PR News: Speed and Accuracy: An Usual Moment Prompts PR Changes
Violet PR President, April Mason, spoke to PR News about how COVID-19 has affected the PR industry. Read more below!
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It’s not difficult to argue the U.S. is in an unusual moment. First, nearly all of us will contract COVID eventually, Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical advisor, said Jan. 12. And while some epidemiologists believe the omicron variant signals the pandemic’s end, others, such as Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of MN and a member of Biden’s COVID-19 advisory board, are not sure.
Viewing this moment from a PR pro’s perspective, the question arises: Have the strategies and tactics of PR changed as a result of this unusual moment? Should they?
After all, some argue that before the pandemic PR pros were supposed to read the room, keeping tabs on customers, competitors and the rest of the zeitgeist. This allowed them to make course corrections to communication efforts as needed.
As such, this argument goes, the PR pro is doing what she has done for years: communicating, pitching, advising and raising awareness, all based on the state of play and with an eye toward the future. True, today’s conditions are different than they were before the pandemic, yet the PR’s pro’s job essentially is the same.
The influence of speed, which Mitchell mentioned above, is the main factor for April Mason, who heads Violet PR, a small firm in NJ. Specifically, Mason notes the speedy news cycle the pandemic has, in part, caused. With news about COVID-19 and its variants changing, sometimes hourly, media relations pros like Mason have adjusted or become irrelevant, she says.
For example, Mason often pitches stories that work alongside the day’s breaking news. Covid’s constant updates means she is looking for new angles at a fast pace. “What’s relevant today as a pitch, might not be tomorrow, or even a few hours from now,” depending on Covid developments, she says.
Expiration Date
In addition, as the length of a pitch’s shelf life has declined in this climate, Mason advises that “your executive is ready to speak with a reporter” the day you pitch.
While it depends on the pitcher and the executive, for Mason, pitching a story “a month out just doesn’t happen very much anymore.” Enterprise stories also are occurring less frequently, she says.
Also gone, she says, are desk-side appointments. “You’d bring a CEO or a political leader to meet with an editor and reporter for a wide-ranging conversation.” A few weeks later, the reporter called and indicated what topics could result in a story, she says.
The pandemic also sped the reduction in newsroom size, Mason argues. As a result, pitchers and executives interviewing with reporters best be succinct, she says. Her counsel for interviewees is to have not more than three talking points.
“Reporters don’t have time for executives who digress,” Mason adds. Several reporters abruptly ended several interviews she arranged. CEOs “can’t be offended by this. You explain to them that if you want coverage you have to work in this [sped-up] structure.”
Good News
It’s not all bad news, however. Mason doubled revenue and staff in 2021. “A lot of [PR pros] had a good year,” she says. Again, the pandemic offered conditions that led to a resurgence in her business.
“We lost 30 percent of our revenue during lockdown” at the start of the pandemic, she recalls. That allowed Mason time to “do more publicity for the firm, answer more RFPs and create more content,” including thought-leadership essays. With newsrooms straining, media is ripe for submitted essays, she says.
Another important factor for Mason was the rise in Covid-related federal and government spending. Much of her business is centered on government and contractors.