| Effective PR really comes down to the art of story | | | | you pitch could be fascinating to you, but if it's not |
| telling. In a nutshell, that's really what it's all about, telling | | | | presented correctly, or framed as a story, chances |
| a good, compelling story. It's not about the hype or the | | | | are it won't get any further than a pitch. |
| flash, or the hard sell. It's about finding your story and | | | | Let's use an author as an example, most publishing |
| being able to tell it in an interesting and compelling | | | | companies focus strictly on promoting the book, since |
| manner. | | | | that's where they see their investment and eventual |
| Having served as a journalist, editor, producer and PR | | | | payoff. Of course you want to pitch the book, but in |
| consultant I've learned that successful campaigns | | | | order to find the most compelling stories; you also |
| come down to effectively defining and telling your | | | | want to look at the various aspects of the author's life. |
| story. Although finding and developing the story is really | | | | What caused her to write the book? Is there some |
| just stage one of an effective public relations | | | | interest she has or cause she's involved in that makes |
| campaign, without a good story, there really is no | | | | for an interesting human interest story? Is there any |
| campaign. | | | | breaking news story that you can tie the book or the |
| When launching a PR campaign, you have to think | | | | author to? If you want to launch a truly successfully |
| backwards; think like an editor or producer; think of the | | | | media campaign for a book, you have to consider all |
| media's needs. The media does not sell products or | | | | these elements. |
| services, they tell stories. Some are news stories, | | | | So, what about your company, your product, or your |
| some are human interest stories and others are | | | | service is not only interesting, but could also be framed |
| entertainment-based stories. Often people (we PR | | | | as a story? Perhaps the journey that lead you to start |
| professionals included) disregard that fact, and that's | | | | your business is your story. Maybe how you've |
| where the disconnect comes in. You don't want to | | | | impacted a client's life is a story. When brainstorming, |
| simply give the media information or facts. That might | | | | think more about the media's needs than yours, frame |
| be interesting to you, but that's generally not enough to | | | | your story and pitch it so that the media can |
| generate a story. For example, let's say you want the | | | | understand and relate to it. Now you're positioned to |
| media to report on a product, or a service, or a grand | | | | succeed. |
| opening. If all you pitch is information, good luck. What | | | | |