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Making it Happen
To develop successful media relations campaigns for professional services firms, public relations counselors must be skilled at creating story ideas and publicity opportunities that draw the media’s attention. Most of the activities at professional services firms cannot be publicized because they’re either routine or bound by client confidentiality, so public relations counselors should focus on positioning the company executives as industry experts who provide commentary on issues and trends and write articles for publication.
Surprisingly, only 5 percent of the 2.3 news articles secured daily since 1996 for one of our clients, a major national law firm, have focused on the firm’s deals or transactions. Most of the news coverage we obtain – in fact, 95 percent of it – has involved the lawyers serving as commentators on trends. It’s important to work closely with your public relations agency to maximize the visibility for your firm:
- Before discussing deals or transactions with the media, remember to first obtain approval from your clients.
- Give your public relations firm two days’ notice in advance of any major announcement so that the communications tools may be prepared and approved by all parties involved (including your clients).
- Allow public relations counselors to screen calls from reporters in most situations.
- Keep public relations counselors informed of important changes in legislation, major mergers and acquisitions and other news in your field of expertise. These events allow your PR counselors the opportunity to offer reporters the chance to interview you as a knowledgeable source on the topic.
- Help your public relations counselors stay ahead of trends and late-breaking news by copying them on client updates.
- Keep public relations counselors informed of speaking engagements. Whenever possible, provide them with copies of the speeches for use as bylined articles.
- Strive to build ongoing relationships with reporters by being accessible and respecting their deadlines. Return reporters’ calls within two hours. Remember that 3 p.m. is often the final deadline for reporters at daily newspapers.
- Conduct research before interviews to provide reporters with historical perspectives as well as relevant data and statistics.
- Prepare three key points to discuss during your interviews.
- Speak in sound bites. The more attractive that your quote sounds, the more likely the reporter will use it.
- Remember that your company’s relationship with its public relations firm is a partnership that can prove instrumental in the growth and success of your business for years to come.
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