The world is changing fast and although breaking news keeps changing even while we sleep the fact remains that PR is not an overnight game. To make it simple as “Rome was not built in a day”, then why keep unrealistic expectations that PR can make you an overnight success. Often it is forgotten that PR is just one of the significant components of the marketing tool but expectations are always skyrocketed. To make frank statement patience is virtue and PR is all about patience and positioning at the right place at right time.
PR involves generating positive publicity for clients and enhancing their reputation. And this is by no measure a fast, overnight assignment. Here is why. As a specialist or an image shaper, our task at hand is to keep the public informed, a story to tell and this is just the beginning of a long journey. To make your brand or client the numero uno requires great PR which takes time, needs a lot of perseverance and patience, and effort.
To stay in the race, we have to ensure that we serve the best to the client. We have the best of publications and media houses in the country looking for the right story with valuable insights. But then, do we have the best story to tell? It is much easier to land a story with never-ending phone calls, but don’t think that should be the ultimate goal. The real-time objective should be to communicate appropriately through the media vehicles on how your brand promotes exciting developments, shifts, or trends. As a PR firm, my task is to test its marketability, its visibility, and strategy. For a story to sell, for it to be impactful, I have to package it and package it well.
Both clients and media demand a sense of newness to it to be able to appreciate it, and publish it. Their appreciation is important and so is our perseverance, ability, and intelligence to make it work. PR can be compared to a game of chess. It takes the right time, the right skill, and patience to have a go at putting out a story. Here again, it is the media who decides the rules of the game. What to publish, when, where, and how are all their calls to take. Unlike media buying, traditional PR is not a paid activity, but one where the magic wand to getting coverage and impact to a client’s story is hard work which is not an overnight task.
What many business owners don’t realise is that at the core of PR is the ability to establish trust for their company with the media and through those stories, the people who consume this news. If you are into creating a brand through PR then you must know that it involves building a long-term legacy through stories that the media wants to hear from you. And deriving these results and creating an impact just does not happen in a single night.
The post-COVID times in the PR world, besides slowing us down to meet the drastic changes in the media landscape, have also brought in some opportunities. A chance to think fresh, bring in new perspectives, and show clients some different possibilities of problem-solving. Digital transformation has hit the gas pedal. News has emerged on social media platforms because the way we consume information has changed.
The typical news cycle of the past is not the same anymore. A lot has changed with the typical cycle of news stories witnessing an evolution. The PR industry and the professionals it employs have had to adapt to this change and support it. Social media and influencer stories have become a rage and the media, advertising, and Public Relations space have had to embrace this change. These changes give rise to the need to re-understanding the business once again, to manage PR in the right manner. Knowing the business in and out is how success can be achieved and results can be gained. Time, expertise, and input make for the formula that helps us understand objectives and deliver desired results.
From a client hiring you as their PR team to getting the media to write about a client is a journey where overnight results never work. Good PR is born from understanding the client’s business and objectives, because for helping the client look better and the media to hear you there has to be a good story told. And for a story to be told well, clients have to accept PR as a part of regular day-to-day activity, treating it as an exercise that runs alongside business operations. Success in PR comes from the best campaigns and stories that will emerge over time and at their own pace building the client’s reputation and media relationship with one brick at a time.
PR does take a while to make the phenomenon real. It is advisable to keep realistic expectations from the consultancy, especially when the first month’s coverage expectations are not up to the mark and when your expectations haven’t panned out into a heap of coverages always keep in mind that you’re slowly and steadily climbing the ladder that leads to the pinnacle of success.
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With over 15 years of experience in media and advertising, Shweta established her own PR firm – Aria Communication in 2008. The consultancy has grown from a mere single account to a wide range of clients under its belt. She has achieved a successful journey by servicing several brands from various segments till now and has always been committed to establishing Aria Communication as a value-driven organisation.
Her core areas of expertise lie in the domains of Politics, Real Estate, Technology, Ecommerce, Automobile(EV), Immigration, Healthcare, Education, Corporate, Bollywood and Lifestyle PR. She has a vast experience of working from listed companies to start-ups in India across varied media verticals and is well-versed in various areas like media planning, strategy, execution of media campaigns and the overall brand building exercise. Qualitative deliverables, meeting up deadlines, staunch media relations have been strong pillars of the firm's growth that has played a significant role in the success.
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