The period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is indeed chaotic, with more work to be done for our clients than at any other time of the year. However, rest assured that our client teams are not alone in this. We’re all in this together, and we’re ready to support each other to ensure a successful holiday season.

Recalibrate From Thanksgiving and Christmas to the New Year

If any goals have not been achieved, now is the time to address them! Many PR and social media teams assess, measure, and recalibrate at the end of each year. It’s important to make sure that you have achieved your objectives and that the results you’ve achieved are directly contributing to the success of the business and communications.

Between Thanksgiving and the start of the New Year, many trend stories will be published, providing good opportunities to get your client’s key messages out. It’s important to anticipate publishing deadlines and deliver content to the right editors and bloggers ahead of time.

It’s also smart to stay updated on media Facebook pages and Twitter feeds to take advantage of timely opportunities. This applies to broadcast TV producers and editors as well, as they are often looking for products or spokespeople quickly.

Planning for Next Year Starts Now

Thanksgiving break is a reminder that the new year is just a few weeks away! It’s time to start preparing for next year’s plans between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Most client teams have probably already begun the planning process, but Thanksgiving is a good reminder to keep it moving along promptly.

Don’t Forget to Actually Take a Break Between Thanksgiving and Christmas

We work long days, and it’s important to take a break to spend time with family and friends. Working hard and having long days isn’t necessarily a bad thing, especially if you enjoy your job. However, our job often requires early mornings, late nights, and checking emails even after the workday is technically over. Taking a break is crucial, and it always feels like the Thanksgiving break comes at just the right time.

Working as public relations professionals, we have found that there are four key best practices for PR success to incorporate into your process.

1st Best Practice for PR: Generate Enduring Ideas

One of the most important best practices for PR is to always be generating ideas. First, this includes story angles, data-driven research, strategies, op-ed pieces, profiles and annual editorial reporting. Then, the consistency of coverage depends on innovative thinking. The client will not always have a newsworthy agenda to publicize.

It’s a Public Relations professional’s job to energize conversations that will keep the media interested. The goal is to keep clients in the news. Constantly have a pulse on what is trending in news and where the client can fit into a news cycle. 

2nd: Practice Proactive and Responsive Communication

Proactive communication is undoubtedly the key metric to illustrating your commitment to the client, and a best practice for PR. Once a pitch is active, keep the client informed of the progress. This will not only galvanize the process but also create a dialogue about what is working and when a strategy pivot needs to take place.  

As simple as it sounds, responding to an email and/or phone call immediately engenders a trust and sense of wellbeing with clients. And, it reenforces to them that they are always a priority. Make sure that queries are answered immediately, even if it is confirming that you have received the correspondence and will get back to them when you have an answer. And responsive and proactive becomes very important for PR success in crisis communication.

3rd: Demonstrate Transparency

Clients expect its PR team to have expertise when navigating the media and to pitch a story that will result in positive news attention. Clients also rely on their PR teams’ knowledge to let them know a story idea is not gaining the anticipated coverage. Conveying this is necessary even if the idea that is not working was the clients.

We are counselors, and clients deserve the benefits of our seasoned point of view that has been established in experience and best practice judgement.

4th: Zero In on Your Target Audience

When using an earned media approach, do not weaken a message by pitching too widely. Target the news audience by researching and then building a media list that covers a client’s business model. Position your client above competitors by taking their expertise directly to a targeted audience. And, customize the content so that news outlets are compelled to open an email and react to the call to action.

Combine These 4 Best Practices for PR

Use these tips to build a PR process and structure that will prove successful for clients. Build their business and your professional reputation with repeated consistency and counsel.