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Public Relations Skills – The Follow Up

by | Oct 22, 2020 | Free Publicity Friday | 0 comments

Public Relations Management

 

PUBLIC RELATIONS SKILLS

THE FOLLOW UP

One of the most important public relations skills you can learn is the follow up. With all of the content we’ve provided, you might be getting really good at coming up with great pitching ideas. Basically, it’s following the Get PR Famous Formula which is being newsworthy, creating great hooks and finding the right journalist.

That’s the pitch formula. But then, you need to follow up. 90% of my success landing in the media has been what happens after I send in the pitch. The follow up call is vital to your pitching success. Journalists are inundated with emails. Few people are following up with a phone call. This is how you stand out among everyone else pitching. You also bring your idea front of mind with the journalist. I have often had them thanking me for following up because they loved the pitch but then forgot about it.

Making the follow up a part of your pitching process will lead to your success and also perfect your PR Skills.

PR EXPERT TIP

When I work with clients, the follow-up call is what really stresses them out. Please remember that media is 24/7/365. Journalists are always looking for new story ideas. Don’t be afraid of the media. I can assure you that there is not a newsroom in America that will tell you they aren’t taking any new story ideas. The key is to making the story a good one that you know will be valuable to their audience. Even if they don’t use your story idea, as long as it’s good, and you are consistent, they will know that you are a good asset to them.

PUBLICITY EXAMPLE

Not sure if the follow up really works? My client Matt pitched this story to his local NBC station. When we did the follow up, the producer said, “I loved this story when you sent it in and I flagged it but it went to the bottom of my inbox. I’m so glad you called! Can you please resend it and let’s get it scheduled.” WOW, right? Just like that.

Another example is my client Antrina who landed this segment as a result of her follow up pitch to the producer.

We’re all crazy busy so following up is vital!

Like this tip, watch the video above and/or read the transcript below. Want to learn how to do this in your business, let’s set up a call at www.ChatwithChristina.com.

Public Relations Skills Transcript

Hi everybody. It’s Christina Daves with this week’s free publicity Friday PR Tip. This week I want to talk about your follow-up from your pitch. So you send your pitch in, then what? You’ve got to follow up, and following up with a phone call is probably the best way to do it. But I want you to put a script together before you call. I don’t want you to read the script, but I want you to lay out exactly what you want to say.

If you actually get the journalist on the phone, you’ve got a split second. So you’ve got to tell them. Be clear. What’s the pitch? What was it about? What’s the value to their audience? If you’re going to leave a voicemail same thing. You don’t have a lot of time. They’re not going to sit there and listen to a babbling message. So lay out your script. Plan what you want to say and leave the recording or talk to them.

But again tell them what the pitch was. What it’s about and why it’s valuable to their audience. If you’re leaving a message, tell them you’re going to resend the email to get it to their top of their email box and leave that message for them.

So that is this week’s Free Publicity Friday PR Tip. If you like this tip and you’d like to learn how to do this on a regular basis, please join our PR challenge at YourPRChallenge.com. There is no cost to join. It’s 10 days. It’s 10 minutes a day and I will take you through every step you need to start landing media and getting exposure for your business. So I’ll see you in the Challenge and then I’ll see you in the media.