The Public Relations Blog

4 ways to ensure your public relations is working

A banana is more than a tasty addition to your cereal. It’s a perfect metaphor for what makes successful public relations.

How to get quality internal news for external PR

As a public relations professional working for a large corporation, staying in the know of important happenings within your company can sometimes be a challenge, especially if there is a large remote workforce or highly siloed structure. Other factors that limit the flow of newsworthy developments reaching your desk include lack of quality sources, the C-suite being unaware of what makes a good topic for a news release and an internal misunderstanding of the function of the PR department.

Take these steps to increase your feed of high quality PR content.

2 companies respond in very different ways to a PR crisis

In October 2017, Amazon debuted Amazon Key, its answer to the ongoing problem of porch theft. Home delivery of everything from groceries to jewelry has become ubiquitous as Amazon’s market share grows and influences American shopping patterns. Meanwhile, package purloiners have learned to reach for the low-hanging fruit of unattended front-door parcels. Enter the Amazon Key, a cloud-based security camera linked to a door lock that grants delivery people admittance to drop off packages, safeguarded with autolock settings at their departure.

One problem: As with all internet-connected devices, Amazon Key is vulnerable to hacking.

Cybersecurity company Rhino Security Labs exploited an authorization point in the wireless connection to take the entire device offline. To a remote user viewing the video feed, it appears the entry is secure. While offline, a hacker keeps the internet-controlled key in the open position without immediate detection. These vulnerabilities allow either a delivery person covert re-entry to the home or clever criminals to override the system immediately following a delivery to access a victim’s home for their own nefarious purposes.

Here is where public relations professionals’ dreams and nightmares coincide.

Creating specific and measurable goals is vital to establishing a foundation for successful integration of data analysis to business strategy. Without a goal, the time, energy and money you spend on acquiring and aggregating data will leave you directionless. So, which analytics matter most in public relations?

Typical key performance indicators (KPIs) include marketing campaign ROI; profits analyzed for variables, such as product, region, salesperson, etc.; and monthly projections/reality and month/month change amounts. Those are hopefully all numbers already in your data toolbox. You also must include metrics particular to PR.

Which analytics matter most in PR? How do I know what to measure?

Within the business world, the volume and velocity of data continues to command attention. In the public relations sphere, knowing what to focus on, given the data analysis capabilities available in the crowd of business software applications, can be overwhelming.

With the new year right around the corner and trade shows filling the calendar, the question of how to best convey your company’s message to the media might be starting to shadow your thoughts. Before that shadow becomes a looming, cantankerous beast, tackle it to dispel the darkness and enlighten everyone with your message.