When seeking a public relations firm to work with, different factors influence that choice. Whether you’re a small business owner or head of communications of a company, the expertise of the agency is a key factor.
Media relationships and an understanding of the media landscape are key to not just crafting an effective PR messaging that gets picked up by journalists, but also getting your message in front of the right audience and leveraging relationships to get coveted media placements. We believe that former journalists possess unique skills that make them invaluable assets for any PR team. To illustrate our point, we’ve outlined several reasons why you should consider hiring former journalists to bolster your PR efforts.
Storytelling
About 7.5 million blog posts are published every day. Content is everywhere, but journalists are trained storytellers who have honed the ability to grab attention, sustain it, and present information in a compelling way to cut through the clutter. Stories linger, creating an emotional connection with the audience, and making it easier for the audience to remember your brand, share the content, or patronize your brand. They are capable of creating content that educates, entertains, and inspires in a world brimming with content.
Understanding of the Media Landscape
Journalists develop insights and understanding of the media landscape, knowing who is who, the major platforms, and eye-catching ideas for individual platforms. They may also have relationships with editors they have worked with in the past and know details like ad size, ad rate, and better pricing. They can help you secure quality placement across key publications because they are aware of what reporters look for, editorial standards and preferences, newsroom operations, and what a good pitch looks like. Their experience in selecting pitches from PR professionals in the past informs the way they write pitches, boosting their chances of success.
Industry expertise
Some journalists covering a particular industry, be it technology, finance, or business, will have developed keen senses and insights that will be useful for the company that they work with. It is a recipe for success when the PR agency you’re commissioning has expertise in the industry you are operating in. This makes it easier for you to get to the right people through their network, publish on the right publications, and share at the appropriate periods.
Crisis Communications
Journalists are trained to handle crises and have been on the other side of issues that require crisis communications. They can help a company prepare to lead transparent and resilient communications, giving them insights into the tough questions and crafting a mindful, consistent, and convincing message during moments that could turn into PR disasters.
Credibility
Key journalistic tenets, such as fact-checking, objectivity, and ethics, help raise the reputation of a company. This will be reflected in their content and messaging as well as the perception of key stakeholders. This can also be a good way of dealing with the skepticism that follows most corporate messages.
Closing Notes
TechPR’s personnel happen to possess this unique blend of ex-journalists’ insights and core PR practitioner inputs. TechPR’s CEO and founder Oluwaseun Adegoke Oyeniyi is an experienced reporter who has written for Ventures Africa and Business Insider Africa, served as the editor-in-chief of TechCabal, and founded Enterprise54, an entrepreneurship news company.
I also have worked as a full-time journalist at TechCabal, edited at a local newspaper, and have written for other national and international newsrooms, including Guardian Nigeria, Aljazeera, Rest of World, and Semafor.
Working with an agency with former journalists can boost your credibility and expand your reach, especially if you are new to a market or region. This is crucial at all stages of business development, as such an agency can help you spread the word about your business and target the right audiences.
