In PR, Impatience Is the Enemy
Impatient clients are an ever-present challenge who want their stories out not next week, not the week after, but now. Today.
In that haste to hit home runs as soon as they’re up to bat, some PR clients are naïve, unrealistic, even dangerous, and they tend to strike out. The worst thing you can do is go prematurely to a party undressed and unprepared.
Restless clients expect a windfall of media exposure to happen overnight or in the first few weeks, which certainly can and has happened for many of our clients, but it’s not typical.
What we tell anxious clients is that no chef can serve a delicious meal without first selecting the right ingredients, then preparing them, cooking them, and finally putting it attractively on a plate to serve. This takes a little time.
Sure, often clients will come to us with a compelling story or such an innovative product or service that we know will register right away with certain press, especially after we make a call or two to just the right journalists or TV producers most likely to jump on the story and be the first to deliver that overworked phrase: “breaking news.”
Then, of course, out it goes as soon as possible to just the right media who are most likely to pounce on it, creating a flurry of publicity, interviews and media exposure leading to sales, fame and fortune. Yes, our firm has made many entrepreneurs rich and famous almost overnight, going from rags to billionaires in record time. But that’s not the common outcome in everyday PR.
More typically, a media campaign takes planning — putting together the right pitch and delivering it to journalists, editors and TV producers most inclined to run the story. This takes research, maybe artificial intelligence, and social media, too, can play a role in creating that buzz of interest. To exploit these opportunities, it’s often helpful to media train the person who will be doing the interviews and feeding the buzz.
We usually tell clients the first month is when a lot of this occurs. That doesn’t mean we can’t start pitching right away, but usually outcomes are better and more favorable when strategies have had some time to develop. That’s usually why the best media hits occur in months two and three of, say, a typical six-month agreement.
A tool that can accelerate the process is inserting a celebrity as an endorser or product spokesperson and then preparing that celebrity to make just the right points about a company or its products — points that result in sales.
Now let’s return to the impatience part.
When clients see a program evolving and are educated about why certain preparations are necessary, they’ll know what’s happening to make the first media encounters productive, engaging and rewarding. Only then will they be more patient with the time it may take. This is why we like to have frequent meetings with our clients so they can see and understand all that goes into making a public relations campaign successful.
Also, educating clients helps to allay impatience. Reports of progress being made toward an objective will assure clients their PR program is headed for success. Let them see all the moving parts coming together, aimed at just the right media outlets for the best and happiest publicity outcome.
