It’s graduation season, that time of year when many new PR pros are entering the world of work.
When you’re new to public relations, your head may be spinning as there’s so much to learn.
To help, I’m sharing some PR advice that may not be taught in class but will hopefully help you as you navigate your career.
New to PR? Here’s PR Advice Based on What I’ve Learned
1) Your career path may not always lead straight up the ladder: As you begin your journey, know there may be twists and turns along the way—and that’s perfectly OK.
You may start out in one area only to find you prefer focusing on another element of the work. It’s great to gain experience in a variety of industries and work environments, so you know what you like best. There are things to be learned from working in agencies, startups, small businesses, corporations and nonprofits. You may love being a big fish in a small pond, or the opposite.
Every role will teach you something about what you enjoy doing – and what you don’t enjoy as much. It’s ALL valuable.
One note: Whatever path you choose, agency experience can teach you a lot. If you have an opportunity to work at one for even a year, you’ll gain a sense of how accounts are managed and get a taste of the roles. Learning how to handle client service will benefit you regardless of the path you ultimately pursue.
2) Hone your storytelling skills: If you can tell a story, your future in PR is bright. Storytelling skills help you paint a picture for the audience, as I cover in my book. Including details that highlight contrasts – for example, before versus after – keeps people interested.
PR guru Lou Hoffman says it this way: “When we say, ‘The story is always there,’ we don’t really mean story by the conventional definition. Instead, we’re really saying, ‘Interesting stuff is always there.’” Stay curious. Learn how to find the “interesting stuff.”
3) Remember that PR is part of the bigger marketing picture: We’re often asked to measure the effectiveness of our public relations efforts. This has always been a struggle. Katie Paine, frequently referred to as The Queen of Measurement, doesn’t feel that even AI has done much to improve measurement.
One thing to keep in mind: PR isn’t an island. Everything a company does on the marketing front factors into the overall outcome. And it’s often no one thing that moves the needle but ALL the efforts combined that result in a sale.
For instance, a buyer may have seen the company at a trade show. Then, they came across an ad while browsing online. Later, they may have seen media coverage of the product in a trade publication. Perhaps they heard the CEO when he guested on a podcast. You get the idea.
“The absolute best way to do much of this is to give up on tracking, trust your instincts, use directional lift over time, and redirect all the hours of work the above measurement practices require into actual marketing activities,” says Rand Fishkin, entrepreneur and CEO of SparkToro., in this thought-provoking post, How to Measure “Hard-to-Measure” Marketing Channels.
4) Write!: We all know how vital it is to be able to string together a thought. Writing is one of those skills that will always matter to PR practitioners.
I’m one of those public relations practitioners who started out as a writer. From the time I could hold a pencil, I was always writing something. Writing in a journal, writing poems, writing for my school newspaper. Eventually, I attended journalism school and specialized in public relations, but the foundation of it all was writing.
Writing equals thinking. We don’t want to give up our ability to think for ourselves. No amount of AI tools will ever change that.
What’s the best way to become a better writer? Write. If you don’t have much writing experience, find ways to write more—seek out opportunities at work or even write your own blog. Even if no one reads it, the experience you gain is well worth it.
5) Understand how AI can help you – but don’t rely on it for everything: AI is here, as we all know. It’s not going away. It can be useful in PR, but I would caution that, as with anything, you use it thoughtfully. Over-reliance on it isn’t going to help you.
With critical thinking skills at an all-time low, we should be doing MORE of our own thinking, not less. “Years of research suggest that young people are struggling with reduced attention spans and weakening critical thinking skills,” says this Futurism article. “People across age groups are having trouble concentrating and losing reasoning, problem-solving, and information-processing skills.”
So, yes, learn how to use AI in ways that help support your critical thinking. An excellent resource – someone I trust – is Christopher Penn. He has a helpful article on how to optimize your marketing and PR programs using AI here. This is from his newsletter, to which you can subscribe for free.
And while we’re talking about AI, I think it’s important to understand how AI-based search will impact your work with clients. PR can help companies show up everywhere, and that’s what they’ll want to do. More on that here: Five Tips to Help Companies Shine in AI-Based Search Results.
6) Develop a thick skin: Working in public relations often involves pushback from multiple parties. Whether you work with internal or external clients, they sometimes question your approach. If you’re starting out, your manager will have feedback on anything you write. And when you pitch stories to journalists, rejection is part of the equation.
So, my advice is to learn how to accept pushback, questions and criticism with grace. Staying calm and patient will serve you well. If you keep an open mind, you can often learn something. Even when you disagree with the feedback you get, you can grow from it.
There are times when your editor (or your boss or client) will make changes to your work that you don’t agree with. You need to learn when it pays to pursue your point and when it’s better to let it go.
I once had a manager who disagreed with me over a term I used in a contributed article that I knew was correct—he said no. At the end of the day, he was the boss, so I had little choice after I voiced my side but to let it ride his way. Yes, it was difficult. Errors in anything published with my name on it bug me. Eventually, he admitted he was wrong and apologized. But, had I pushed too hard, it could’ve caused a rift that might’ve made our otherwise positive relationship difficult.
Pick your battles. I sometimes think of this quote: “He that fights and runs away, May turn and fight another day; But he that is in battle slain, Will never rise to fight again.” – Tacitus
7) Be ready to roll with the changes: The PR industry is undergoing change, as are other industries. Every year, USC Annenberg’s School for Journalism and Communication conducts a survey of public relations professionals. This year, the survey found that 40% of PR pros predict AI will lead to an increase in misinformation over the next five years. Add to that the evolving media landscape, a dip in corporate social responsibility, and a crisis potentially lurking around every corner, and that’s bound to lead to some challenging times for brands.
On the bright side, despite economic, political, and technological upheavals, 74% of PR professionals hold a positive outlook toward the industry’s future.
Yes, there’s a lot of change, but if we look back over the years, change is a constant in our field. Adopting a continuous learning outlook will help you navigate any disruption you may face.
8) Take on challenges that get you outside your comfort zone: Confidence is everything in our business. But, unless you continually grow, you may not develop that confidence. To become more confident, step outside your comfort zone.
I have a quote in my office where I can look at it daily. It says, “Push yourself – because no one is going to do it for you.” This advice has helped me accomplish things I never thought I could do. As a result, I’m much more confident in my work with clients.
It’s not that I didn’t know what I was doing. It was that I didn’t always have faith that I knew. Having confidence in your decisions and direction is priceless. Experience will help you get there, but you have to put yourself out there at times to gain that experience.
9) The client doesn’t always understand PR: When I reflect on the importance of educating people about what it is we actually do, I don’t know if I ever thought that it would play such a significant role in my work when I got into PR. But education is vital.
While you have an understanding of what PR is—and what it isn’t—the client may not. Whether you work in-house, at an agency, or as a consultant, education is often necessary. Setting expectations and aligning with your client’s goals make a big difference.
One point to remember: the client needs to actively participate in the process for the effort to succeed. They need to engage by making time to meet with you, at least occasionally, and by providing material for their public relations team to work with. That can come in the form of subject matter experts, thought leadership, customer stories, behind-the-scenes points of view, trend spotting and more.
The responsibility doesn’t fall solely on the shoulders of the public relations pro or team. They work with the client to achieve the goals. Both have to contribute to make the collaboration a success. It took me some time to learn this, but once I did, I viewed my relationship with clients in a whole new light.
10) Join—and get involved in—a professional organization: Professional organizations welcome young professionals. It helps both the organization, as it benefits from new members and viewpoints, while it allows the young pros to meet others in their industry and grow their networks. Having a few friends in the biz never hurts when you’re embarking on a job search – or just need a listening ear.
You can also volunteer to gain new skills or grow existing ones. It’s also a great way to get to know others.
Another tip: When you’re just out of school, some organizations offer a deeply discounted membership (such as The American Marketing Association, which offers a “young professional membership”), so even if your employer doesn’t cover it, you can most likely afford the cost. Look at it as an investment in your future.
11) Find a mentor and follow voices you trust: One thing I lacked early in my PR days was a mentor. I’d asked a manager at one of my corporate jobs if she could mentor me – her response was to direct me to look elsewhere. Not exactly the supportive type of answer I was looking for.
I eventually found a mentor through a professional organization I was part of (see above for more on the value of joining one). He gave me some excellent advice that helped me immeasurably. I was always grateful for the time and patience he had with my questions, especially at a time when I was still figuring things out.
Further, seek out the voices of those in the industry you can follow and trust. There’s a lot of bad advice out there, and now, misinformation runs rampant. When you find some folks you can look to who you know won’t steer you wrong, you’ll want to keep up with their perspectives on the trends and fundamentals you need to know.
Welcome to the Public Relations Fold!
Congratulations on entering the public relations world! There’s never a dull moment, and your skills will always be in demand, as long as there are companies, organizations and brands that need to build, maintain, protect and promote their reputations.
Need help kickstarting your public relations program?
Learn more about my freelance PR consulting services here. Book a no-obligation call to talk about your needs here. Buy my book here.
About the author: Michelle Garrett is a B2B PR consultant, media relations consultant, and author of B2B PR That Gets Results, an Amazon Best Seller. 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.
