It may be surprising to hear from a professional publicist who companies hire to execute and maintain campaigns that garner media attention that earning media coverage is actually very easy for entrepreneurs and startups even without a PR agency or freelance publicist. News publications get their classification because they cover what is new, exciting. The very existence of a successful startup that hasn't been featured before is newsworthy. Like the journalists who covered Apple or Microsoft in the 80s and 90s, editors and writers want to feature the latest solutions, technology or products on the market. 

Earning one article about your company great, but I like to think of aiming for only a single article as playing checkers. Media relations plays Chess. Rather than focusing on placing one story about your company, prioritize creating a relationship with a journalist. The resulting coverage from a single relationship can be meaningful profiles, company announcements and thought leadership in industry-turning trend stories. Journalists often refer back to their own network for sources of insight or quotes in an article. 

If you don't have any journalists in your network who covers your industry, don't worry! When I was growing up, I was given lectures by my parents, girl scout leaders, teachers, and even a priest who told us not to make friends on the internet. Now, I've made initial acquaintances with most of my colleagues and friends through online sources. Social media is your best friend for meeting new journalists and editors who could cover your company or expertise without a publicist. Almost all journalists have public social media handles for their writing, often aimed at keeping in touch with sources. Some journalists will immediately reach out if your social media bio raises their interest. Linking your companies handles, website and relevant awards always helps.

When you're reading an article about your industry or related to your expertise, especially if you think "Wow, I should've been in this article," find the journalist on social media. Most journalists have their social media profiles linked to their author page when you click on their byline in the article. Make it a practice to follow journalists whenever you read an article related to your industry. Journalists regularly make calls for commentary on stories they're working on. Even if they're not following you, they are often looking at their DMs and replies for new sources. This is a great way to start a long-lasting relationship. 

Social media makes it easy to stay in touch with journalists and editors you've connected with. Unlike emails where you have to go out of your way to contact them and then wait for a response, with social media, their updates wind up on your feed. A quick like, comment or reply is an easy way to easily maintain a relationship. Once you've been doing this for a while, it gets easier to get a follow back. When editors and journalists see that other mutual connections following you, they assume you're an industry source and will immediately follow you back. Always send a quick introduction if they follow you back. You can send an intro without a followback, but they may not see it as their DMs are much like their email inboxes: full of cold outreach. 

Like building any relationship, media relations takes time. It's unreasonable to think that following one editor on social media will lead to a report's-worth of press coverage. Take fifteen minutes today to find and follow ten key editors in your industry. Editors will often tweet out stories and tag the writers who wrote the story. Follow anyone relevant these new connections tweet about. Make it a point every quarter to follow ten to fifteen new media connections. Over time, you'll go from not knowing anyone who could cover your company, to having a soft or even a close relationship with a number of leading journalists who want to feature your brand. 

After you've been covered in a published story, prioritize keeping in touch with a journalist; writers often tap their past interviewees first for new stories. Let these connections know about any launches you have coming up in advance in case they want to break the news or cover the launch. Bonus points if you meet up with your journalist connections for drinks or lunch a few months before the announcement; they will appreciate the special attention to the relationship. While social media is a great way to keep up with a journalists' achievements, those who will want to know about your company's news, won't like finding out with everyone else on social media. Make a point to tell them in advance; embargo if needed. 

Before embarking on your social media relations journey, make sure you remember your etiquette 101. As stated above, journalists inboxes and DMs are often full of cold pitches. Avoid pitching them in their DMs. Start with an introduction to yourself, and an offer to support them on related articles. Ask them how they would like to receive company announcements or pitches from you. Respect their boundaries and if they don't respond, don't get disheartened. If you followed ten other people like I told you above, someone else will respond. In my experience, non-response is often due to missing the message or being too busy to respond, and they will usually respond well to a follow up at a later date.  

It's easy to get attention around the initial launch and big announcements from an exciting startup. Day-to-day however, entrepreneurs typically don't have the time to constantly come up with new angles for the many journalists and editors who could cover your brand. Maintaining consistent media coverage can be a full time job. Once you've seen a slowdown of initial media coverage is a great time to speak with a publicist. Your brand will still be fresh enough in recent coverage and a publicist can come up with unique campaigns and angles to revive interest in your company, even without a launch. 

By Melissa A Vitale 

This won’t be a listicle with short answers to the most common questions a publicist gets asked; rather this article will seamlessly link to the most asked questions, and their corresponding blog posts already on MAVPR under our Public Relations FAQ. 

Over the years, I’ve gotten tons of questions from people who seek quick answers from a publicist that are too nuanced to be picked up in google. When I get a couple of these, I usually turn it into an opportunity to update my blog. 

It’s been a couple years since I started organizing the blog and didn’t plan for the volume of articles 2020 would give me time to pen. 

So, here are some commonly asked questions about Public Relations and links to a corresponding blog post with my answer. 

Am I/Is my brand ready for PR? Been thinking about PR but not sure if you’re ready for a publicist? My inaugural blog post reviews how to tell Is Your Brand Ready for PR? Make sure to check out The Pre-PR Checklist below to have everything ready for day one of PR! 

What’s the difference between a PR agency and a PR freelancer? Both agencies and freelancers can propel a brand forward on a desired budget. Find out which is right for you in Public Relations Agency vs. Independent Publicist. 

What are the expectations of a public relations campaign? So often, PR agencies provide vague sets of expectations. Wondering what’s going to happen during a public relations campaign with MAVPR? Check out What to expect from a Public Relations Campaign.

Why does Public Relations have minimum retainers? For those curious about how publicist set their minimums, read through Why Public Relations Retainers Have Minimums. 

How does a publicist actually get results? You follow your publicist on Instagram and damn, she socializes a lot during the workday. Learn how it all fits into place in What does your publicist actually do?

Why wasn’t the article I was mentioned in exactly how I imagined in when I was interviewed? You talked with a journalist for 50 minutes and they included a ten-word quote in an article; you sent in 15 hrs of b-roll for a 45 second clip. These are just one of many Things a Publicist Cannot Control.

Why didn’t I see any results in the first month of PR? You spent a hefty first-month’s retainer – surely New York Times wants to profile you by now… right?? Learn more about Why does Public Relations take so long?

Does a slow month mean my campaign is failing? Public relations is typically at the mercy of editorial calendars and seasonal conversations. In terms of published articles, A slow month of coverage does not equal a bad PR Campaign. 

Why wasn’t I given photo credit for a photo I helped create? You modeled or took a photo for a brand and when your image is in Forbes, you’re not credited. Why wasn’t I credited for my photo in that article?

Where is that article I was quoted in? Connected to a journalist for a story opp and wondering where it is? Here’s how to find out when it was published - Where is the story I was included in?

Other helpful links: 
Types of Coverage reviews the different types of coverage that can arise from a public relations campaign. 

A Running Glossary of PR Terms helps decipher commonly used terms by public relations pros. 

The Pre-PR Checklist guides brands through everything you need to kick off a PR campaign with a bang. 

Importance of Sharing Media Coverage provides tips on social media driven media relations. 

By Melissa A Vitale
 
There are days I think a tattoo on my forehead “Public relations is the least immediate of all marketing” would make my life so much easier. Because public relations hinders on placing clients in existing and forthcoming editorial coverage without advertising budgets, press coverage comes when the opportunities align with the brand’s expertise and mission. Unlike social media which can lead to traffic in a matter of weeks, or digital advertising which can drive sales in days, public relations can take months before there are any results in the form of published stories.
 
There are rare publicists who promise results that never arise but rack up months of retainers before the brand severs the deal. It’s for this reason PR can get a murky rep as being one of those industries where investment can be a gamble.
 
After three years, I’ve nailed down what a concrete set of expectations of brands can expect upon working with my brand of public relations over the course of a campaign.
 
Please note, all PR agencies and freelancers are different and this summary only applies with certainty to MAVPR’s Public Relations Campaigns.
 
First Month
Your first month of PR is heavy with confirming messaging. You’ll want to allow your publicist a reasonable amount of time to plan for how they want to position the brand. MAVPR takes about 2-4 weeks to draft a messaging book (a typically 4-8 page document with all the brand’s storylines, spokesperson topics of expertise, bios, boiler plates, etc) during which time we start to introduce a brand to our close contacts to get a sense of the media appetite for the brand, and which areas will draw the most buzz. By the end of the first month, a brand will be introduced to key media and will have months-worth of press storylines that will be turned into countless pitches over the coming months. In the case of buzzworthy brands, must-have product and in-demand expertise, press opportunities may come through in the first month but its more common that the first published stories come in the second month.
 
Second Month
The second month you're seeing the opportunities come in. Depending on how quickly the campaign was able to mobilize, you'll have pending placements, and loads of pending interest. There are potential opportunities and there are opportunities that should be coming out in the coming weeks. Thanks to editorial delays, there may still not be any published coverage by month two, but you know that there is coverage coming ad have an idea of what it looks like. By this time, you may have been interviewed, provided a quote or may have sent some samples for a specific story consideration. 
 
Third Month
By now you’ve gotten your first published press with your publicist. The press opportunities are starting to be more regular.  

Of course if you had a newsworthy announcement in the first three months, these expectations are different with a full feature, potentially a wire release (brand decision) and ensuing pickup the month of the announcement. 
 
Months 4-6
By now coverage is starting to appear steady. You should be getting at least two placements per month at this point and it can range upwards of 5-8 placements a month depending on the brand’s industry, products available and areas of expertise. There are probably even repeat opportunities from the same journalist or editor.
 
Months 6-12
After 6 months the brand should be hitting the expectations of the account each month. MAVPR’s expectations range between 2-6 and 2-15 placements per month (retainer dependent). This time you usually see more standalone stories than inclusion and commentary.
 
After 6 months, be aware that a month with less coverage compared to the month previous does not mean the PR campaign is failing. Some months, editors need to hold certain topics to continue to drive traffic to those topics in the coming months, especially if they are planning a seasonal push on a certain topic. As long as an account is falling within expectations of an account the public relations account is still progressing even with a slow month.
 
By this time, you’ll have at least doubled your investment when measured in the amount of ad value your campaign has earned.
 
After 12 months
Your PR campaign hasn’t just gained momentum, it has a life of its own. Not only are there fresh stories being initiated by your publicist, but you’re also getting incoming requests from press who have mentioned or considered the brand previously. The ad value return for this time can be as high as sixteen times the investment. Some clients have seen over 1000% of returns of ad vale compared to their monthly retainer.
 
Every subsequent year
When brands engage in public relations years at a time, they are not only introduced to new editors, they also are kept on the radar of journalists who have written about them in the past. Therefore, press typically doubles in volume for every year you engage with public relations. My client who has been with me since early 2017 has seen over $570,000 in earned ad value so far for the year, by July 2020 with a potential 1.5 billion consumer reach.  
 
The longer a PR campaign and the more hours put into publicity efforts, the more editors and journalists who are introduced to a brand and the more editorial opportunities that arise with the brand already in mind. Its wiser to strategically introduce a brand to journalists as the company’s developments align with their area of coverage.
 
Continued media relations momentum and strategy ensures that a brand stays on the radar of key press with fresh stories and topics that editors want to greenlight.