Page 53 - PR Communication Age January-June2020

Though it takes ages to boost your reputation, someone 3. Lack of planning
can damage it in a few seconds. As it happens with the strategies of any other field, in PR it

is a must to plan beforehand. You need to know what path
That's why it is necessary to have a PR strategy. Though, you are going to follow and each of the steps of your strat-
having a strategy and follow it is not enough. Unexpected egy. You have to know what, when and how you are going
issues might arise during the process. Or, there can be pit- to proceed.
falls if you do not follow your strategy steps properly.
Moreover, you need to be ready with a backup plan in case
Below there are some of the most well-known pitfalls in PR something happens out of the blue. It is vital to be always
that you need to watch out! ready.

1. Poor timing Failing to have a clear plan might prove to be disasters in
Not surprisingly, in PR it is crucial to plan before hand. So, PR. The truth is that issues might happen, or you may de-
if you want the media to publish your press releases, you cide to change the strategy or part of it due to any reason.
will have to consider their deadlines. So, it is crucial to always know what to do next.

Some channels distribute data on a daily basis such as news- 4. Poor follow-up
papers. Others, deliver content weekly like magazines. Unbelievable as it may seem, many brands lose opportuni-
Online channels such as social networks or blogs post infor- ties due to poor follow-up. If you send a press release to a
mation regularly. publication, you should be happy to answer any questions
they might have.
Thus, depending on the channel, you will have to be ready
to provide content at the time that is best for them. What Sometimes journalists call brands to close a deal or to ask
is more, it should be ready in time, so when they ask for it, for any details they are not sure, etc. Thus, it is fundamen-
it will be ready. tal that you know how to handle this kind of situations.
Otherwise, you could lose chances of sharing your message.
2. Inadequately written press releases
Another typical mistake in PR is when a brand produces 5. Not thinking outside the box
press releases that are inadequately written. That is to say, Although I've previously mentioned that it is useful to cre-
when the length, the language, the sentences used are not ate a contacts list to send them your press releases, it is
appropriate. Or even worse, when there are errors, omis- undeniably true that you could be losing new opportunities.
sions, jargon or the structure is not suitable, etc. If you always send your content to the same newspapers,
radio stations, TV channels, etc. you could be ignoring other
These and many other things could be disasters for your PR ways of distributing data.
content distribution. They can create you a bad reputation
among journalists. So, it is key to check and revise your Indeed, these days it is critical to think outside the box if
content before sending it to publications. you do not want to be beaten by your competitors, you
have to go for what is different!
Finally, if you generate content that is not relevant, with-
out any media purpose and try to get it published, the in- 6. Lack of help
adequately written content could be fatal for your brand Some companies spend too much money working with
?s image. Journalists and reporters will recognize your brand costly PR agencies to put into practice their PR strategy.
?s name. Thus, they won't take you into account when you Yet, others prefer not to have anything to do with this kind
have something newsworthy to share. of organizations.

"Relationships almost always kill a beautiful friendship."

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