Having the Right Team is the New Million Dollar Budget
By Katherine Olstein
In the course of a wide-ranging discussion at the 2018 PRSA Tri-State District onference, a cross-section of PR leaders came up with 5 mindsets and tips for our changed media landscape.
Tip #1 Aim for relevance and authenticity
- Play off the environment – what’s happening in the news and in society – as much as possible; marry larger ideas with your product and messaging;
- Get your audience to “ladder-up” to your brand before hitting them with your pitch.
Tip #2 Get into the scroll of your people
In the old days, your goal was to get the highest number of media impressions and tally them on a spread sheet; now it’s about telling brand stories on channels where the audiences you want to reach are spending time.
Tip #3 Form Partnerships for Storytelling
Match the stories you want to tell with the unique voice and style of the media outlets your potential customers are reading and scrolling through. “Co-create” stories with reporters; discuss what you want and be flexible and open to input.
Tip #4 Be Unafraid to Experiment
Be in cutting-edge places when they debut, like Vine in 2013. Create a lot of small moments; lots of versions and pieces of content, and see what hits. You can’t tell in advance what’s going to work, so you have to try everything.
Tip #5 The Team You Need to Succeed
- Multi-channel mavens
who know how content and information are consumed on various platforms and
are good at telling stories on them;
understand the fine points of emerging sociologies such as the Instagram feed, Instagram story and IGTV - “Slashers”
able to move nimbly among related skill sets - Hustlers
who are curious; get in there to solve problems; prove they can “jump on board and get up and running” fast - Risk takers
willing to take a crack at whatever is needed to solve the problem and - a project manager who knows “what’s going on with the entire team.”
Key Takeaways:
- Ability to completely scrap a plan with a smile on your face; build a new one and make sure everyone’s on the same page;
- Showing up and having fun;
- Putting together a good team.