As someone who’s worked in the PR field for more than 20 years, I’m often amazed at the ever-changing and expanding menu of communications strategies used to pitch and promote clients.  Amidst blogging, social media strategies, trade wires, and email blasts — all immediate avenues for reaching target audiences — I have to stop and remind myself that faster is not always better.  

My colleagues and I embrace and practice the latest and greatest PR tools. But no matter how advanced the technology, we know the message itself can be substantially more meaningful if we dig a little deeper. By this I mean taking the time for some good old-fashioned listening.  Sitting back and tuning in to what the client has to say provides the opportunity to grab hold of a seemingly fleeting yet innovative idea, or, the chance to identify a potential trend at its earliest stages.  This is often what leads to successful PR campaigns and press hits. 

Whether it’s a first-time presentation, a weekly input call, or a working lunch, good listening skills lead to effective communications, which will lead to exceptional ideas, which then lead to results.  From my experience I’ve learned the power of listening can:

• Reaffirm to clients how much I value what they have to say
• Help develop ongoing and meaningful dialogue
• Help develop relevant questions about topics I previously didn’t consider
• Help tap into hidden intellectual resources and talent I didn’t know existed
• Help me better understand what the clients’ needs are

When I first started working in PR I used a fax machine to distribute releases. Today, a news release can reach a global audience in a millisecond. One thing hasn’t changed. Putting up the antennae and taking good mental notes. While working as a reporter, I learned that every person, every small business, every large corporation has a story. And while it’s the quarterly reports and Fortune 500 lists that make for good financial news, it’s the story behind the people that make for impression-building news. It’s still my job to be an investigative reporter and discover that news. 

To unearth the buried treasure, I know to pay close attention to what the client is saying. Then, like a reporter, ask a few questions, sit back, and listen again. I’m always amazed at what I discover. Namely… invaluable golden nuggets of information that could have easily passed me by if I was too busy talking.

A client recently commented that they really appreciated the PR counsel they were receiving and the direction that the account was going.  We decided to use the positive feedback as an opportunity to take a closer look at why that account was so successful and determine if all the same elements were in place with other clients. We came to the conclusion that there were many factors at work.  The account was particularly successful because in addition to understanding the media and its various permutations, we had really become attuned to understanding our client’s culture and goals. 

Once reminding ourselves that one size doesn’t fit all, we continued to look at each component of our other accounts.  Good PR counsel requires not only a solid understanding of the marketing mix but also how the pieces fit together.  Knowing when, how and where to create and deliver messages is critical to gaining visibility and market share for any organization.  Using a combination of traditional print media, Internet news portals, news aggregators, blogs, podcasts, and other emerging new media we continue to develop PR campaigns that will produce visibility and reinforce our clients’ value proposition.