I like food. When I go to lunch, I like to try different restaurants. When I go on vacation, I like to try authentic meals. Each one has a different taste and it may, or may not, please my palette. Tactics for school public relations is the same thing. You can try one strategy and two years later that same strategy is no longer pleasing to the palette. What can you do, as a PR pro, to keep your boss and clients happy? Here are some tips that make the best meal even more delectable: 1. Know the business: Understand your company’s mission, vision, and values. That is the simplest of ingredients – kind of like salt and pepper. For example, if you are in insurance, research articles and stay abreast of the latest news and trends so you can join in the conversation that may take place before or after a scheduled business meeting. Don’t forget to research your competitors and know what they are doing. They may have strategies that you can re-purpose to fit your business needs.
2. Enhance your personal product offerings: Move on from meat and potatoes. Just like any good meal comes with some garnish, enhance your knowledge, skills, and abilities to top off your real-world skills. I learned about social media at a time when it wasn’t quite accepted in the corporate world. When I moved to school PR I was able to implement social media strategies quite easily. I also took courses at the local university on creative writing to enrich my written communication. Years later, I took courses on video creation and editing. When I was studying for my Accreditation in Public Relations (APR), it was probably one of the most gratifying experiences. Add to your professional knowledge while creating perfect posts and organized editorial calendars.
3. Justify your work: You just reached 10,000 followers on Facebook and got over 1,000 hearts on IG. How does that equate to sales, donations to a nonprofit, or goodwill in the community? Know the numbers - not just the numbers and insights from the social media page. Know how those numbers impact the business. It comes down to the question of why pay for a $35 burger when you can get a $15 burger. Know why your $35 burger is worth that amount and justify it.
4. Customer service is key: How
awesome does it feel when you have a great customer service experience? The waitress brought the bread when you were about to starve, they filled up your water glass when you were about to choke on the bread, and they made sure not to add cheese to your salad. By providing good customer service – returning emails, answering phone calls, arriving to an event in a timely manner, ending a meeting on time, working with your boss or client to organize or handle a situation that is not necessarily in ‘your wheel house’ are all great signs of customer service.
Sometimes the ambiance and aura of a restaurant continues to draw you back even if the food is just pretty good. Sometimes, it’s the drinks! Whatever it is, there are some simple factors that can make your journey in this field tastier. Good luck and Happy PR’ing!
Here are some other food offerings from my travels to Jamaica, Colombia, New York, Florida, Morocco, Italy, and everywhere in between!
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