The first couple weeks of January are a time of reflection, but they’re also an opportunity to look ahead and think about how you’ll apply the lessons learned from the previous year. To get you started, we’ve curated some of the top tips from our 2022 webinar and podcast guests.
January
PR Predictions: Breaking Down the Need-to-Know Trends of 2022
- Bridgette Borst Ombres, Principal Consultant, The Commsultant
- Michelle Garrett, PR consultant and founder, Garrett Public Relations
- Tressa Robbins, Vice President of Customer Onboarding and Content & Social Media Manager, Burrelles
We put together a full recap of the exciting panel discussion, so instead of sharing a couple of tips here, we’ll send you to check out the Bulldog Reporter article, “PR predictions: Breaking down the need-to-know trends of 2022—what the experts say”.
Karen Swim, Founder of Words for Hire and President of Solo PR Pro | PR Profiles, Episode 7
“I believe that the great PR person of the future, the way that you win your seat at the table is by mirroring exactly what other executives at that table are bringing. You have to understand how you deliver value that can be quantified to an organization. I think that means getting super comfortable in talking in terms of making those connections between the work that you do and how they drive the business forward.”
February
National Healthcare Media Prognosis: New Survey Reveals Media Trends for 2022
- Lisa Arledge Powell, President and co-founder, MediaSource
- Kena Lewis, APR, Senior Director of Public Affairs and Media Relations, Orlando Health
Lisa: “We also asked the media about diversity issues because we know that two years ago those were really brought to the forefront and there’s a continued focus on it. [The journalists] told us that the top three diversity issues that they are being charged with focusing on in their newsroom would be number one: diversity of experts and people featured in stories. The second is representative story topics, and the third would be diverse and inclusive staffing practices at their media outlet.”
Kena: “My mantra here is ‘milk the story for all you’ve got’. Because once we’ve got the story, half the work is done if not more. And so, it’s a whole lot easier to expand something that you already have than to start something brand new that you don’t have.”
Abbi Whitaker, President of The Abbi Agency | PR Profiles, Episode 8
“PR is part of the conversion funnel. And we as PR people should be able to understand what people are looking for, where they’re looking, how they’re looking, when they’re looking, why they’re looking, and then tie our pitches and our positioning back into that so that we can actually make change for the sales team. So, I refuse to believe that PR is just a top of the funnel activity.”
March
Wondering where the March webinar is? Instead of a webinar, we hosted the 2022 Crisis Comms Mastery virtual summit. To see the top tips from our CCM speakers, check out the blog post: “Crisis Comms Mastery Virtual Summit: Top Tips from the Experts”.
Pragya Dubey, Vice President of Global Services at Agility PR Solutions | PR Profiles, Episode 9
“It’s my pet peeve now when anybody talks in terms of, ‘I need to prove the value of PR’, because really that should never be the goal. That’s not what PR professionals are trying to do. Their goal is to help create programs and activities, or to execute strategies that further the business goals. And when they do that, then the success of the PR team is self-evident.”
April
The Art of the Digital Pivot: Secrets of Owned Media, featuring Eric Schwartzman, digital marketing consultant, entrepreneur, and bestselling author
“A digital pivot is really about tunnels and funnels. You build tunnels to your funnels, where you convert attention into transactions. Your owned media presence is what journalists use to decide whether or not you’re newsworthy. So, there’s a direct relationship between your owned and shared media presence and your ability to score earned media coverage. If you can’t optimize your owned and shared media, your earned media prospects are bleak.”
Justin Goldstein, founder and President of Press Record Communications | PR Profiles, Episode 10
“From a media relations perspective, I think it’s about being persistent, especially in this day and age where reporters are working remotely still. Picking up the phone and being proactive and persistent, I think does pay off quite a bit. From a media relations perspective, the reporters that really value it are the ones who will come back and say, ‘I was hunting for a source, and you came at the right time, so thank you for doing that’.”
May
Crafting a Successful PR Career in Tech: A Panel Discussion
- Adrianna Hosford VP Communications, Artera (formerly WELL Health)
- Estela Weinmann Head of Communications & PR, BetterUp
- Carolyn Bos, Senior Director Public Relations, Motive
We put together a full recap of the panel discussion here: “Crafting a Successful PR Career in Tech: Agility Webinar Recap.”
Jen Kelley Young, Senior Vice President at CURA Strategies | PR Profiles, Episode 11
“I think a lot of times we want to dive right in, whether it’s to start a new relationship, or with a client, or to address an issue that’s coming at you very quickly. But oftentimes, you need to take a step back, think about what your instincts are telling you and think about how what you’re doing in the moment is going to impact communications and business in the long term, instead of just thinking about addressing an issue in the short term. A lot of clients have a sense of what they want and what their expectations are and sometimes as communication pros, we allow our desire to please our clients or to say yes to override that instinct or that experience that we need to bring forward in order to chart a better path for us and for our clients.”
June
How to Optimize Brand Storytelling in the Digital Age, featuring Shannon Peel, founder of MarketAPeel
“We have become experts in making extremely quick decisions to either swipe left or right or pass by. And we don’t agonize over those quick decisions. We don’t doubt our quick decisions, but if we’re interested, we do focus for longer than a goldfish. It just has to be something we find highly engaging. And that’s why the first sentence is so important. You engage them and then you keep entertaining them. But how do you start? Well, you need to put the audience in the middle of the problem as close to the action as it is.”
Tony DeFazio, Founder of Sustainable PR | PR Profiles, Episode 12
“The most prolific publicists that I worked with, my peers in the industry, all were students of business and finance. And what they do is they overlay their PR skills, their journalism skills—if they come with that background and education—into the business world. Practitioners who have difficulty getting up the ladder, in terms of being very productive and successful for client campaigns, are those who just don’t understand how business works. I always encourage students: follow business reporting and understand how the stock market works, understand how private finance works.”
July
5 PR Measurement Mistakes that Sabotage Your Success, featuring Jeremy Parkin, Manager, Data Analytics & Media Intelligence, Media Insights Group at Agility PR Solutions
“When you get these things right [calibration, resolution, integration, segmentation, and presentation], you can create a measurement program that really lets you know what’s working and what’s not working. That lets you focus your efforts and resources on the areas with the most opportunity for impact; to go into those meetings where everyone is going on and on about their opinions and be the person with the numbers and then use that data to earn trust and credibility and gain influence so that, ultimately, you can win more resources to make an even bigger splash with the work you do.”
Gregg Castano, founder and CEO of NewsDirect | PR Profiles, Episode 13
“The most important thing about distributing content is to make sure the content itself is good. Simply sending it out over a wire service, just because it goes to a lot of places, doesn’t guarantee you anything. The content will speak for itself and the better the content, the more likelihood you have of getting it covered or getting it read.”
August
A Successful Union: Integrated Marketing and Communications for PR Pros, featuring Anika Jackson, founder and podcast host of Your Brand Amplified
“I argue that branding’s role in breaking silos is that it does create that collaboration over competition—knowing the brand inside and out, across all departments and having that cohesive message helps each department pull out what stories you are going to share in the PR world, who are the audiences that you’re sharing those messages with, and then how you are taking that message and disseminating it to your other audiences.”
Lindsey Groepper, President of BLASTmedia | PR Profiles, Episode 14
“PR has to be one of those [marketing] levers because unfortunately what happens is they march into that quarterly business report meeting and say, ‘Here’s all the stuff I did and, oh yeah, our PR agency got coverage’. That doesn’t do us any favors. We have to be able to align and understand which objectives from a larger organization they have that we can plug PR into to help meet those [objectives]. And when you ingrain yourself in the business, it’s a lot harder to cut that spend because as a CMO you can say, ‘Yeah, we could cut our PR spend, but that means we’re not going to reach these three objectives that PR helps us meet’.”
September
Cracking Broadcast: Pitching Secrets for Getting Your Clients on TV, featuring Julie Loffredi, syndicated journalist and Head of Content at Broadry
“[Regional coverage] can easily get picked up by national news outlets. I’ve seen this happen all the time, including with folks that I’ve booked on shows. So as far as your strategy, it’s always something to consider because local news is an easier gateway to getting on national. And then at the same time, you’re still getting some social boost because maybe that news outlet is also sharing that clip on social and that type of thing. So never pass on the local news is what I say.”
Bradley Akubuiro, Partner at Bully Pulpit Interactive | PR Profiles, Episode 15
“CEOs are increasingly expected to speak up on matters of society. So, if you are the communicator, who’s here, who’s focused on the best way to put out the fanciest press release or the new product launch, great, that’s not a bad thing, but you also have to be focused now on the bigger picture, where the company fits into it, and how you can engage for the maximum impact. Not only from a commercial standpoint, but from a societal standpoint too. And I think the communicators who are going to be most successful in the future are the ones who figure out how to be the Chief Impact Officer, not just the Chief Communications Officer.”
Dr. Felicia Blow, APR, 2022 PRSA Chair | PR Profiles, Bonus Episode
“We serve as the conscience of our organizations. We play major roles in moving our organizations forward. We help in driving understanding of why our employees should be advocates for us and inviting them to help us lean in or step up where we need to.”
October
How to Make Your Pitch Stand Out in a Changing Media Landscape, featuring Samiha Fariha, Senior Associate at Golin
“What are newsworthy pitches? Newsworthy pitches are timely. They address current events and share another perspective on the journalist’s recent story. Some examples of these types of pitches would include listicle pitches during key tent pole moments. Another is interjections. And lastly, pitches focused on companies thriving or trying to thrive despite economic challenges.”
Darryl E. Owens, Associate Vice President, Community and Engagement at Beacon College | PR Profiles, Episode 16
“As a PR professional, you have to put in some effort. When you have a story to pitch, you need to do your research so that you know which reporter or reporters cover the topic you wish to pitch. Going back to my experience, few things tick off a reporter more than receiving pitches that waste our time because the subjects aren’t even remotely related to our beats. So, if you take the time to do the research, this will help you steer clear of carpet bombing the newsroom with blanket emails, which is another pet peeve of journalists. When writing your pitch, it’s important to nail your angle. With newsrooms dwindling and reporters responsible for more expansive coverage areas, you want to make sure that you help the reporter out by defining the angle.”
November
Be a Journalist’s Go-To: How to Build a Trusted Partnership with the Media, featuring Nicole Rodrigues, founder of the NRPR Group
“We are making sure that fact checking is happening. We are working with our clients to also make sure that when they are sharing information, that they’re not sharing incorrect information, that we are prepping them before their calls. We are prepping them before they announce something. We are looking at it from a holistic point of view and saying, ‘Is this the right time to share this information?’ And then when we do get that to the media person, we make sure that we’re backing that up. We are that middleman to make sure that on both sides, everybody’s getting what they want and that the outcome, which is the press hit if you will, is something that both sides are happy with.”
Arleigh Vasconcellos, Founder and Managing Director of The Agency | PR Profiles, Episode 17
“A lot of people think that honesty and transparency are interchangeable. Here’s where they differ: we’re always honest and upfront about what it is that we’re trying to achieve for any campaign or message, but it doesn’t mean that you need to reveal all your cards at once. You can keep some closer to your chest until you’re ready to talk about them. Especially in this age when audiences demand more accountability, companies both big and small are expected to be transparent about who they are.”
December
For our December webinar, we hosted a special, limited-time-only replay of Molly McPherson’s 2022 Crisis Comms Mastery virtual summit keynote presentation. Only All-Access Pass holders can view Molly’s presentation now, but if you’re interested in a high level overview, check out: “Molly McPherson Says Your Next Crisis Will Be Digital: Crisis Comms Mastery Keynote Session Recap”.
Brooke Gabbert, Director of Communications at Study.com | PR Profiles, Episode 18
“I am so excited about internal communications right now for PR folks. I think it’s a big opportunity caused by a couple things: the hybrid office gives communications an opportunity to really show how we can communicate effectively across employee groups and mobilize employees even though we’re not all in the same space. I think it’s important to consider your employees as stakeholders and to understand what their needs are. I think employees are demanding more of companies now when it comes to communication and when it comes to what they’re doing in the community. I think PR folks are in a unique position to elevate that for companies.”
PR in 2023
We love being able to offer educational webinars and insightful podcast episodes to help PR and comms pros hone their skills and advance their careers, as well as support up-and-coming industry professionals. Our next event, the annual PR trends panel discussion, is on Wednesday, January 25. Join us for PR in 2023: 3 Pros Break Down the need-to-know trends of the year.
Our panelists are:
- Emily Teitelbaum, Chief Communications Officer, Libra Group
- Patricia Ratulangi, VP, Global Communications – Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Nielsen
- Serge Vaezi, Co-Founder and Creative Director, Seven Communications
From navigating budget cuts and conveying purpose to thinking globally, our three panelists bring years of education, experience, and expertise to forecast the future and break down what they think will define the PR industry in 2023. We hope to see you there!
