7 Tips For PR Experts Who Survived 2018

Public relations experts or PR experts strive to form relationships with the client’s target audience, the media, and other industry trendsetters. And if this job sounds easy to you, it isn’t. A lot of thought has to go into this kind of a job because that is an industry that changes from day to day.

If you are not constantly working to make your work tactic better, you lose clients. And without clients, you can’t continue to progress. It’s a magic circle. And once you decide to exit the circle, you can’t easily come back.

We are here to help you stay in the circle by giving tips for PR experts who survived 2018. 

2018 was a crazy year full of ups and downs. So if you are a PR expert who survived it, you might want to hold on to what that year has taught you.

Tips for PR experts

1. Influencers should be included

Influencers are people in the social media world. They are called “influencers” because they have a huge influence on the masses. They promote products and they do it very well.

And as over 40% of the world’s population uses social media on a daily basis, having social media influencers in your PR team is an amazing step.

Let’s first talk about what kind of influencers exist on social media:

• 1. Celebrities
• 2. Industry experts and thought leaders – these people gain respect because of their qualifications, position, or experience. These are usually journalists, academics, industry experts, and professional advisors.
• 3. Bloggers and content creators
• 4. Micro Influencers.

Over 40% of the world’s population uses social media on a daily basis. Let’s look at the types of influencers one by one.

1. Celebrities

Businesses have found that their sales rise when a celebrity promotes or endorses their product. Because celebrities have such huge follower numbers, there will most likely be someone who is interested in the product you are trying to sell. But this isn’t always as successful as you would want it to be.

Celebrities as influencers may lack credibility with a product’s target audience. If a teen pop singer recommends slimming tea, you have a chance at selling a lot of product.

But if the same person endorses a product that isn’t appealing to its mass, you will most certainly fail to sell the product. It’s important to know who to hire nowadays. 

2. Bloggers and Content Creators

Blogging became very popular over the last decade. In fact, as you are reading this, someone is making their own blog page related to certain topics they are interested in. Most popular types of blogs are:

• a. Beauty – makeup, hair, skin care, etc.
• b. Interior and Exterior Design
• c. Cooking
• d. Gardening
• e. Photography

To get a blogger to just mention your product if they don’t use it, you will have to go through a lot. And probably spend a lot. Especially if you are aiming at one of the more influential bloggers.

If a blog is large and influential enough, you may be able to buy a sponsored post on their site. It’s up to you to decide on what is your next move, but our suggestion is to always get the influencer to mention your product rather than to buy a sponsored post. Because people have become immune to sponsored posts.

YouTube content creators are on the rise. Some say that hiring people in this industry is the best way to go.

YouTube is very popular and there isn’t a person that hasn’t used it at least once. The followings are huge and the views are even bigger. Have this in mind when deciding who to hire in 2019 but this is just one of the tips for PR experts who survived 2018.

2. Listen to the mass

A lot of PR experts forget to do this even though their profession in a relationship with the public, aka the mass. Listening to what the mass wants is the way to go. We know you can’t please everyone but it’s good to at least try to please the majority of people.

Take the time to get to know the mass and then decide which way to endorse your product. By doing this, you will not only save yourself from failure but you might also save a lot of money.

This is an expensive business that’s why it’s important to try to save as much as you can while still being very professional. But of course, you can do this many ways, for example, keep your documents in cheap but secure storage unit rather than investing a lot of money in expensive storage.

Listening to what the mass wants will save you a lot of trouble – an audience.

3. Be original

It might seem hard to be original these days. Every year we see that some companies either accidentally do something that has been done before, or they do it intentionally without giving credit where it’s due.

If you are inspired by someone, it’s better to mention it than to try to “hide” it. People recognize things and having bad publicity such as people thinking that you are “unoriginal” won’t do you any good in this case scenario.

Being original is very easy if you listen to the mass. Now you came to the conclusion that listening to the mass is one of the best tips for PR experts this year. 

Once the product you want to sell gains this sort of bad publicity, there is no going back. People will talk about it as the “unoriginal product” even though it might not be.

4. Keep it Simple

PR experts should always have in mind that “less is more”. Keeping it simple is important in this industry. People like when you are direct and straight to the point. Everything over the top will get boring eventually and won’t excite as much.

And nowadays, doing something big doesn’t attract as much attention as staying low and, as the young would say, chill. So keeping your slogan, logo, commercial and all other things simple will save you money.

And of course, it will bring more success to your sales. But have in mind the PR trends that are around.

Now, you might ask yourself “how do I stay being both original and simple?“. We can just tell you to keep thinking, no idea is a bad idea. If we tell you something more about how to do it, we will influence your creativity which doesn’t make you creative and original.

5. Work Fast

Working fast is very important in the PR industry. People want everything right away and you should provide them with just that. The most important thing is to have a 24/7 contact centre for concerned customers for both calls and chat and a frequently updated presence on social media.

This will help your customers gain the trust you want them to have when using the product you are selling. We live in a time where people are used to getting everything right away, so if you were planning to put “Our working hours are from 9 am to 5 pm, please contact us during that time” you need to throw away that idea right away as it won’t do good for your business. Remember that time is money.

Time is money in the PR industry so you have to work fast. 

6. Have a strategy first

PR industry can be rough. That is why you should always have a strategy. Not just one. Many. Having plan A is great, but having a plan B and C is even better. It’s better to work smart than to work hard. And without a strategy, you aren’t working smart. 

It’s important to think ahead and always be prepared for the next step. This will keep you out of the drama and the bad publicity and you will have an easier time dealing with any circumstances.

7. Take care of yourself

Our last and probably the most important tip of all the tips for PR experts is to take care of yourself.

“As much as you do to take care of your brand, you have to take care of yourself too in order to excel in the job“, says Navrajvir Singh who oversees internship in Indore in various domains.

Eat the healthiest, most nourishing food you can get your hands on because this industry will cause you a lot of stress and there is nothing you can do about it. Your brain won’t work properly if your body is struggling and your brain is your only tool when working in PR.  

This is all the tips for PR experts that we have for you if you want to survive in 2019 and do even better than in 2018. Hopefully, you have a very successful year with nothing but good luck following you around and as little stress as possible.

Pritika Kalani

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