5 times your approach as a Public Relations pro might fail !

Hi reader. Since you have landed on this page and lending your eyes to these words finally, I would like to add more value to your reading experience. For this, May I please request you to read the headline of this article once again and with an attention, little more than what you would have given when you read it first?

Thank you. The sole purpose behind this was an emphasis on the use of word — ‘might’ in the title. I could have chosen ‘will’, ‘may’, ‘can’, ‘could’ or ‘would’ , but a study of modals (type of verb) says ‘might’ expresses the least possibility of an incident. Hence, as it goes in our PR industry; there isn’t a guarantee of anything, neither this article nor me, as an author can guarantee a particular approach is right or wrong. Wait..Wait..Wait..this doesn’t mean there isn’t anything for you ahead. With every respect to your esteemed approach, unboxing those 5 instances to which I definitely say a big No for almost all my clients.

• No attempt to convince the client — At first glance, you might feel that’s what we do all day — Convince the Client. But here, my reference is with the timeline. As a pro, our efforts should be focused on convincing our clients before an outreach is planned, not once we present the results. The prominence should be laid upon helping your client understand your thought process, envision the outcome exactly like you and second your faith in a suggested idea. As someone running or managing a business, the client’s primary focus always remains on a streamlined running of the enterprise but as a communication professional, we, any day, know the market better than our client. All what we need is to wear this confidence. For this, we must always try putting things clear on paper with a detailed analysis of what’s possible and what’s not accompanied by a well-researched, learned, practical answer to any query which can come our way. So, next time, don’t choose getting off that zoom call as soon as possible, don’t confuse your client’s understanding of business with his understanding of communication, don’t assume anything unless convinced and plan some kick ass initiatives for the brand.
• Doing, for the sake of doing — Nothing in this world ever bores desired results if its execution is for the sake of execution. Love, Hate, Sleep, Cook, Dance, Paint, Teach look good when they are actually done and Public Relations is no exception here. Often, owing to budget constraints, market ecosystem, client demands, relationship, media landscape, policies, designed formats, we end up suggesting something which only took some efforts, involved some money and got stacked in one of the reports. Let’s stop doing that. We ought to disseminate a release because we know media will pick it, readers will read it, it has a market value, it has a message not only because it was planned. How bigger or smaller the brand is, as PR professionals, we need to normalize sending relevant and timely releases to the media. We need to understand that quoting — ‘We achieved an increased brand recall with 5 outreach activities” serves no purpose if 2 of the activities didn’t get us anything. What can help here is a better market understanding coupled with transparency and foresightedness. The more result oriented our approach is, the better we are as professionals.
• Prioritize deadline over research — Well, this needs a story to be told first. If you are a native Indian, then you know the background but even otherwise, you would have heard about — Mahabharata. One of the ancient Indian epics where two branches of a family fought in a battle for a throne. In one of the episodes during the battle, the great warrior — Arjuna, pledged to take the revenge of his son’s death before the sun sets the next day. Lord Krishna, who was Arjuna’s charioteer satirically, asks him about his deadline — “Why is your dynasty fond of oaths and deadlines? Revenge is essential but since you have set a deadline, your eyes will be more on the sun than on the aim.” This is one of the great teachings an epic of that level can bring for all of us, essentially for us where we deal with deadlines every day. Meeting deadlines are important and represent a planned approach but it is absolutely fine to surpass them when the project demands more thought to the idea, more research, more discussion, and more brainstorming. There are chances that someone from your team who gives best of the ideas may not just feel like thinking at that time when you have to meet a deadline. As a pro, always give time to creative things. Big ideas do not take birth under pressure of deadlines. You might receive an appreciation from your client for submitting work on time but remember, his enterprise needs a good idea and not a draft submitted when required.
• Keeping Quantity > Quality — xx number of conversions garnered in the month of October, xx relationship building meets done, xx reactions on the Diwali creative, xx headlines carried the name of the brand. Trust me, everyone’s doing that and the sad part is — doing that consciously. We are so engrossed in showcasing our work that we often forget what is building the brand actually. How would 100 conversions matter to a brand in a month if 70 out of them are a snippet or one column in somewhat forgotten page of a publication which the goofing of readers won’t read? Delivering numbers is a requirement but if it the primary focus and not supported by quality assurance, pretty soon our approach is going to be off track. New attire everyday can make you look an owner of the stocks of clothes but the presentable one, which is of good quality, will bring you attention. Quality in terms of stories, users’ reactions, community perspective strengthens your quantity of news stories, likes, reactions and views.
• Being 2nd to share a success/address a concern — We never get late to pitch a story because we take complete count of the journalist’s story filing time. Our updates are on time and if ever our brand encounters a situation which has the potential to turn into crisis, we are on our toes. Then, why being 2nd to present a success or address a concern? We all agree that as long as our client is calm, things are fine. But, what can keep him calm? It is our proactive behavior. Why is it so that someone in a team wins the trust of the manager better than others? Because he or she takes the onus and assures whatever good or bad might happen, you will be informed without any delay. That’s what a client expects from his PR professional — A mindful approach. An approach, where we, as official corporate communicators take care of the success or downfall of the brand even if the client is a little late to recognize or address it. Imagine the reliability you can build for your client with your calls/messages (what is preferred by your client) informing him the mood of the market, the industry, what can we do in communications. He would jump in air realizing there is someone else taking care of the brand the way he does. Such division of work leads to long term associations, amazing works and immeasurable success.

We are lucky to be in a profession which does not set limits or defines things. Every professional follows an approach and strangely every approach is aimed to fulfill one goal. Let’s ensure that goal is always met!