When PR suddenly becomes your job

By Sarah Lee, Founder of PingGo

‍I never planned to work in PR. I just landed here — and loved it. But for many people PR is an unexpected addition to their job role. And not always that welcome!Does this sound familiar?

You’re working in marketing and all of a sudden you’re asked to write a press release. Or worse. To get the news onto the front page of your CEO’s favourite Sunday paper! Where do you even start with that?

I work with people every day in just that position. They’ve never written a press release, don’t know any journalists, but now they have PR as part of their job and no one to advise them.

So if that has happened to you, here’s my advice... Don’t panic. Getting your company into the media is just a process. If you follow the process and play by the rules you’ll get there.

‍Ten Step PR Plan

‍Know exactly what news outlets you want to be seen in.

• Identify the journalist at each of those outlets that writes about companies like you.
• Make a list of news announcements you have coming up and schedule them at least four weeks apart
• Write a press release by first listing all the hard facts you know about the announcement —  who, what, where, when and why.
• Choose your top target news outlet and call the journalist previously identified, before 11 am.
• Pitch your news and send the press release in the body of an email.
• Now (as long as you have not been asked for an exclusive) go to the next journalist on your list. And keep going until you have called them all.
• Follow up in the afternoon to lock down coverage.
• Check online over the next few days for coverage and follow up any leads you have created.
• And four weeks later, repeat.
• And that, my friends, is it. That’s how you get your company into the media. There is no mystery, just process. It takes time, you can’t buy PR, you have to earn it. But the end result is credibility for your company. And that is a powerful result.