Full Frontal PR Report
Janette Rizk

When it comes to journalists’ pet peeves about PR professionals, what tops their list of complaints? Calling too much? No. Sending unsolicited emails? No. Pitching a product they know nothing about? Still no, because there’s always room for effective PR people to work around this. A journalist’s single biggest annoyance is a PR person who pitches a story without knowing anything about the outlet s/he is pitching. For example, pitching a story on children’s toys to AARP; it’s probably not a good fit.

What can you do to combat this unfortunate (and common) PR taboo? Do your research! It can be an arduous task to find articles by each and every person on your media list (which I still recommend), but why not make life a little easier—and smarter—by incorporating research into daily media monitoring? You do read articles that are relevant to your company, clients, industry, and trends, right?

The intelligence garnered from effective media monitoring is crucial when creating communications plans because it provides the background information, the bedrock, on which plans are based. In addition, by doing this exercise everyday, you will learn which writers cover which subjects and the topics that pique journalists’ interest; you might not be an expert on these reporters’ writing or have all of their names memorized, but over time this increased awareness translates to effective pitches. In the long run, this results in stronger relationships with media, which leads to more frequent on-message media placements.

Media monitoring is not only effective when it comes to pitching, but also for staying abreast of trends. When you understand the trends—current and future—your communication plans have increased depth and credibility. The same way a lawyer cites precedents when trying a case, in public relations, if someone questions a particular course of action, a PR pro can cite past articles and coverage for their decisions regarding PR strategy.

It seems logical, but people are busy, and are often so wrapped up in specific projects that they forget to pay attention to what’s happening in the news. This makes media monitoring even more important for the PR professional, because it is up to us to be informed, so we can inform our clients about what’s happening outside their offices, and make better decisions based on this information.

The bottom line: Media Monitoring is a win-win exercise. If you’re not getting effective—useful!—media monitoring from your agency on a daily or weekly basis, give us a call.

Plus, there’s an added bonus: At cocktail parties or networking events, you will wow your friends that work at Nestlé with your impressive knowledge of, say, “Mars Inc.’s Masterfoods new advertising campaign for Pedigree Dog Food”…all because you’ve been doing your reading.

Janette Rizk is an account executive and avid trend-watcher in RLM’s LA office; she focuses on using media monitoring for effective PR on daily basis.