising on a daily basis with clients and the media

Tasks can typically involve:

• maintenance and creation of media lists and editorial calendars

NOTES BY MS. DIMPLE ARORA, ASST. PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF

• maintenance of photo files

• press kit assembly and distribution

• general administrative duties.

Areas of focus for PR consultancies

Healthcare/pharmaceutical PR – this area involves working with pharmaceutical companies to

NOTES BY MS. DIMPLE ARORA, ASST. PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF

Business-to-business (B2B) PR – effective internal communication can work alongside B2B

Digital/technological PR – this encompasses the need to explain technological innovations

A Public Relations agency performs the following functions:

1. Press relations: A PR agency performs the function of creation and dissemination of

NOTES BY MS. DIMPLE ARORA, ASST. PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF

7. Special events: PR agencies help organizations attract media attention by arranging

Media Relations involves working with media for the purpose of informing the public of an

Many people use the terms public relations and media relations interchangeably; however,

interest to their audiences. Because of this fact, ongoing relationships between an organization

Possible reasons an organization may reach out to the media are:

 Launch of a new product/service

MULTI – MEDIA RELEASE (PRESS, AUDIO, VIDEO AND SOCIAL MEDIA)

A few of the benefits of multimedia news releases:

NOTES BY MS. DIMPLE ARORA, ASST. PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF

Two Basic Types of Press Releases

The Main Purpose of a Press Release

Tips for Writing a Press Release

NOTES BY MS. DIMPLE ARORA, ASST. PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF

What a Press Release Is Not

Writing the Perfect Press Release

Use the inverted news pyramid as your guideline.

Follow these seven steps towards the perfect press release:

1. Consider: Why send the news out today?

NOTES BY MS. DIMPLE ARORA, ASST. PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF

Contact with the Media

Do Not Spam the Press Release to All Journalists at a Single Media

Don’t You Ever…

NOTES BY MS. DIMPLE ARORA, ASST. PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF

Audio News Release (ANR)

Different from Regular News Releases

ANRs have several significant differences from standard news releases.

NOTES BY MS. DIMPLE ARORA, ASST. PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF