When you work in public relations, you often hear the same questions.
“What does it take to get started with PR?”
“How long does it take PR to work?”
“Do I really need to use a media database or a wire service?”
I recently led a webinar for Notified with hundreds of attendees (ICYMI, here’s the link to the replay) – and they had QUESTIONS. 🙋♀️
I’ve selected some of the most commonly asked queries to answer in this post.
The 11 Public Relations Questions I’m Most Frequently Asked
1) What does it take to get started with PR?
It takes TIME.
No one wants to hear that – but it’s true. If you’re pitching story ideas to the media, it’s going to take time to make headway. (If anyone tells you otherwise, don’t believe them.)
If you’re in a rush, it’d be better to buy an ad or pay for a sponsored piece.
Besides time, I’d start by thinking about:
- Where do you want to be featured? That includes knowing where your audience spends time. Hint: It’s more likely to be a trade journal than The Wall Street Journal.
- What stories and news do you have to share? Not everything you might think is newsworthy actually is. What do you have to share that’s truly worthy of a journalist’s time and attention?
- Do you have thought leaders with industry experience who can speak and write on the company’s behalf?
- Timing. Build out a calendar of upcoming news. Fill in slower periods with other content like contributed articles, for example.
2) How long does it take PR to work?
The answer is – it depends.
But, if pressed to give a timeframe, I’d suggest allowing three to six months to see results and gain momentum if you’re getting a media relations effort off the ground.
3) Do I need a big budget to conduct an effective PR campaign?
Not necessarily.
On the talent side, if you don’t have an in-house public relations pro to call on, you can hire some help.
Agencies are often the first place companies turn, but don’t overlook consultants.
If you’re a larger company with a big budget (like Apple, for instance), sure, an agency – or maybe multiple agencies – would be the way to go. But, if you’re a smaller company, you probably have a limited budget. An agency might be overkill.
Can you conduct an effective media relations effort for a few thousand dollars a month? If you work with a consultant, the answer is – yes. You can hire a consultant to work with you on a project or retainer basis.
Then, there’s the technology side of this question. We’ll tackle that one below.
4) Do I always need to write a press release?
Maybe. You may not need to write one every time you have news to announce, but writing a press release may be helpful in other ways:
- Refining the language and messaging you want to use.
- Getting all members of your team on the same page.
- Once you have a press release, you can refer to it to inform other communications efforts.
You should also post ALL press releases on your site, preferably in a news or press area. They provide a company history for anyone visiting, be it journalists or other audiences.
Two reasons NOT to write a press release:
- The CEO wants one
- You have a quota (e.g., one press release per month)
- I suggest asking these five questions before writing a press release.
5) Do I need to use a paid wire service to issue my press release?
No, you never have to. However, it can be beneficial in some cases.
If you have an announcement big enough to warrant it – say, a major new partnership or customer – you might consider using a wire service – in addition to pitching the news.
With the proliferation of AI and fake news, a wire service provides verification that this news is from the company itself. Also, the editorial services provided when you pay for a wire service offer another set of eyes to catch errors.
If you decide to use a wire service, look at distribution options. Not every release needs to be issued on a national distribution. Some statewide distributions, for example, or industry-specific distributions, may save you money.
A caveat here: If you’re a publicly traded company, you’re required to use a wire service to announce material news.
6) If I use a wire service, do I still need to pitch my press release?
If you want media coverage, then the answer is yes.
Issuing a press release on a wire service usually doesn’t result in news stories. Your press release may appear in search results the day it’s issued on the wire service, but that can’t be considered media coverage (and if a PR provider tries to tell you it is – it’s still not true 😕 ).
Press release “pick-ups” also shouldn’t be considered earned media coverage. These numbers are provided by the wire service and are syndications – not true earned media coverage. Actual media coverage only happens when a news outlet writes a story based on your press release. If they run the press release as is verbatim, that’s a pick-up – and it’s not worth much.
7) Do I need to use a media database?
No. Again, if you’re a major enterprise (like Apple), then, of course, you can easily afford thousands of dollars for an annual subscription to a media database. But, if you work for a smaller company with a limited marketing/PR budget, you don’t need to pay for a media database.
Instead, build a list by researching on your own – or hire a consultant to do this as a project for you.
The list doesn’t need to include hundreds of journalists. It should focus on maybe the top 20-25 media outlets that are a fit for your news and stories. In many cases, for B2B companies, this would be trade publications. I usually include local business reporters on the list, too.
I think there’s sometimes a misconception that every company needs to pitch every media outlet out there – and that’s just not true. Nor is it effective. Sending more pitches does NOT result in more media coverage.
By carefully choosing who to include on your media list, you’ll increase the odds of reporters picking up your news and stories.
8) Do I need to include visuals with my pitches to journalists?
Yes, you should—if you can. Visuals can help sway a journalist to say yes to your pitch (they’ve told me this is true). This makes sense because compelling visuals increase readership. One study showed that articles with images get 94% more views.
Also, media outlets don’t have the resources to send a photographer out to take photos whenever they’re interested in a story, so they increasingly rely on companies to submit photos when possible.
If you have video, send that along, too. Logos should be available as well. Don’t forget executive headshots if you’re working on a thought leadership program that includes contributed articles and speaking opportunities. You can add these to a press area on your site.
More on the importance of visuals here: How Visuals Help You Achieve Greater Success With Your PR Efforts.
9) What’s the best way to include visuals when pitching the media?
Many journalists seem to frown upon attachments. I’d say including a link (Dropbox and WeTransfer are two ways to do this) may be the easiest way.
If I have a relationship with a journalist, I sometimes send attachments because they know and trust me.
10) What about paying for ads? Does this help my earned media/PR efforts?
Sometimes. The short answer is that, while there should be a separation between the advertising and editorial teams, there often is not much of one any longer, especially when it comes to trade publications.
My advice is that if there’s a publication your company wants to appear in and you’ve been struggling to get an editor to respond, it might not hurt to try some paid media. When you do this, politely ask for an introduction to the editorial team.
11) If we have a limited PR budget, how should we allocate those funds?
The best way to spend your public relations budget is on talent.
It makes me a little crazy when I see companies sinking thousands of dollars into technology, like subscriptions to media databases and wire services that they’re not even using. 🥴
Instead, they could take a portion of those funds and hire a PR consultant to help with media pitching.
Because – ALL the technology in the world isn’t going to help you if you don’t use it.
What Questions Do YOU Have About Public Relations?
If YOU have questions about PR, please share. I’d love to hear what’s on your minds – and maybe answer some of your questions in an upcoming post.
Do you have questions about public relations and how it might work for you?
Learn more about my PR consulting services here. Book a no-obligation call to talk about your needs here.
About the author: Michelle Garrett is a B2B PR consultant and author of B2B PR That Gets Results. She helps companies create content, earn media coverage, and position themselves as thought leaders in their industry. Michelle’s articles have been featured by Entrepreneur, Content Marketing Institute, Muck Rack and Ragan’s PR Daily, among others. She’s a frequent speaker on public relations and content. Michelle has been repeatedly ranked among the top ten most influential PR professionals.
100% of this blog post was written by me, the human.
Featured image is courtesy of Adobe Express.
