How to make valuable connections in PR

By Filippo Gallian

In today’s world, connections mean everything when it comes to public relations. Your career in PR revolves around the connections you gain, the relationships you build, and the network you create with not only your colleagues and clients but especially the media. Although getting out of your comfort zone and reaching out to reporters might seem like a scary task, it becomes almost natural with a little bit of practice and following the right procedures. 

Sometimes the responses you may get back from reporters can be dry, but don’t worry about it too much. Many times, the person you’re reaching out to is going through the same emotions as you or is just very busy and can’t spend time giving a thoughtful response. Your job is to try and maximize your interactions with them for possible partnership opportunities in the future. In order to make the most out of your pitches and media outreach, there are several tips that you can use to improve your media relations skills.

• Responsiveness 

Responsiveness in this sense doesn’t necessarily mean devoting every second of your day to respond to the reporter you’re pitching to. It simply means to set some time aside for them out of your schedule and respond in a timely fashion. The sooner you email back the reporter, the quicker you can make progress and move on to a different task (which pretty much applies to every work environment). Usually, any response given with more than a 12-hour gap can lose interest in whoever you’re writing to, but ultimately it is up to you to decide how quickly you need to respond. 

• Share your contact information in every email you send 

Make yourself easy to find. Reporters have very busy schedules and any second you can spare them would increase the likelihood of a successful connection. The easiest way to do this without forgetting is to create an automatic email signature. Every time you send out a pitch or email, whatever contact information, organization, and the name you share will be sent automatically with this feature. Additionally, you can add your contact information to your website or social media accounts to make it even easier for people to reach out to you. Accessibility to contact you ultimately means more connections and opportunities to come to you.  

• Research 

One thing that can lose interest in your pitch is a lack of research. Reporters can tell who is copying and pasting the same pitch in their emails. Instead of losing those connections, you want to personalize these emails based on similarities of interests or topics the reporter often writes about. Researching shows that you care and will increase your chances for a response. Even if the pitch is rejected, you were still able to start a conversation which might open the doors to an opportunity down the line. 

• Keeping in touch

This final step might be the most important. Once you have established a connection with a reporter, it is important that you keep in contact with them even if you’re not pitching to them. Sending them reactions to their articles, getting coffee with them, and even following them on social media and sharing their posts can help your relationship grow.