Honestly, there's really no difference between public relations and marketing. Both tactics have similar results, but are usually executed by two different types of professionals.
Marketers and press staff usually have an endless, internal battle with each other. But! But, surprisingly enough, marketers and press are actually doing the same thing, and in some cases, are redundant in their actions.
Okay, so we're not talking about the eternal war between these two illustrious and necessary professions, but what we, as marketers, can learn from them.
So, sit back and learn what the true newsmakers do on a daily basis.
1. Press works from unattainable deadlines
For the record, press, even internal communications staff, work on a deadline that doesn't even exist. No one can ever predict what's going to happen, so everything that happens afterward is already too late.
There are things that press works on that are planned, but they're rare.
Marketer-Only Tips: To be the best in the business, there's no such thing as a COB (close of business) deadlines. Work from the perspective that your backside is on fire and you need to put it out. Yesterday.
2. Rapid response is the name of the game
If there's news breaking, the very best press people are on top of it like nothing else. They've already crafted a thoughtful yet intriguing press release or comment as CNN's ticker goes by.
But, traditional new is different. Relevance and rapidness go hand-in-hand. Being first out there with a comment is media gold: you'll be covered first, referenced first and respected first.
Marketer-Only Tips: Rapid response as a practice is a little far-fetched for online marketers, but is still practiced. Take, for example, a trending topic (MTV's VMA's), if you're not out there first, commenting, spinning or blogging about this topic, you're missing the boat.
3. Make news
Do make a mountain out of a molehill. Sometimes, there are "slow news days," where the media is scrambling to make their word count and write a story. Veteran press people don't take advantage of this, they exploit it. On slow news days, everyone counts as news, so it's the perfect opportunity to push a pet project or draw attention to an under-reported issue.
The key to this tactic, however, is doing the reporters job for them: if you craft a print-ready press release, then you're making their life easier, requiring little to no effort to follow up on sources or collect quotes.
Marketer-Only Tips: We're going to take this a step further and spice it up. The only way that "making news" works for press people is that they have a track record and fantastic copy, they insist on making a big deal about the issue on their own, even without major press covering it. That is the lesson.
Time to distribute your news
When it is all said and done, you need to get your news out to the masses. Along with contacting your local media, it is vital to get a strong overall online coverage. That is where press release directories come in handy as journalists and consumers monitor these feeds. Submitting to all of these directories on news day can seem overwhelming and not worth the time. That is where you would be wrong. Doing this tactic is key and finding a way to do it faster is the goal.
SimplyCast now provides a fast press release submission tool that can make your life as a marketer much easier. Basically, enter your info once and quickly submit it to numerous directories.
Sign up for our Epic Free Plan and have 5 press release submissions for free every month.
