A Beginners

Guide

Public
To

Relations
Academy
 To get people talking about you,
n your company, or your product,
P l a
R you need to develop a good public
P >
/

relations (PR) plan. Applying

some PR fundamentals, knowing
how to deal with the media,
getting your press release to stand
out and your blog noticed are all
key steps in your public relations
campaign. Lets start with PR
fundamentals.

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Step 1:
Anyway, What Is Public
Relations Today?
We live in a constant communication cycle. Anyone can become the next opinion
leader. In the face of these changes, the role of public relations is changing declared
our CEO, Joanna Drabent, last year. Quite logical. Communication is nowadays
more contextual, personalized, geolocated, and just-in-time, and consumers are
more enlightened and empowered than ever. We all have toadapt to the digital
transformation. But do we, people responsible for communication, understand it?

The formal practice of what is now commonly referred to as public relations dates back
to the early 20th century. In the relatively brief period leading up to today, public relations
has been defined in many different ways, the definition often evolving alongside public
relations changing roles and technological advances, which we mentioned above.
This is whatPRSAhas to say on the topic.

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Different Organizations,
Different PR Definitions
IPRputs it simply:

Public relations (PR) is the way organisations, companies and

individuals communicate with the public and media. A PR specialist
communicates with the target audience directly or indirectly through
media with an aim to create and maintain a positive image and create
a strong relationship with the audience. Examples include press releases,
newsletters, public appearances, etc. as well as utilisation of the world
wide web.
In 1982, thePRSA National Assemblyadopted this definition: Public relations helps
an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other. In 2011/12, PRSA
spearheaded an international project aimed at updating the definition of public
relations. It included a crowdsourcing campaign and a public vote that resulted
in the following:

Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually

beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.
The Chartered Institute of Public Relations(CIPR) stresses a different aspect
of public relations. It underlines that every organization, no matter how large
or small, ultimately depends on its reputation for survival and success. And in todays
competitive market, reputation can be a companys biggest asset the thing that
makes you stand out from the crowd and gives you a competitive edge. Effective PR
we read in CIPR statement can help manage reputation by communicating and
building good relationships with all organization stakeholders.

Public Relations is about reputation - the result of what you do, what
you say and what others say about you.
Public Relations is the discipline which looks after reputation, with
the aim of earning understanding and support and influencing opinion
and behaviour. It is the planned and sustained effort to establish and
maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organisation
and its publics.

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What Does Public Relations Mean
to PR Practitioners?
For Jason Falls (the author of the article Social Media Is The Responsibility
Of Public Relations),what is most telling in your social media efforts, is the message.
And that is for him most likely already being supplied by your public relations
or communications arm. Falls underlines: As soon as three to five years from now,
I see social media marketing as an almost exclusive domain of public relations
professionals, so long as we get our collective heads out of our asses and learn how
to do it. Some of us are there. Many of us are not. Too many of us think social media
is newspapers in Eastern Europe.

Here Are 7 Definitions of Public Relations

From Experienced PR Practitioners:

Danielle Hibbert
Senior Project Manager
at Belfast-based consumer PR agencyClearbox

In 2006, for me, it was simply about building and managing a brands reputation
how companies or individuals are perceived, how they perceive themselves and how
any disconnect between the two can be addressed. This relied heavily on strong
media relations and resulted in positive coverage in newspapers, magazines, TV,
and radio. Job done.

In 2016,reputations are still at the heart of PR, but the road is longer and has many
more twists and turns. Today, for me, PR is about the art of communicating, creating
debate, shaping personalities, influencer relationships, producing quality content,
and owning the conversation. We also cant ignore the rising importance of search
engine optimization as an objective in our PR campaigns.

Rafa Saak,
Communication Lead
atProwly

Public relations is communication of an intended message that aims to result

in a shift of audiences attitude (towards a person, brand, event, etc.)

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 Jordan Townley,
PR & CSR Specialist
at PageGroup

For me the definition of PR is reputation management.Its ensuring that your brand

has a clear message and successful PR is ensuring that message is effectively
represented and interpreted to the right audience.Effective PR is about being
proactive, not just reactive to situations or brand/business activity. With the rise
of PESO (Paid, Earned, Shared and Owned), PRs need to focus on content with
transparency is key.

Stephen Waddington,
Chief Engagement Officer
atKetchum

Public relations is the practice of understanding the purpose of an organization

and its relationships within society. It is the planned and sustained activity
of engagement between these two parties to influence behavior change, and build
mutual understanding and trust.Engagement between an organization and its
publics is the core of public relations practice. It is a two-way process by which
an organization communicates with its publics, and vice versa.

Kristen Tischhauser,
Managing Partner
attalkTECH

Public relations is the act of spreading awareness on behalf of a company, product,

brand, or individual. Publicists do this for their clients by garnering media coverage,
creating partnerships, owned content strategy, etc.

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 Vlad Shvets,
Growth Hacker
atFogger

PR isnt just about the relations with the outside world. Ask yourself: why do you
need to have those relationships? Why and how will you nurture them? What are your
goals? And for every product theres just one ultimate goal: delivering value
and making revenue.

PR is about identifying the right people/organizations with whom you want

to establish those relationships, and developing the right communication and
cooperation models on how to achieve your business goals via them.

Charlie de Mierre,
Creative Director
atPorter Novelli London

PR is the art of convincing others (consumers, media, influencers, etc.) of a company,

brand, or products relevance, rather than simply telling them.PR agencies have
always worked to provide their clients with reasons to be talked about and to help
them identify and communicate a purpose in peoples lives. Its been the only way
to grab the audiences attention without paying for it. And in a rapidly evolving digital
world, this is what consumers are demanding more and more. They have become
disillusioned with companies who have crumbled in the face of social and digital
transparency and are now proactively choosing brands that are authentically
on their side. They want brands with a purpose, brands that give customers good
and relevant reasons to choose them. And thats whyPR is becoming an increasingly
powerful discipline because weve been doing just that for years.

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Step 2:
The Skillset Needed to
Work in Public Relations

by Anna Morris
Managing Director of Ireland consumer PR consultancy Clearbox
What does it take to forge a successful career in Public Relations? 20 years ago,
the answer to this question probably included a degree, a little black book of media
contacts and a large lunch budget. However, times have changed. What are the skills
needed to succeed in the industry today?

Desire, not degree

I dont believe you need a degree to have a successful career in PR. One of the most
talented PR professionals I know left school at 16 and now holds a senior position
at one of the worlds biggest brands.

While degrees are great, a desire to do the job to a high standard is a bigger asset
to the industry. Thats often what separates good PR practitioners from great ones
the desire to go the extra mile for employers, clients or staff. University is a great
learning experience inside and outside the classroom, but just because someone
hasnt been through the system doesnt mean theyre not suitable for a job in PR.

Interest in news
One of PRs primary functions is to create news and generate conversation.
An interest in news and an understanding of how websites, news wires, papers,
magazines, radio shows and TV programmes gather news and content is a must-
have skill. Its also a good idea to build on this by understanding what will get people
interested in your story or campaign. Best way to do this? Read, watch and listen
to everything so you know whats hot and whats not on the media and consumer
agenda and plan your campaigns accordingly.
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Create or organise
In my experience, most people in PR tick one of two boxes theyre either creative or very
well organised. These are bothessential skills. Having the imagination to dream up the
next big campaign or being organised enough to make sure said idea becomes a reality
are vital to succeeding in the industry. Thats not to say that creatives arent organised
and organisers arent creative but having a strength in one of these areas is key.

Know a little about a lot

The ability to quickly learn a working knowledge of many different markets
or products is a handy tool, especially for those employed in consultancies,
overseeing multiple clients. You dont need to know all the ins and outs of a clients
business, but having enough knowledge to hold down a conversation about
the client and their industry trends is really important.

The ability to communicate

Seems like an obvious point, but being able to communicate is absolutely essential in PR.
This can be written and verbal and includes listening as well as speaking. On an average
day PR practitioners may interact with staff, suppliers, managers, clients, the media,
the public and other audiences so having the ability to talk to these groups consistently
and effectively is important.Being a good writer is part of this as we now live in a world
where a lot of communicating is done via emails and tweets. However, the personal
touch of conversation holds a lot of weight in certain circumstances and verbal
communications shouldnt be overlooked. Theres life away from the keyboard

Tech know-how
An emerging trend in the last few years has been thegrowing opportunity for PR
to own the production and distribution of content.

Photos, videos, infographics, websites, apps and more have become important
areas of the PR business and having any knowledge relating to these areas would
be a big bonus in the eyes of future employers. An understanding of how to re-touch
images on Photoshop, how to edit video or how to work with WordPress websites
would make any young PR practitioner a very attractive proposition to employers.
These are not essential skills but right now theyre very desirable.
There are other skills that can help lay the foundations of a successful PR career,
but for me these form the core. For anyone considering a career in the industry, my
advice is simple. Dream big, write well, work hard and consume media at your desk
and on the go and youll reap the benefits as you grow and learn.
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Step 3:
Tell Your Story in The Most
Comprehensive Way

In the last few years, public

relations has morphed into
something entirely different.
The term digital PR has now

??
become the familiar phrase.
/

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>
So what does the role of
a modern-day Digital PR entail
you might ask? Well, some claims,
that at its heart, PR is still about
great storytelling.

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5 Ways to Support PR Activities With
the Use of Content Marketing

by Matylda Setlak,
Managing Director ofAll 4 Comms

Is it possible nowadays to separate PR activities from marketing, taking into

account that their aims are the same to communicate with the environment?
Today, PR specialists in a company are not only media partners but also participants
of communication with the client. Fortunately, they have such a tool as content
marketing that will help them achieve their aims.

1. Inspire your recipients

If you manage toinspire journalists and clients, it will help you catch their attention
and create engagement in the brand. Give recipients some advice in the field that
they are interested in, tell some interesting, but true story, encourage recipients
to act and change something in their life.

A good example of how to inspire clients is the cooperation with bloggers

introduced by Castorama called 5 sposobw na (5 ways to). It resulted in
the creation of Do dziea (Get to work), that is a kind of guidebook with some
sponsored content. Clients may use the ideas presented in each video in their house
or garden. Many of the things that are needed, they can obviously buy in Castorama.

2. Use different forms of communication

Taking content marketing actions, it is worth checking which forms of
communication (also in the case of competition) have proven to be the most
effective. It will enable you to draw conclusions and correct your actions. The form
you choose depends on such facts as: what kind of information is your target group
looking for, what forms of communication it prefers and what your aim is.

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If you want to present any statistical data, the use of infographics will be a great
choice. It may also be used in such form as it was in the case of Polska Organizacja
Turystyczna (Polish Tourism Organisation) which with the help of Internet users
identified the greatest tourist attractions in Poland and presented them on a map.
For clients who are impatient or have little time, you may prepare a summary with
the most important points: preferably in a video form, etc. If your aim is to build a
relationship with the recipient, it may be useful to have a blog in which you can express
your thoughts in a more informal way while the readers may leave their comments.

3. Show expertise
Your clients will feel intellectually satisfied if your content has a valuable message
and broadens their minds. So, if a PR specialist offers some expert knowledge in
order to answer clients questions and allay their doubts, he or she will not only build
good relationships but also enhance the expert image of the brand. However, it is
worth remembering that during the creation of content we should take into account
the specific needs of our recipients.

The ideal examples are cooking blogs whose authors share specific knowledge and
present recipes with specific products of some brand, at the same time boosting the
positive image of this brand (and increasing its sales). The great example from the
B2B industry is Nancy Duarte, an expert in business presentations. She has recently
shared Slidedoc an exemplary presentation that may be downloaded with
beautiful icons and schemes for creative use.

4. Position your content

Creation of content that is SEO friendly should be a habit for everyone who takes
long-term effects of PR activity seriously. Thecontent that is properly optimized
for search engines(e.g. use of important keywords, choice of proper headlines) will
strengthen the position of a companys website on the Internet. It is known that the
better visibility in the browser, the greater traffic on the website.

However, bear in mind that the website position may change at any time. To stay in
a good position, you must constantly update the website. But thanks to this, it will
be literally on the top if any journalist or client will be looking for information about
the product or services you offer. As an agency, we also do our best to make sure
that our company blog with the content related to the Polish market is as high as
possible in the Internet browsers.

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5. Collect contact details
If you create a very attractive content (e-book, tutorial, podcast, publication on
a company blog, etc.), you may allow people to download it after giving an email
address or any other contact data. You can also use social media as a platform
redirecting recipients to the target website. For example, a Polish brand Risk Made
in Warsaw often asks its Facebook fans to give names to new models from its
collection.

Contact details may also be obtained thanks to well-thought-out mailing activities

and informational newsletters. As a matter of fact, leaving contact data is not the
same as a purchase, but it gives the opportunity to react and perform actions
tailored to customers preferences.

If you want to create a brand or company image efficiently, remember that both PR
and content marketing create a mutual advantage for the client and for the brand.

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Step 4:
Follow Trends & Be Ready
for What #PRisNow

We are lucky to practice PR in fascinating times.

The profession has seen changes we would never, ever
have predicted. I mean, in which universe could you
have imagined yourself saying:

Im pretty sure I can do my work

without the Bacons books.
or:

Never mind about mainstream

media outlet! Make sure social
media influencer gets a press
pass!
>
/

!!!
or:

Of course your company can be

my agency of record. So what if
youre not in the same city?
What are the top trends that PR pros should be
incorporating into their own strategies? We asked a few
industry experts:

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 Sabine Raabe,
Principal & Founder
at Biscuit Public Relations

Two trends for PR and communications professionals

to incorporate in their strategies for 2017:
The single most significant trend and opportunity for PR and communications
professionals, in my opinion, is thedigital transformationof our industry. PR
managers are becoming content managers and marketing departments rely heavily
on our ability to connect them with their target audiences.

Public relations does what it says on the tin we build relationships.Although

relationships with the media have always been an important part of our work, PR
now has a much stronger position in building relationships directly with the public
and consumers.

Channels such as Twitter, Facebook and company blogs offer brands the
opportunity to directly foster and develop these relationships. They also open up
new venues for maintaining relationships with the media. The tools might include
Google analytics, search engines, social
Todays public relations search, and a quality media database
with up-to-date profiles for journalists
professionals play and bloggers.
a direct role in driving
leads into the marketing
funnel through thought- To be part of the marketing machine that
connects clearly to revenue,public relations
leadership content. is becoming more data driven and needs
to demonstrate bottom-line impact.Its not
enough to measure impressions, you have to be able to track leads coming through
your calls to action and follow them through the buyers journey.

Digital media means the world now functions in and expects your organization to
function in real time.This can be a very positive thing when it comes to engaging
influencers and customers and adjusting tactics as needed during a campaign.
However, it also has a negative side.

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Situations dont wait to escalate during normal business hours and they dont have
designated channels. Doing business today demands that someone is always
available to deal with things that have the potential to escalate and become
problematic. A crisis can crop up quickly and spiral out of control even quicker via
real-time channels like Twitter. Effective online reputation management is key to any
organizations PR and communications strategy in the digital and connected world
we live in today.

Tom Grski,
Inbound #Marketing & #SaaS Growth Hacker,
Founder & CEO Saas Genius & InboundWay

One of the dominant trends in marketing communications in 2016 isdeveloping

strategies to promote contentand generally, increasing the importance of content
promotion.The previous years were dominated by trends in the area of creating
high-quality content. The successes of online businesses using high-quality content
as the main marketing tool, contributed to the popularization of this trend and more
companies decided to invest in content marketing activities.

At the end of 2015, however, the first research and analyses appeared, indicating
that thecreation of high-quality content is becoming less effective.This year along
with 2017, in my opinion, will see a continuation of the trend of creating dedicated
promotion strategies and an increase in the promotion budget, especially based
on paid activities.

Alex Tachalova,
Digital Marketing Consultant & Founder ofDigitalOlympus.net,
huge fan of data-driven content marketing campaigns

Without a doubt,social mediais among the top channels when it comes to

ensuring that your messages are reaching the right audience. Also, Ive noticed
thatsponsored articles have recently started to become more popular, because
they allow for growth of a brands presence as well as the targeting of broader
audiences through a high-authority resource with millions of readers. However,
if you truly want to make your brands message strong, asolid web presence is
crucial. Without it, and without an integrated approach involving the use of search
and email marketing channels, its difficult to engage users.

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 Sam Hurley,
People Connector, Social Influencer & Growth Hacker,
Entrepreneur

Storytellingis, without a doubt, the king of emotional attraction and

consequently, connection magnetizing brands do it, and they do so very
well. Thats the concept.

Virtual and augmented reality, 360 video and dynamic videoare the new
kids on the block and taking the world by storm brands looking to maintain
their current audiences excitement while drawing in millennial and Gen-Z
audiences need to hop on this technological boat and be consistent across
multiple devices. Thats the vehicle.

Marketing automationandcomplete personalizationare the key to truly

knowing your customer. They want memorable experiences. Thats
conversion.

Live and immediate is expected from brands

customer service, marketing and deliveryneed
to be instant. Thats the reality.
Im personally going to be introducing a combination of the majority of the
above next year to focus on my story and the human element, using video and
personalization to really get on the ground-level with my audiences.

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 Tim Harrison,
Award-winning comms guy.
Strategist, Mentor, Coach

Alongside new and discrete trends, I think there is an important paradigm that will
continue to build momentum in 2017. The first you know!

Theimportance of emotion, authenticity/purpose and compelling storytelling are

becoming increasingly recognized as core to the modern communicator. They are
also intrinsically linked. This is not new. This is a truth that has been around forever.
But I think it got lost for many of us. A compelling story, rooted in purpose and told
with emotion and authenticity can have incredible power.

During 2017, the effects of this will feed more heavily into both external
communications and particularly into employee engagement.Its easy to get
carried away with the post-truth era narrative. But as professional communicators,
we must see it as a wake-up call. It raises many ethical challenges while also shining
a light on which messages get cut-through and inspire passion among a media-
saturated, cynical audience.There is a reaction against corporatism going beyond
Gen Z which will continue to feed into the way we talk about brands.

On a more tactical level, we should also not forget platforms. Many trends both
positive and less so will be driven by thetechnological competition among the
platform owners. These are hard to predict but change is inevitable. And things are
getting hotter.

As communicators,Twitters futureis in part our future. Where will we be a year

into Microsofts LinkedIn? How will Snaps innovation roadmap evolve post-IPO?
How will Facebook address its publishing problem and properly take on Google,
Amazon and the rest in the bot wars? Over the next 12 months, there will be
strategic decisions made in all these companies that will inevitably affect the tactical
engagement palette we can draw upon over the next few years.

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 Judy Gombita,
Canadian contributor and co-content editor
to the global, collaborative blog, PRConversations

In light of what has gone on throughout 2016,I believe we will witness a lot of self-
correction in 2017, with the recognition of a need to operate within the world,
rather than a bubble of self-contained commerce or else be judged as shirking
responsibility and lacking a moral authority, also known as a licence to operate.
(In a recent article by Robert Phillips, Post Truth, Post Trust, Post PR: The crisis
of trust is a crisis of leadership, he calls it public leadership and public value-
which fits in nicely with the reputation, value and relationship building remit of
organizational public relations.)

In 2017 I thinkcorporations will need to admit and recognize that profits to

shareholders arent everything, particularly when decisions are made to increase
profits that result in a hit to reputations (especially in regards to questionable or even
unethical business decisions) where a variety of known and unknown stakeholders
and governments and regulatorsweigh in. Your organizations reputation (and trust
from a variety of stakeholders) is where the real gold lies. Many companies will have
to work hard in 2017 to un-do actions taken in 2016 and earlier and attempt
to regain trust.

Sabrina Browne,
Public Relations Professional and Brand Strategist

The PR landscape is ever evolving and with it, so should the work we create, deliver
and execute for our clients.In 2017, we can expect to see more trends around visual
and cutting-edge content that delivers the message and rises above the noise.
We can also expect to seehyper spotted images, which gamify our news, increase
message adoption and content interaction. News capsules and picture capsules
may also make a splash, as we look to make our content more interactive and
engaging to audiences. Lastly,video releases. Consumers today would much rather
watch a video then read a press release. Leveraging video and live stream tools such
as Facebook Live and Periscope will help brands continue to connect, reach and
engage audiences in 2017.

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 Victoria K. Borges,
Founder | PR Strategist, creative storyteller

Connectivity
This has been the year of connectivity. Wi-fi can be found wherever, whenever.
Google Fiber is rolling out across the U.S., hotspot locations are ever present
and now even automobiles are offering free wi-fi. Also, take into account the
introduction of VR and artificial intelligence, as well as other devices, such as
Oculus Rift, Pokemon Go, Nintendos new mobile console even Apple is already
talking about how artificial intelligence is in the near future. These things are
bringing connectivity to life in the built environment.As technology becomes
interconnected and transcends into the physical world, communications must also
follow suit.Communications will no longer be words that tell stories, but rather
a connected experience of what an audience reads, sees, hears, tastes and smells.
A multi-cultural, global approach
Western countries are increasingly more globalized now than even two years ago.
This, coupled with an ever-changing global economy, means that audiences which
traditionally represented a companys stakeholders are constantly changing. They
have different interests, expectations and preferences. The way they consume
messages and where they consume messages are also changing.To keep up with
these changes and reach this new kind of buyer, brands will incorporate a multi-
cultural, global communications approach, from the time of day/month/year, to
content and topic relevancy, leveraging different communications channels and
incorporating different comms messages.

Unedited communications
With Snapchat on the rise and live video hosting on Facebook, were seeing raw,
unedited communication taking place and users are eating it up. As in 2016,
consumers will still want to engage with people, not brands, but well start to see
executives and thought leaders draw the curtain and incorporate live video,
in-the-moment photos and posts.

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 Claire Walker,
founder and CEO
ofFirefly Communications

In 2017, the Google search zoo will be more than just pandas and penguins and
if all this animal talk sounds unfamiliar to you, then you need to better understand
wherePR meets SEO. Meanwhile, quality content will continue to reign.

Google will keep us on our toes with improved algorithms for more relevant search
results.Click-bait and poorly written articles will not just undermine your PR and SEO,
they will be a liability as Google will punish your site and therefore compromise your
reputation, for being associated with such content!

In 2017, brands and companies will rely more on the comms professionals who
understand the nuances of brand messaging, audience preferences, local trends
and interests. This expertise will create relevant, interesting and valuable content
to increase dwell time on websites, improving reputations and pushing brands up
the search rankings.

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 Anna Lebedeva,
Public Relations Manager
at SemRush

Content trend
One of the most important trends to recognize in content marketing is thenew need
for better balance between content creation and content promotion. There has
been a significant shift in the marketing budget allocation. More money is now being
spent on content promotion than on creation. In a nutshell: promotional quality over
content quantity.If your content is not getting in front of the correct audience, why
spend time creating it?

PR trend
The days of massive press-release send outs and one-way corporate messages
being forced upon an audience are long gone.Your traditional PR pitch should now
become a contributor pitch, with ready-to-publish facts which are extremely useful
for journalistic purposes.This pitch should also raise topics that provoke further
discussion, comments, and shares. Nobody is going to publish a post or use a pitch
unless they know it will engage their target audience and have a high likelihood
of bringing significant traffic to their website. Put yourself in a media editors shoes
and you will see how traffic, shares, views, time spent on sites and other metrics are
important and directly influence advertising budgets.

Marketing trend
One of the major marketing topics this year was influence marketing. It is highly
likely that this trend will become even more important in 2017. More and more
companies will start discovering that theirtraditional PR and content marketing
techniques wont be as effective without well-established relationships with industry
influencers.By marketing via influencers, you avoid scepticism that is heavily
associated with standard marketing efforts. The ideas expressed by well-known
experts through social media posts are considered to be much more trustworthy
by their audiences. In addition, through influence marketing, your reach is much
more broad and this opens up access to a whole new range of audiences.

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 Clare Lane,
Co-editor,
PR Daily

Snapchats rise in popularity among marketersis a trend for all PR pros to watch.
Although there is an emphasis that many strategies are placing on social media
as a whole, Snapchat has emerged as a leader among platforms.

Here are two reasons why:

Geotagging.This feature isnt unique to Snapchat, but the way Snapchat executives
have marketed the feature brand managers makes it increasingly valuable. Filters
are trending (especially among millennials), and Snapchat knows that. To increase its
reach and present itself as a must-have tool for social media managers, Snapchats
filters are becoming easier and easier to make. Theyre inexpensive, theyre on-brand
with Snapchats identity and theyre unique to a specific location (which makes it
desirable for promotions and temporary marketing efforts).

The cool factor.Snapchat has been deemed cool but millennials and young
consumers. As these younger groups are becoming more and more of a prize for
brands, managers are continually looking to engage with them. As Snapchat has
grown, its still managed to keep up with its cool identity. Its primary demographic
continues to be young. As long as thats working in its favor, brand managers should
work to assert their dominance there and offer authentic campaigns.

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 ukasz Majewski,
PR & Marketing Manager,
VML Poland

Continuous change is something that accompanies all PR-pros every day. New
communication channels with a message, new tools of communication, dialogue
356 days not degrees, trends, technology, moving away from brand-centric
thinking toward people-centric, blurring the boundaries between PR and marketing
(I, more often, use the term communication rather than PR), big data, etc.
Every year, the PR industry adapts to
A modern PR person the changing market and the changing
becomes a multi-purpose world of consumers. Increasingly more,
campaigns demonstrate the growing role
machine whose scope of experience and usability as values for
of responsibilities and the consumer and the bridge between
the brand and its audience.
necessary skills expands,
not from year to year, Take a look at how our work desk has
evolved over time:
but from day to day. Another thing that changes is the way
PR professionals work today. We can
already see considerable flexibility in the work style and in creating teams dedicated
to specific projects or clients. What matters, after all, is what the team does and not
where it does its work.The crucial thing is that the team completes the project on
time, and not that each of its members sits behind the desk eight hours a day.
The 9 to 5 workday slowly ceases to be the norm and in the era of social media,
it has no reason to exist at all. These are the changes to which most of us have
already gotten used to. The new generation of employees makes companies begin
modifying their policies to try to adjust the work environment to the changing
expectations of these new workers.

On the other hand,in a creative industry like PR, the best ideas are often the result
of teamwork happening here and now. This will be a challenge to scattered mobile
teams.In addition, such a team will need a strong leader to coordinate the
whole process.

Step 4
Academy
Step 5:
Start Your Communication Right & Build
a Basic PR Strategy for Your Business,
Brand or Organization

by Rafa Saak,
Communication Lead at Prowly

PR goals vs. business goals

Ive got an idea. Lets send our product to some key YouTubers. Free samples, hand-
written notes, all packed into a fancy box with our logo!

Super cool! We could also send discount codes. People love discount codes!

Lets also send them our press release so they dont miss out on anything.

Yeah, I suppose it will work!

Thats one of the biggest mistakes people make when planning PR outreach.
We dont know, we suppose. Why a press release? Why discount codes? Why free
samples? Will any of these have a positive effect on your business?

Business goals should always come first. Whatever PR is for, it should always aim to
support achieving these goals, be it by improving sales, increasing brand awareness
among your target groups or presenting your business as an attractive employer, etc.
Before you start working on a PR strategy, spend some time with your CEO, CFO,
management board and head of sales to make sure you know and understand what
your company is planning to achieve in the next 6 to 12 months.

Your PR goals should translate into these business objectives directly. Whether youre thinking
of getting more coverage, media reviews, social media endorsement, Facebook Reactions or
app downloads, the end result of any of these should match your business goals.

Step 5
Academy
Whos listening
At this point, you should also have the basic knowledge needed to identify your PR
audience. Find out where your clients/customers are. They may be reading Forbes.
com right now. They may be spending their evenings at a local shopping mall.
Or, they may as well be on Snapchat or watching Arron Crascalls latest video on
Facebook. Run a survey if you have to. The better you are prepared, the less money
youll lose.

Decide which media groups are crucial from your perspective. Make sure youve
identified bloggers, YouTubers or celebrities that are key to your industry. Are you
talking to any of your current or potential investors? Unlike in the more traditional
approach, PR can now target end users/customers/clientsconsider if its natural for
your brand to talk to them directly.

Just remember the golden rulenot every brand has to be on Facebook, not every
business should issue press releases to the media.

The story
Lets think about your narrativethat is the story behind your brand/company/
product. How was it created? When? What were the reasons behind it? What
problems does it solve? What makes you different from your competitors?Think of
every asset there may be. Possibly you have unique IT talents in your team? Or your
product is based on the newest eco-friendly technology everyone is talking about?

Whatever you can think of, make sure these are authentic and they bring a real value-
add to the discussion. Your story needs to be REALLY interesting in order to get the
journalists attention, so make sure its worth their time.

Now it would be good to sit down with your team and use all the knowledge youve
gathered (business goals, audiences, story) to work on a PR strategy. Build a general
plan that focuses on two or three strongest points of your story. Dont be too
narrowyoull be more specific on the tactical level. Make sure youve set up goals
that are directly derived from your strategy.

Step 5
Academy
Example:
GreenApparell, a small clothing business, builds their PR strategy for Q1 2017. Here
are the ideas they came up with after doing some basic research:

- Their clothes are made of organic, eco-friendly cotton that is softer and safer for
human skin;
- Kate Sinclair, GreenApparells founder, left her CXO position at a major consulting
company to pursue the dream of becoming a fashion designer. After two years, shes
now a successful businesswoman who employs 40 people;
- each month, theres an event organized at GreenApparells local stores where
people can get 50% discount for donating their old, used clothes.

And here are the goals GreenApparell plans to achieve:

- Increase traffic to the online store to +10k visits;

- Increase fcgyhboth quantityfrom 10 to 30 per monthand quality of received
job applications and cooperation requests (e.g., from freelance fashion designers);
- Increase in-store traffic by 30% month-to-month;
- Build an engaged community (+50k) on Facebook.

Pr >
o /
ti
p

Make sure your goals are

measurable, otherwise you wont
be able to track your results and,
whats worse, re-align your
strategy to increase efficiency.

Step 5
Academy
Lets do it!
Youve developed a consistent story that will pave the way for all your further PR
actions. Now heres where the real fun begins: convert the strategy into tactics. Think
of all kinds of activities that should help you reach the goals with your story and all
the resources you have, and place them on a proper timeline. From press releases,
social media promotions, through conference speeches and product sampling to
influencer cooperation and CSR campaignssky is the limit, as long as you keep in
mind the expected outcome.

This is a good moment tostart building your online newsroom. Moneywise, you can
start with any website CMS like WordPress or Drupal, but investing in PR-dedicated
services like Prowly or PRLog will probably save your time and effort. Look for
solutions that not only allow you to host your news, but also provide tools necessary
to distribute them and analyze the effects.
This is also where marketing comes into play. Theres a longtime struggle between
PR and marketing, but the truth is that one should not exist without the other.
Consider spending some of the budget on Google AdWords, industry press
advertising and content marketing.

Step 5
Academy
Step 6:
Communication Goes Digital,
You Should Too

by Edyta Kowal,

??
Content Manager at Prowly.com /

??
Your audience doesnt know what it
>
means to be offline anymore.
Sometimes they are only away from
the keyboard. The times of digital
and non-digital communication are
long gone. If you want to stay in play
and get measurable marketing PR
results, its about time to embrace
new technologies.

Step 6
Academy
Life is getting more and more digital. So is communication. Cannes Lions has even
created a special Digital Craft Lions category this year. Just think about the things
you do at work or at home they all have gone online a long time ago, with technology
driving the change at an accelerated rate. Gone are the archaic days of using the
press release as the single tool to make buzz around your brand. Brands now need
a lot more, and communications pros are uniquely positioned to fill this void.

Sabrina Horn, CEO of Horn Group, writes forForbes: Public relations is going
through a fundamental shift that will change how marketers think about and deploy it
forever. Simply put: PR cant operate in a silo anymore. Instead says Horn PR pros
must now wield multi-disciplinary skill sets. They must be able to weave traditional
PR together with social media, interactive and even advertising.
Well, I couldnt agree more that there is only one direction digital communication.
That means big changes in how brands engage audiences.

Take your pitch to the next level

by using new digital formats
Thanks to the Internet, our press releases and content can gain a lot more views and
shares around the web. Brands thatuse different platformsand resources dont seek
out media attention through mass emailed press releases. They rather use them
topublish their storywith high-resolution digital photos, videos and downloadable,
more engaging digital press kits. They understand that a well-designed brand site
will draw journalists in by itself and give themall the data they needto make their
communication and relations even better.

What is more important, it will also reach the so-called Net Generation which values
honesty, engagement and transparency over everything else, and because of that
its almost unreachable by traditional press releases.

Speaking of new digital experiences have you heard about The Van Gogh BnB
project? It was designed primarily to promote Van Goghs Bedrooms, an exhibition
at the Art Institute of Chicago. Just take a look at this video case study.

The result? Visitors came in thousands, and many of those people shared the tales
of their stay online. The coverage included over 100 countries and resulted in 625
million media impressions. The online pre-sale of tickets for the exhibition was up
250% with more than 200,000 people attending in just 6 weeks. Finally, it was the
highest-attended exhibition in the last 15 years. BTW: the project received a Gold
Award at the Cannes Design Lions in June.

Step 6
Academy
Go viral with rich media digital campaigns
Ok, I think that we can all agree that the most sharable and viral content on the
web is rich media digital content. Such campaigns are just more engaging and are
invaluably measurable. But it takes many channels working together to have the
biggest impact. Need an example?My favourite The Second Scoreboard
(by J. Walter Thompson Costa Rica for Costa Ricas Ministry of Womens Affairs)
against domestic violence soccer matches. Outcome: PR value of $2.250.000.
(Watch the case studyhere).

And few more below:

social media

When David Bowie died, fans all over the world were in shock. Belgiums radio station
Studio Brussel felt it needed to give those fans a way to express and share their grief.
They prepared an integrated campaign called Stardust for Bowie (Watch the case
studyhere) and launched it one day after his death. In a few hours thanks to social
media and other channels it became a place of mourning for millions of Bowie fans.
The outcome? Without any paid media, Studio Brussel reached 200,000 people who
said goodbye to David Bowie and 1.1 million shares and comments on social media.
Stardust for Bowie dominated the global press too, accounting for a total of 13.3
billion impressions. [source:ddb.be]

digital gadgets

Lets stay with David Bowie tributes a little bit longer. The Intel and Lady Gaga
partnership project at the Grammys (Design Lion, Gold) reached over 83 million
social impressions and over ten billion media impressions globally.
Lady Gaga wearing a ring built with Intel technology controlled the stage effects
in real time and through Intel powered facial projection mapping she paid homage
to David Bowies legacy.

mobile

Did you know that 8.2 million people visit the site of the Sydney Opera House every
year, making it the most Instagrammed landmark in Australia? The problem is that
most people take a photo outside and move along. But this behavior became
a solution for DDB Sydney advertising agency who introduced the #comeonin
campaign.

Step 6
Academy
Over 4 weeks, more than 5 million people got to see the magic that goes on behind
the scenes inside the Sydney Opera House. With a media budget of $15k they
landed over 17 million impressions: 2 million social impressions (paid and organic),
1.8 million influencer impressions and 13.9 million PR impressions. Incredibly, all this
came from inviting 126 unsuspecting Instagrammers who simply posted a photo
of the Sydney Opera House, to #comeonin. [source:advertolog.com]

VR the hot new medium for brand storytelling

We wrote about this some time ago when pointing out thetop 6 trends to boost
your communication in 2016 virtual reality is becoming the hot new medium for
brand storytelling and promotion across every industry. It helps brands connect with
consumers that are younger, affluent or tech-savvy, but it also helps them stand
out in a digital landscape glutted with content. Is it cheap and easy? Hell, no. The
skills needed to do it are probably the biggest barrier here, but it is definitely worth
trying.Stuart Bruces prediction for VRis its going to be big, but not quite yet, so
now is the time for PR professionals to learn, experiment and understand it or risk
once again being left behind as other professional disciplines and communications
industry sectors streak ahead.

Brands I am pointing out below decided to go forward. And you? Are you ready for
your inaugural VR journey? Just check howThe Dal Museumdid it.

I really like the communication behind the project here (prepared bygoodbysilverstein.com):
When a piece of artwork really inspires you, sometimes you just want to jump inside
it and wander around. And now you can. Dreams of Dal takes us inside the mind
of the legendary surrealist Salvador Dal by transporting us into one of his early
paintings, Archeological Reminiscence of Millets Angelus (1935). Just put on the
virtual-reality headset.

Other great examples of using VR are anNYTVR appthat puts you inside
journalistic stories or the last campaign created byAmnesty Internationalwhich
gave people a more immersive and emotional experience of the devastating results
of barrel bombings in Aleppo, Syria. (The results: an increase in online conversations
and donations).

Step 6
Academy
Digital tools a powerful PR asset
Beyond the new ways of reaching your audience and getting massive coverage
in offline and online media, the digitalization of PR gives us, communications pros,
something more a wide range of intelligent PR software (check thislist
of favorite 22 PR tools for Spin Sucksby Stephen Waddington) providing customized
monitoring and analyses reports, helping with company budgeting,pitch editing and
distribution.

Excel spreadsheets names, last names, telephone numbers, emails We all know
it all your contacts stored in documents where its almost impossible to find the
information you need, when you need it. What about the pitch you sent out to your
target audience using your email? You are not sure who opened the emails and what
relationship needs to be nurtured. And you work much more slowly with no true
insight about the impact of your actions. Luckily, this is already the past. Digital tools
present valuable insights that you cant overlook.
Why? It relates to our own professional success. Like Courtney Lukitsch, the founder
and principal of Gotham Public Relations, wrote onadweek.com/prnewser: We must
be dynamic and forward thinking as the digital realm continues to evolve. And it will
that you can be sure of.

Step 6
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 T
Step 7:

L:
/

D
Summary

R
- Things PR Pros Should Do and
What They Must Stop Doing

For those who still see PR

as rocket science here
is a short list ofthings
PR pros should doto be
effective and what they
should stop doing forever.

Academy
1. Dont be an ignoramus
get to know your audience
Doing researchbefore sending your
pitchis necessary otherwise you can
make a terrible mistake that will not be
forgotten. Make sure you know what
the journalist writes about; its worth
the effort.
2.Dont send your pitch before
double-checking it its a must
Making typos can cost you time, money
and give you bad publicity, and thats
definitely the opposite of what youre
trying to achieve.
3.Make sure your
pitch is newsworthy
dont waste the time of others
Before hitting send, think again is this
really news? If not, dont send it it wont
get picked up.
4. Take your time and do the research
When the whole world was talking about
Brexit, it seems that Ryanair didnt get
the message right. Do your research;
make sure the facts you use are true
facts using the right facts will make you
trustworthy, misinforming your audience
will do the exact opposite.
5. Dont be rude
Rejection may hurt but you should never
be harsh to people you want to rely on.
By being rude youre shooting yourself in
the foot it causes more harm to you than
to anyone else.
Step 7
6. Be relevant dont send outdated
pitches
If you dont manage to send your
release on time, dont do it at all.Theres
only one time your news is relevantand
its now.
7. Dont use caps-lock
People dont like it and if you hope to
catch somebodys attention that way,
I assure you you wont.
8. Dont use automated mailing
systems (or learn how to do it right)
Theres nothing worst then getting
a message that pretends to be personal
but its clearly not.If you use one of
those tools, send the first email to
yourself to make sure everything works
fine or just stop using it at all.
9. Dont lie
Journalists will most likely remember
whether they spoke to you or not. Dont
lie, it doesnt pay.
10. Dont be intrusive
No is a no. Dont try to persuade
someone that your text was good
although it wasnt. Learn from it and do
your job better next time.
Implementing this list will not make
you a PR pro in one day but will
definitely save you a lot of stress
and unnecessary fails. In the end,PR
specialists are only peopleand its good
to be able to learn from their mistakes.
Academy
Step 8:
Last But Not Least Follow PR Influencers
& Never Stop Learning
If youre like us, you like to follow people on Twitter who provide valuable information
you can use and learn from. Because we often write on blog here about PR stuff,
we thought Id share what I believe to be the PR & marketing experts you should
follow on Twitter.
Ellen Gomes,
Content Marketing Manager at Marketo
@egomes1019
Ellen is the Content Marketing Manager at Marketo. She
leads their content marketing strategy and the Marketo
Blog. Shes a news junkie and loves to stay up-to-date
on the latest marketing trends and connect with new
people over social media. Has experience working
in public relations, social media and content creation
for technology companies and startups.
Joe Pulizzi,
Founder at Content Marketing Institute
@JoePulizzi
The entrepreneur, speaker, author & podcaster. Hes also
the founder of multiple startups, including the Content
Marketing Institute (CMI), the leading content marketing
educational resource for enterprise brands, recognized
as the fastest growing business media company
by Inc. magazine in 2014.
Loretta Ahmed,
CEO for Grayling across the Middle East, Africa & Turkey
@LorettaAhmed
Loretta Ahmed is the CEO of Middle East, Turkey
& Africa for Grayling, a leading global communications
network which provides data-driven strategies for Digital
Marketing, Public Relations, Government Affairs and
Investor Relations for clients in 26 countries worldwide
across Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia.
She is a public relations, brand reputation, and crisis
communications expert with over 20 years experience
guiding clients through transformational times.
Christine Barney,
CEO of rbb, PR Agency of the Year
@cmbarney
Champion of Breakout Brands and the author
of the Breakout Brand strategy. She is accredited
by the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and
oversees the strategic development of all client programs
with an eye toward ensuring that meaningful results are
measured and achieved.
Academy
Beth Balsam Christopher Bond
H+K US CEO @cdbond
@bbalsam
Professor of #PR, Crisis & Health Communication,
Beth is the award-winning strategic communications author of the upcoming book Hashtag: How one
leader and has nearly three decades of experience symbol revolutionized social media.
in consumer branding, lifestyle marketing, issues
management and corporate social responsibility, as well Dorothy Crenshaw,
as a reputation for being an excellent counselor, team- CrenshawComm.com PR agency CEO,
builder, and connector. @dorocren

Seth Arenstein, Word nerd & book buff, an industry influencer. Dorothy
@skarenstein speaks frequently on brand-building, marketing to
women, and workplace topics. She serves on the
Editor/writer/story & data hoarder/chief cook/bottle board of New York Women in Communications, Inc.
washer/psychotic in training/millennial wannabe@PRNews and Cancer Care and was named one of the industrys
since late-Aug 15. Tweets mine, re-tweets theirs. this is 100 Most Powerful Women by PR Week. On her Twitter
what Seth writes about himself on Twitter. He is a senior account you will find lots of insights in PR, marketing,
editorial advisor for PR News, contributing to both the tech, media, politics & pop culture.
weekly publication and the guidebooks and has more than
two decades in journalism, covering fields as diverse Matthew Quint,
as foreign affairs, defense, medicine, and television. Principal at Quint PR,
@quintpr
Sabine Raabe,
Principal Biscuit PR, Technology PR pro and content developer with
@BiscuitByte emphasis on mobility, digital media, data, and
communication networks of all kinds. Matthew has
Why should you follow her? She is a brand strategist, been involved with Silicon Valley companies for 25
a public relations specialist and like she likes to underline years, working in marketing and product management,
she has opinions. But the real reason why I follow her marketing communications, and public relations.
is that she retweets many cool campaigns, posts about From this experience, he has developed technical and
PR&advert trends and thanks to her you can be sure marketing knowledge in several areas, including optical
to stay on top of what is happening now in the industry. networking, data communications, semiconductor
fabrication, wireless communications, mobile
Iliyana Stareva, computing, digital video, and graphics. All of this stuff
Principal I Channel Consultant at@HubSpot, you will find on his Twitter.
@IliyanaStareva
Ron Culp,
Blogger & writer on inbound PR, social media, storytelling @Culpwrit
& sustainability. Her motto: Always be learning!
She invented the new concept of Inbound PR. Before joining Corporate/agency PR veteran. Consults and blogs on
HubSpot, she had gathered years of experience in PR careers in public relations from the beginner to a true
and digital consultancies in Germany and the UK, working leader. A former newspaper reporter, press secretary,
for some of the largest FMCG brands in the world and a member of the executive committee and Senior Vice
developing deep expertise in social media marketing and President of Public Relations and Government Affairs.
blogger relations. She also writes for Muddywall an online
UK social media magazine. Until this day she is an author Aly Saxe,
of two books: Social Media and the Rebirth of PR and Founder and CEO of@IrisPRSoftware,
Social Media Key for Sustainability Communications. You @Aly_Saxe
can find them useful.
Aly is the founder and CEO of Iris PR Software,
Bulldog Reporter, a software solution for agencies and in-house PR
PR news, views, and resources, teams. She founded Ubiquity Public Relations, an
@BulldogReporter agency representing high-growth B2B tech startups,
in 2007. Tip from Ally:if youre working with an agency that
Founded in 1979, the Bulldog Reporter has been a holds the keys to your PR kingdom and all of your PR data,
mainstay for good industry information, agency news, youll want to take measures to ensure your PR program can
and stories that affect public relations professionals. It survive when turnover happens.
serves PR professionals by delivering industry opinion
and analysis, offering great webinars and whitepapers.
TheBulldog Awardsalso recognize excellence in PR
and communications. Did you submit?

Step 8
Academy
Susan Lindner,
@susanlindnerEM
Emerging Media CEO & speaker on disruptive PR,
branding, social and marketing for technology, startups,
and innovative Fortune 500 CEOs. Makes pies. Loves pies.
But you wont find any recipe on her Twitter ;) Just rules
for successful PR :) And no wonder she is the winner
of 3 Golden Bridge Awards, SmartCEO Magazines Brava
Award for Top Women CEOs in NY, PR News Digital PR
Awards, American Business Awards Mentor of the Year
and Best in PRs Mobile & Wireless.
Stephen Waddington,
@wadds
Partner, Chief Engagement Officer atKetchumPR. Visiting
Professor atUniof Newcastle. Past President atCIPR_UK,
#brandvandals&#PRstackauthor. What you can be sure
of, is he understands how the media landscape works
online and offline and champions best practice as a writer,
conference speaker and award-winningblogger. He writes
and posts a lot about PR tools and PR measurement.
Sally Falkow,
@sallyfalkow
Digital PR Strategist and an author of SMART News: how
to create branded content that gets found in search and
shared on social media book. Sally has been training and
coaching PR and marketing professionals on the finer
points of digital PR and social media for 15 years. She has
been blogging for 12 years her blogcovers digital PR
trends and how technology is affecting PR and marketing.
Christine Perkett,
Founder, speaker and CEO atSeeDepth
@missusP
Named one of the Top 100 Must-Follow Marketing
Minds in Forbes for 2014, has helped brands, individuals
and institutions worldwide increase the value of their
professional reputations via social media. As one of
the first marketers on Twitter, where she has nearly 50k
followers, she wrote about its value for businesses back
in 2008, and was included that year in Twitter Means
Business one of the first books on the subject by Julio
Ojeda-Zapata. She runsfew blogs.
Mark Ragan,
CEO of Ragan Communications,
@MarkRaganCEO
Publisher ofPRDaily,RaganComms,RaganHealth, writing
mostly about HR communication. Mark was a political
reporter for 15 years, so hes used to asking questions.
And he does that a lot. Here you can see and hear how he
deals with the totally different situation when being asked
about content marketing and journalism.
Step 8
Elena Verlee,
@ElenaVerlee
Technology PR Pro atCross Border Communication.
Award-winning PR blogger. Passionate communicator with
two decades of brand building experience. She publishes
on her blog site,PR In Your Pajamas. Main goal? To give
back to my community and help educate marketing peers,
entrepreneurs, small businesses and non-profits to get
heard, get known and get talked about so they can change
the world. What else should you know about her? Elena was
twice named on the Forbes list as one of 20 Women for
Entrepreneurs to Follow on Twitter and 25 Most Influential
Women Tweeting About Entrepreneurship. In 2015 she was
featured in Entrepreneur Magazine as a PR guru sharing
her infographic on How to Ace a Media Interview.
Marc Cowlin,
@mcowlin
Formerly PR, marketing and social media guy for MeltWater
& CafePress. An Internet marketer with a track record of
driving sales and buzz through PR, Social Media, Content
and integrated marketing.
He got us withthis confession: After 15 years in PR, Im a
master of the workaround. From building media lists
to reporting results I have found ways to deliver regardless
of limitations. Id guess many of you have a similar story.
Over the years there have been numerous advancements
to PR software technology; improvements that improve
results, save time and eliminate workarounds.
David Meerman Scott,
Marketing speaker and bestselling author of The New Rules of
Marketing and PR and the new book World Wide Rave
@dmscott
David is one of those experts, who shares a lot of interesting
case studies, ebooks, and know-how from events, in which
he takes part. Trust me there is an uncountable number
of it. Following his Twitter, you will gain a better view on
brand journalism, real-time marketing, marketing & sales.
Scotts insights and advice help people, products and
organizations stand out, get noticed and capture the hearts
and minds. He also writes apopular marketing blog.
Karen Taylor Bass,
award-winning & certified Public Relations Expert,
@PREXPERT
She has nearly three decades of experience in strategic
public relations, branding, and marketing and offers media
coaching with supplementary products helping you
go from good to exceptional. She has helped gain national
press for celebrity clients like Jill Scott and DAngelo
at the starts of their careers and navigates the world of
media for her personal clients. Karen also has been featured
as a PR expert on Dr. Oz, CNN, and BET, and in Entrepreneur,
Essence and NY Daily News. In free time, she runs another
Twitter account:@TheBrandNewMom
Academy
Alan Weinkrantz, Ty Mays,
Tech PR / Startup Communications Strategies + Senior Owner ofPerfect Pitch Public Relations,
Advisor and Brand Ambassador @PerfectPitchPR
with James Brehm & Associates,
@alanweinkrantz Helps brands increase awareness via new and traditional
media. Your go-to place for all social media and PR
If youre a funded startup or technology company looking questions. She tweets about content, writing tips and
to create or refresh your communications and PR strategy, gives an abundance of pitching advice. As a leader
this is the right person. Alan is the brand ambassador to in the PR industry, Ty hones in on the uniqueness and
Israel for the Rackspace Startup Program. You can read value of earned media.
himon his blog, onGeektime,The Times of Israel,The
Official Rackspace Blog, andMediumor listen to his Joan Stewart,
interviews onSoundcloud. Publicity/PR expert,
@PublicityHound
Pam Perry,
award-winning Social Media Marketing & PR Pro, radio host, Still cant stop laughing about a CTA copy on her blog
author, strategist, content curator, (Rent my Brain!) but have no doubt that Joan can
@pamperry help you create free publicity & promote your expertise.
She is a journalist, author, blogger, speaker & a proud
Whether you want to share your message with the world, Cheesehead. On https://publicityhound.com/blog youll
launch your book, grow your ministry, or use the latest find more than 2,000 blog posts and articles, hundreds
social media and PR strategies to increase awareness of learning tools, and lots of free advice on how to tell your
of your nonprofit organization or business, you should story to the world. You can also find some of her best tips,
follow Pam. tricks, and tools for free publicity in her popular ezine,
The Publicity Hounds Tips of the Week, published every
Mary Lower, Tuesday and Saturday.
Chief Storyteller using high-tech tools to tell traditional
tales. PR, Media Relations & Social Media for
@PRMoxie

With todays advances in communication technology

news is broadcast across social media channels, such
as Twitter, YouTube, and the blogosphere just the same
as it is broadcast to TV, radio, magazines, and newspapers.
Your Public Relations cant exist as a news release alone
anymore.PR must be fully integrated across all media.
If you cant, you will miss out on reaching over half of your
intended audience. cant argue with that ;)

Jeff Bullas,
Content Marketing Influencer, Social Media Marketing
Strategist & Speaker, Forbes Top 10 Social Media Influencer,
#1 Global Business Blog,
@jeffbullas

The entrepreneur, blogger, author, marketer and speaker.

Works with personal brands and business to optimize
their online personal and company brands with emerging
technologies, content, social media technologies and
digital marketing. His blog is about all things to do with
entrepreneurship, social media, content marketing and
digital. His mission: Inspire and educate people to win
at business and life in a digital world.

Step 8
Academy
Wow, you did it!
Great work!
Feel free to let us know directly if this
guide worked for you and your team!
Get a grip on your comms with W
this article about data-driven PR! mo ant
ti re
> ps PR
?
/
LEARN MORE NOW

Good luck and have fun!

Prowly Comms Team Academy