Media coverage – the more the better – In the last 10 years, PR companies have relegated media coverage to a small subset of their services. They’re more interested in making money on brand articulation, messaging, media training, etc.When most CEOs, CMOS, and other executives, evaluate their PR success, they’re going to ask themselves, “How much press coverage have we gotten? Are people writing about us, and more importantly, reading about us on a consistent basis?”And, by media coverage, I’m not talking about just mainstream media. If a client only values newspaper-TV-radio, then you’ve got to educate them about where most people are getting their news – digital – and more importantly the SEO value of digital coverage.
Candid feedback – if a client explains a new project or product offering to you, and your stomach sinks, and you start thinking, “How in the hell am I going to explain or sell this to reporters,” you’d best air your concerns from the beginning. There are ways to do this without extinguishing a clients’ enthusiasm.If you know what reporters are writing about, you can figure out a way to reframe the clients’ announcements or reposition in a way that fits into what the media is currently interested. But, it’s better to have that conversation up front. If you ignore the sinking feeling in your gut, you’re going to have an uncomfortable conversation with client eventually. It will happen.Why wait until you’re trying to sugarcoat the response of reporters who had the same reaction you did, “This doesn’t make sense – or this doesn’t fly?”
Media Junkie – If you’re not a media junkie, you’re going to have unhappy clients. If your clients are sending you relevant articles and pointing out what their competitors are doing – or memes specific to a client’s industry – you’ve got a problem. Clients are paying you for your media expertise – and you’ve got to consistently show that you know what’s going on and who’s writing about what.