Peg Devlyn, co-founder of Marketing Partners, Inc., always used to say, “PR isn’t a project….” She usually stated this in her gentle but matter-of-fact way in response to a phone call to our firm—someone asking if we could do PR for their new store’s grand opening event or some other type of short-term project.
When I was new to the firm, I was always a little taken aback by her comment. Isn’t any business—even if only a short-term PR project—good business to have? But she held firm to her belief. Over the years I have come to understand why.
In this time of instant gratification and tough economic times, requests for short-term PR projects tend to increase. While I’ve written about the long-term nature of PR before, it’s a topic worth revisiting.
Clarify Goals and Expectations
If you are a new client, it is always helpful to have a good understanding of your goals and expectations. I can usually get a feel for this pretty quickly when meeting with new clients. If you talk about long-term goals like building a more positive image in your region, positioning yourself as a thought leader in the industry or creating systemic change, there’s a pretty good chance you are investing in this new relationship for the long haul and understand that change doesn’t happen overnight.
But if the emphasis is on the short-term or a need to get customers quickly—and you are asking for PR rather than advertising or direct marketing—that’s usually a red flag.
Most people understand that a paid ad placed once or twice won’t create lasting change. But somehow when it comes to PR, there isn’t that same understanding. This could be for many reasons. First, some people lack an understanding of how the media works. Second, they may not realize how much work and time goes into getting a nice story placement (and it is work for both you as client and your PR firm). And third, the business might be run in the short-term without regard or appreciation for the long-term. And this brings us to a fourth point: They probably aren’t a good match for a marketing/PR firm that prides itself on providing lasting value for its client partners.
Quality PR Takes Time
I don’t want to suggest that it’s impossible to do PR for a short-term project. It’s not. Most firms can send out news releases, get some interviews for a client, have an event, create some noise on social media and generate some hits in the media.
But this is where the goals and expectations come in. If the client is only looking for a short-term splash and can be happy with that, then all is well and good. But if the client is hoping for making real change in public perception or a sustained increase in web traffic, customers, etc., that takes time. You can’t short circuit the process. If you proceed under these expectations with a short-term project, it’s likely that both parties (client and firm) will be disappointed.
The Slow Build
PR is a slow build that happens over time.
Here’s an example: When I first started working at our firm almost 15 years ago I worked with a client that was new to the firm. It was a small, growing company that had never done PR before. Our PR goals were to build name recognition for the CEO and the company and position it as a great place to work. At parties or conferences if I mentioned this client’s name when people asked who I worked with, no one had ever heard of our client—at least not in the beginning. This changed over time. More and more people would recognize the company name after the first year or so. And after several years of a sustained PR and marketing program, I found that people not only recognized the company name, they also knew the CEO’s name, knew their industry and they recognized the company as a great place to work. The same was true with the media. Over time, this client became a sought-after resource for articles and stories in their industry and our local media.
We call this the snowball effect. And when it finally takes hold that’s when you and your client realize that all the time, nurturing and effort has been very well spent indeed.
The bottom line: There is no short-term PR strategy that produces that kind of change. And that is what Peg understood so well.
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photo via flickr:
