Five ways to give "traditional" PR a makeover

- PR is most known for relationship building and the third party credible endorsement. One of the official definitions provided by the Public Relations Society of America is, "PR is a strategic communications process "that builds mutually beneficial relationships "between organizations and their publics." However, PR is often misunderstood, and is given a bad rap. With industry professionals being labeled as hacks or spin doctors. PR pros have also been criticized for not delivering targeted communications, and for creating news stories filled with spin or hype, rather than objective and credible information.

Over the years, PR has lost some credibility in the eyes of media, public and executives and organizations. So raising the bar to PR credibility means these five steps. Giving PR a makeover. If you want your PR to stand out, to be more effective, and to create valuable outcomes, here's what you need to do. First, move your story beyond traditional media. PR became known for broadcast distribution methods and less for targeted relationship building strategies that you would need to get the attention of a journalist.

So, it's important today to choose the right audience when sharing your news, which will not only include traditional journalists, of course, but also bloggers and new media influencers who have exceptionally large online networks and will share with their friends. You can also choose to share your story directly with your customers, who'll be your advocates and share on your behalf. Next, you need to listen to understand the people you serve. Years ago, PR pros would wait to be handed messaging included in news releases, executive quotes, brochures, newsletters and opinion pieces, but that's not the case any more.

Instead, you can track keywords, or search through social media communities that let you tune in to conversations that your customers are already having about you. Chances are, they're already talking on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, just to name a few. By gathering insights, you're then able to share more meaningful information with them. The next thing you need to do is to think beyond the news release. News releases are still a great vehicle to frame out a good new story and to cast a wider net via a newswire service.

You can certainly target journalists at a variety of publications, who'll be interested in your news announcements. However, you now have so many different channels that you can use when you're ready to share news about your company. Companies are using blog posts, videos and multimedia releases, complete with social media sharing capabilities, and they're also posting their news to sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, LinkedIn, and the list goes on.

Of course, it's crucial to understand the culture in these different communities and what makes people more passionate and willing to share your announcement with their friends. The fourth thing on the makeover list is measurement is more precise. Today, you can learn how to use smart data to communicate. With an abundance of data at your fingertips, it's your job to understand what metrics best capture and benchmark your program progress and success.

PR used to focus on Advertising Value Equivalents, or AVEs, to measure PR outcomes. But today, we look at tracking metrics from awareness and engagement to impact and advocacy. Being in PR means becoming data educated. It's an opportunity to better understand the market and your audiences by tracking the efforts of your programs more effectively. And finally, last on the makeover list, is how you can use technology to make you smarter.

Social technologies help you to tune into the marketplace much more easily. PR must focus on the business of communication and you need to keep your eye on the competition at all times. Digital and social media make it incredibly easy to track what your competitors are doing and what people are saying about them. You can easily evaluate their strengths, their weaknesses, by understanding how they approach their marketing and PR activities, and interact with the public.

Now, think about how you can apply the five-step makeover to your PR programs. Using these five steps will move your PR in a new direction and help make your stories stand out and be recognized.