11 New Year's resolutions for PR Pros

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11 New Year’s resolutions for PR and
marketing professionals
By Carm Lyman | Posted: January 3, 2012

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As we prepare to ring in the new year, let’s take a few minutes to reflect on what’s most important as
a marketer or PR practitioner, particularly as the media landscape continues to evolve.

Below are some reminders and/or resolutions related to our practice. These are simple rules. And
the best part: they’re fairly easy to incorporate into working life, yet as guiding principals can make a
big difference.

Resolve to be a better writer—in 140 characters or less. In an age of tweeting, being succinct
is key and helps in making your content viral.

Resolve to think outside the confines of “traditional” PR. Instead of relying on an age-old
press release, ask if a topic is better suited to a blog or social media post.

Resolve to know your audience. “Beats” are fluid in these days of the continuous news cycle.
Know your audience and their of-the-moment interests. Resolve to check your contacts’ latest posts
and tweets before reaching out with an idea or topic.

Resolve to be a storyteller. Some media deal in straight facts and figures; others paint with a
different brush. Don’t bore with market potential for a new widget if that’s not their bag; instead tell Sign up for the
them what they want to hear, which typically boils down to how it will impact their reader’s life.

Resolve to speak measurement upfront, not when asked by the client. What does the
program, strategy or tactic you're suggesting really do to impact the bottom line? If you can't answer Your e-mail address
that question, both qualitatively and quantitatively, then perhaps it's not the great idea you thought it Yes, I accept Term of Use.
s
was. Terms of Use | Today's Headlines

Resolve to be SEO friendly. Why make it hard to find the product or messages you’re trying to Follow PR Daily on:
convey? Think of keywords that matter and use them in your blog, release and outreach so they can
get crawled and drive traffic.

Resolve to be more visual. If a picture is worth 1,000 words then why not? Multimedia is the new
text; incorporating photos and video makes a story more impactful.
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Resolve to stay ahead of the game. This is one of the hardest challenges in PR. As fires, last-
minute deadlines and “urgent” requests fly into the inbox hour by hour, it’s important to dedicate a Related Articles
portion of the day to ensure you’re staying ahead—or at a minimum on track—of your regularly
scheduled program. Got New Year’s Eve plans? Foursquare
unlocks your invite to a party
Resolve to slow it down and clean up your act. In this age of short, snippy emails and social 10 PR resolutions for 2011
media postings, it's easy to post quantity over quality. Before you hit "send" take a second (or even
third) look. It pays not to be sloppy.

Resolve to clear your head. When the going gets tough, the tough can get stressed. And what Related Articles By Category
good does a foggy, frenetic brain do when push comes to shove? Little. There's something to be
said about the five-minute break. Try it. You’ll be better at your job because of it. Featured
Marketing
Resolve to give good counsel. Tell your boss or client(s) what they need to hear, not what they Media Relations
want to hear. This can sometimes be intimidating, but it's important, and only right. We've all been

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there—there’s an expectation that PR will simply take orders—but you know in your gut the effort at
hand will net nothing but peeved media and bloggers and worse, backlash that could damage
several reputations, both the company and yours.

Here’s to a happy and healthy New Year to you all.

Carm Lyman is co-owner and president of Lyman PR, a consumer lifestyle communications agency.
Based in Northern California, Lyman PR specializes in PR and marketing for consumer tech, mobile
tech, music, b2b, hospitality and sports. She can be reached at carm@lymanpr.com, or follow her on
Twitter @carmlyman or @lymanpr.

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Comments (6)
Sort by: Date Rating Last Activity

Allen Fuller · 1 day ago 0
Great reminders, I am going to tape this list above my desk!
Reply

justinarium 1p · 1 day ago +2

Thanks for the great reminders. I think "Resolve to be a better writer" should stand alone, regardless of
length. It seems to be a failing art. I'm also curious why "thinking strategically" or "take an outcomes-
based approach" didn't make the list? As practitioners seem to acquire an ever-increasing workload, so
many seem to simply execute rather than executing for a reason.
Reply 1 reply · active 1 hour ago

Carm L · 1 hour ago 0

I absolutely agree that both are important to consider and act upon. Often times PR is play as a set of
tactics. Strategy is key and of course without objectives or outcomes in mind, what's the point? Good
adds!
Reply

Chris Di Salvo · 1 day ago 0

This is great information. I teach public relations at San Jose State University and will use this in my
upcoming classes this spring.
Reply

Lala B. · 8 hours ago 0

Carm - great article...just one small error. In the phrase, "yet as guiding principals can make a big
difference"
principals should actually be principles.
Reply 1 reply · active 1 hour ago

Carm L. · 1 hour ago 0

Thanks for pointing that out, Lala. This goes with the resolution of resolving to be a better writer. :)
Reply

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