originally posted to www.carnsight.com

Is PR largely out of our hands? What can be controlled in a PR campaign?

In contrast to some other PR consultancies, we’re clear that we won’t guarantee our clients coverage in particular publications (especially not within a certain timeframe). It’s just not within our control to do so. In fact, there are a number of things that are out of our hands when it comes to running a PR campaign.

However, we can and do control most of the key parts of the PR process, and these are things that contribute to its success. So here’s more about how we run successful PR campaigns through Carnsight and what you should always consider when choosing a PR professional to partner with.

What coverage is likely

I’m always amazed at people we speak to who say they’ve worked with PR pros before who don’t generate a single piece of coverage for a piece of news. Not one piece. My issue isn’t that PR professionals should guarantee coverage (as I said above), it’s that the right PR consultancy should be able to indicate where they think coverage is possible, and advise on the right approach to secure it. If the news isn’t worthy of a release, it’s important to say so up front. There are other ways to generate coverage aside from pitching news releases, and that’s something that should be discussed before anything gets drafted.

What the angle should be

Sometimes clients come to us with an angle, and we discuss and refine. Sometimes we suggest taking a different approach to get them the results they’re after. That could be for a number of reasons – for instance their new website launch may not be considered newsworthy to publications, but their growth or expansion of the team could be (with a side message on the new site). Or it could be that their target media doesn’t actually cover news, only commentary (so it’s no point targeting them with a news story) or that competitors have recently done something similar, so we’d suggest changing the approach. The angle is key and we’ll always justify why we suggest the angle we do.

Good client service

Good client service is paramount. Maybe it’s because I’ve always worked in service businesses, maybe it’s because we understand how important reputations are, but we do our utmost to deliver good service at Carnsight Communications. That means everything from always keeping in touch, being responsive, regularly scheduling updates and always managing expectations. Sometimes we’re guiding our clients through the PR process for the first time, and often we’re answering questions. But good client service means a lot to us and is completely within our control. We’re proud of our five star Google reviews.

The pitching approach

Sometimes clients come to us with a sector to target in mind, or a dream publication. Sometimes they prefer more guidance from our side. We have a lot of experience across a range of verticals as well as business press and nationals, so we are always happy to give our take and create a bespoke pitching strategy. Although we can’t share details of individual media contacts, we always share a list of where we’re pitching, and that gets updated real-time, as we’re frequently speaking to media.

When to pitch

An important element in a successful pitch is knowing when the time is right. Sometimes it’s about ensuring a pitch ties in with an awareness or focus month. Sometimes it’s about reactive pitching to the right news story (or “newsjacking”). Sometimes it’s about knowing when the journalist is accepting pitches or giving them adequate time to consider a pitch and following up at the optimum time. And sometimes it comes down to the days and times to pitch for a particular publication. A good PR pro will advise and act on this and it should be within their control.

Sharing results and analytics

We still get the coverage buzz – from securing that key piece of coverage for the client to hitting a bullseye publication. We always start off with a media list and a target number of pieces of coverage (which isn’t the be-all and end-off but provides us all with a good guide). Sharing coverage secured is an important part of the process – both giving to our clients promptly and providing them with a platform which they can also share on with stakeholders. Analytics, too, are key. We use CoverageBook which allows us to share images, links and a range of metrics such as Domain Authority.

So there’s a lot that’s very much in our hands within a good PR campaign, and we ensure we provide a five-star service whatever the challenge.

About Carnsight Communications

At Carnsight Communications we create strategies and campaigns to showcase our clients’ brilliant work through PR, content and social media. We help them get noticed by the right audience, at the right time. We specialise in creative agency PR.