The code of a PR pro is a simple one: help the client shine.
And through our work with different firms over the years, both big and small, we’ve found that there are many ways to do this – many tools in our arsenal, some of which, to us may seem like the gold standard, but clients may not know we have these capabilities. A magician may never reveal their secrets but we PR peeps are big sharers. What can we say?
Here’s four of our favorite tricks that we often pull from our Mary Poppins bag for our clients:
- We can push for a client mention in a published article:
Obviously, the ideal scenario is to have the your firm’s name associated with all press that comes about from the get-go. But often in the AEC industry, architecture firms don’t always have the luxury to lead the messaging on a project, at least initially. The person who owns the building usually likes to be the one to break the news and it can be a toss-up on whether they include design partners in announcements. So, it becomes critical for PR folks to have strong connections with beat reporters so that we can make that important ask to include the client in the story after it’s been published. It doesn’t work 100% of the time (reporters actually really dislike going back into their articles after they have published) but if you can make a compelling case, you can often snag a media mention, and you can feel confident that future stories on the project will likely include your name in them as well.
2. We can review your speaking engagement and provide objective feedback:
This is an underutilized trick but such a strong one as it feeds right into outward perception: right within your PR pro’s wheelhouse. In the early days of working with your PR firm, it’s so important to build the relationship between your PR team and your spokespeople so that trust is there when big engagements come up. Your PR team can consult on the message in the presentation and let you know if it’s coming across in the way you want while also ensuring that big picture Firmwide messaging gets included as well. Don’t forget that we are tracking local and national speaking opportunities and if you know you will want to speak at more events and conferences, it’s never too soon to have those discussions as those get planned out 3-12 months in advance.
3. We can help create impartial copy for awards or websites – an outsider’s perspective:
If you are on a marketing team, you have likely seen a project from the very beginning, when it was just a twinkle in a developer’s eye. Then you watched as it came to fruition. This could be months or years of looking at a project; talking about it; putting it in proposals. And now it’s time to photoshoot and promote? Yeah no.
You’ve seen too much! You’ve been exposed! You’re not impartial. You need someone to give it fresh eyes and help you fall back in love with it (or maybe for the first time). PR can be that fresh pair for you and create a new starting point for drafts for awards or website that could give you a new place to start while folding in your knowledge.
4. We can counsel on how to promote major company milestones and transitions:
A new key hire, an office move, a new partnership, a retirement and transition. Change comes at you fast – that’s especially true with personnel announcements. Work with a PR pro who can mobilize fast on important, but also very common, business milestones such as these to help spread the word super quick and to the right audiences.
If you are looking for a place to start with your architecture firm’s PR and need a specialized agency to help with thought leadership, media relations and writing efforts, please reach out to us at hello@bramblecreative.com – we’d love to help!
