10 Ways to Save on PR

• Hire Agencies that Hire Journalists.  Reporters are trained to ferret out a news angle quickly, make it compelling and produce results on deadline.  Emphasis on speed and performance translates to lower billable hours.
• Always Ask What it’s Worth.  Product development teams tend to think that everything they invent is priceless.  Counter by asking how much revenue it will generate.  Then allocate PR resources accordingly.
• Focus on 3 or 4 Big Stories.  Ask management to list the top stories they want highlighted in the coming 6 – 12 months.  Focusing on “what’s big” ensures a consistent story line and strong image.  Diffuse PR programs undercut the brand and waste hours.
• Brief the Account Team. Many an hour is lost because the client pulled its agency into a project at the last minute with no prep.  Time spent up-front leads to high-impact, cost-effective results — an obvious but oft-overlooked point.
• Use “Straw Man” PR Plans.  A bulleted one-pager on goals, news, message, spokespersons and media targets is easy/cheap to create, and gets the attention of the execs you design it for.  Nobody has time for bible-length plans.
• Shop Around for Wire Services.  This is the Internet Age.  There is no excuse for vendors that charge $hundreds/$thousands for electronic press release transmissions that cost them pennies.  Look for better deals from new online distribution services.
• Distribute Locally – Never Nationally.  The only reason to use any wire service is to push your announcement to search engines.  The same SEs receive your release whether you distribute it with a local dateline (low price) or nationwide (high price).   Always go local.
• Keep Press Releases Short.  A  press release should be a door-opener with reporters, not a repository of technical or marketing jargon.  Keep releases short and simple to catch reporters’ attention, generate interviews and coverage – and cut content creation and wire service costs.
• Re-Purpose Content.  Writing is expensive.  Editing is cheap.  If a subject is hot enough for a white paper, it may also be good for a blog, podcast or bylined article.  Maximize your mileage on content by adapting it to multiple vehicles.
• Keep Meeting and Reporting Time to a Minimum.  Another oft-ignored nugget.  Start by analyzing your line-item agency invoice.  You may be surprised to find how much time is devoted to weekly meetings and reports.  It shouldn’t take that long for the agency to say what they’ve done and plan to do.

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