From one young PR professional to another: tips for starting in the industry
Starting a career in public relations can be exciting, but it can also be difficult to navigate and adjust to the fast-evolving industry.
Whether you’re fresh out of university and entering agency life, or you’re a year into the career and juggling day-to-day tasks, learning how to prioritise and adapt to the PR environment will help you succeed.
As a young PR professional myself working for over two years now, I’ve learnt what it takes to excel whether you’re drafting your first press release or acing on your first pitch. Here are some of my tips!
Build strong relationships
Fostering relationships with the people around you in PR can open many doors to opportunities. Your job will involve speaking to journalists daily and building on these relationships can create connections that will help you with every client task.
When I’m pitching to a journalist and have an open dialogue with them, I offer to meet them for a coffee to discuss the client in further detail. Many times journalists are open to this offer and when they recognise your name in your email inbox, they’re more inclined to open it and read it among the sea of thousands of emails they receive daily.
Stay updated on the news
When you’re new in the industry, you can impress your peers by understanding the latest news and trends in the media landscape.
Often, you will be responsible for crafting creative ideas and angles to secure coverage for the clients you’re working on. I find that inspiration strikes me the most when I’m reading the news regularly and staying updated on the latest trends. It’s the best way to find opportunities for newsjacking, as well as contacting new journalists who may be relevant for your clients.
At Ranieri where I work as a Senior Account Executive, we have a daily news and media monitoring rota. Delegating among us, three team members will search across all target media from national publications to B2C and B2B for relevant news that we could leverage for our clients.
Embrace technology
As automation constantly evolves, there are a lot of useful tools available at your convenience that can streamline tasks.
Every agency will employ different websites and software that are available at your disposal to use. I currently use a website called Signal AI that tracks coverage across all clients, sending emails with all relevant articles mentioning key products from clients that speeds up the manual task of searching for coverage.
Other tools like Propel which sends out a pitch or press release to a list of media targets in mere minutes, or Meltwater which is a popular media monitoring platform are important to utilise.
Understanding how these websites work will help you master your day-to-day tasks.
Organisation skills
It is no secret that you have to be a pro at multitasking when you’re working in PR, specifically in an agency when you’re assigned to many client accounts.
Having a foolproof organisation routine that works for you will change the way you work. When I initially started in PR, I was overwhelmed with how much I had to learn to juggle efficiently. I tried different methods, including having a digital to-do list or a journal that divided up my day by hours.
Eventually, I landed a routine that works for me. I prefer a written to-do list on my work notebook, and blocking out time in my calendar so I can have ‘focus periods’ throughout my day. Every person will have their own approach but understanding how you work, and what you prefer, will keep your day structured and productive.
Every young professional’s journey will be unique as they venture into PR. By focusing on the strong relationships you can create, embracing technology and staying organised, you can grow in your career.
