Ever wonder why people pay for a PR firm? What kind of publicity do they get for their money? Here are some of the things a Public Relations agency should be doing for you. Or, if you choose to write your own plan, here’s what you should include.

1. Messaging
2. Media Training
3. Construct Story
4. Media or Press Kit
5. Generate Media Opportunities
6. Build Strategic News Pipeline
7. Editorial Calendar Outreach
8. Leverage Events
9. Media tour
10. Media Events

Let’s look at that a little bit further. What does it mean? What do you really get?

PR Messaging

If your company has not already come up with its positioning and a clear set of messages, your PR firm can craft those for you. They should be reinforcing your brand, positioning and messages throughout everything they do. This is key and fundamental to the success of every marketing program.

Media Training

Everyone in your company who will be interviewed by the media should trained on how to communicate effectively with them. You need to learn how to answer questions in a way that supports your messaging. You should be prepared to expect certain questions and the best ways to get your message across.

Construct Story

Your PR Agency should be able to take your messages and translate them into multiple stories that appeal to a variety of media that target your ideal customer. They will also create and pitch each story to the media.

Media or Press Kit

A media kit (sometimes called press kit) is like a resume for your company. It includes:

1. A letter of introduction to the company
2. The company profile, history, and management
3. Product and service information and brochures
4. Recent reviews, publications and articles
5. Press releases
6. Audio or video files of interviews, speeches and performances
7. A sample news story
8. News related to the industry or investor news
9. List of frequently asked questions
10. Other information such as awards, photos, white papers, schedule of promotions and events, statistics, samples or examples, logo and image art, an order form.

Generate Media Opportunities

Create a targeted list of media and analyst contacts. Start contacting them locally then build nationally and internationally.  Pitch stories. Position your company as the go-to source of information on your subject.

Build Strategic News Pipeline

Develop a scheduled series of news releases (press releases) and draft the announcements that strategically roll out different aspects of the story.

Editorial Calendar Outreach

Identify publications that target your ideal customer and make a list of the planned stories or editorial opportunities that exist within their annual calendar.  Pitch you product/service where appropriate.

Leverage Events

Develop a PR strategy to leverage events that your company hosts or participates in. Recruit press to cover the stories.

Media tour

A media tour is when you meet with editors and reporters to introduce your company, product or service. The end goal is to build the relationship so that they print an article about your product, service or company, or that they come to you for quotes.

Media Events

Just as  you need to build community among your customers, you need to build community among the press. You want to build your brand or image in their mind and then stay top of mind with them. An event is a perfect way to do this. It may be as simple as a sneak-preview party or a press appreciation party. Free food and drink is always appealing.

With the exception of the media kit and the media events, most of these activities do not cost much money in terms of materials. But they do take time. If you want to write a plan for yourself, you should include most of these tactics. Typically a company will outsource these functions because they don’t have the time and the existing relationships with the press. if you choose this route, look for a firm that already has established relationships with the media outlets that reach your target customer.

Have you seen the latest blockbuster movie Avatar? You know, the movie that is breaking all the sales records at the theater box-office? I saw it last weekend. It’s a prime example of the pillar of influence called social validation. This simply means that the more people that see the movie, the more we think that it is proof that the movie is good.

One form of social validation used in marketing is called “social proof”. You will see this in the form testimonials and case studies. When we see that someone else like us is using the product or service and is happy with it, we have a strong desire to join them. The more people participating, the stronger the desire to participate.

You will see marketers using social validation when they broadcast that an event has sold out (or is about to), or that they have surpassed their goals. You see, that means that more people liked what they are offering than even they expected and the implication is that you will like it too.

When you add in some validation from authority, you up the ante. You see, when people perceive someone as an authority figure, they have a higher tendency to do what that person says. Think “4 out of 5 doctors prefer”. That is an example of a marketer using the perception of authority to promote their product.

So, when you go to the movies this weekend to see Avatar, let me know if you liked it. Then let me know WHY you liked it. did you like it because it was a great story line? Did you like it because the graphics were amazing? Did you like it becauase everyone else did (social validation)? Or, did you like it because it got good reviews (authority)?

Want to know how to build community for your business? Here’s a great example. Check out the website for the movie Extraordinary Measures. And go to their “Quilt” page. Here you will see all kinds of submissions of home movies about charitable causes. I was directed here from a link posted to a friend’s Facebook status. A friend of that friend has a son with a deadly genetic disorder and posted a video in the contest. The video with the most votes wins $10,000 for their cause.

Why do I think this is great?

First, I had no knowledge of the movie before being directed here. Even after landing here, I simply watched a couple of videos and could pretty much guess that the movie was about a family fighting to save their kids. The nature of the contest was inline with the theme of the movie. It completely supported the plot. And, even better, it attracted the kind of people who are likely to want to watch the movie; people who know people who are living under extraordinary circumstances.

Can you see the viral effect? All you have to do is notify a couple of charities about the contest and it spreads like wildfire. They notify everyone in their organization, who notify all their friends and family, who notify theirs. Who wouldn’t want to win some money for the cause they are championing? Who wouldn’t want to support their friends in contributing to their cause? Of course we are going to spread the word.

It also helps that the site makes it easy to spread the word. They integrate Twitter, Facebook and other social networking tools right into the site to make it easy for people to spread the word.

This is a great way to build community because it engages your customers, gets them involved in a way that supports the product. It attracts their ideal customer to them and creates awareness virally. People are committed to the movie because they are committed to their cause (or that of their friends). If they make a video or vote for a video there is a part of them that wants to act consistently with that choice and actually see the movie. The movie is supporting them, why shouldn’t they support the movie?

There is a lot of goodwill generated with this contest. You get a warm, fuzzy feeling from the movie because they are supporting their customers. Here is where the psychological trigger of reciprocity kicks in. They do something to help us, so we want to do something to help them.

So, take a look at the Extraordinary Matters Quilt and let me know what you think. What do you like or dislike about it as a method of building community? What other examples of great community building would you like to share?

Did you see the Hope for Haiti Now Benefit on TV Friday night? If you were watching TV, you couldn’t help but see it. It was on every major network, and then some. It must have been on at least 6 channels. The truth be told, I don’t pay for cable or satellite so I only get the free stations. The only stations it wasn’t on were the spanish channels. Why is that?

Anyway, that was a prime example of someone dominating their distribution channel. I’m very impressed with them for negotiating that distribution. But then again, if you were a network and word got out to the public that you refused to air the benefit, people would be up in arms. You would have a major PR debacle on your hands.

Lesson learned from Hope for Haiti Now. When you got the leverage, use it to gain full market domination.

Oh, by the way, if you have a social life and were out on friday night and happened to miss the benefit, You can order songs and videos here to support the charitable effort.