Public Relations Practices

We at RingCentral have been getting lots of press in the past few months – from a PC Magazine Editors’ Choice award to positive coverage at Laptop.com.

But we’re always looking to step up our public-relations game. That’s why, in partnership with the social media team, I attended the PR Summit conference in San Francisco last week. The annual event, organized for start-up companies, focuses on the impact that powerful creative campaigns can have in burnishing a company’s image.

Dozens of ideas, suggestions and strategies were presented. Here are the five that impressed me the most!

Learn to spin your story

“It’s not enough to have a good product: you have to romanticize it, ” said Noel Lee, the founder of Monster Cable. In other words, how you spin your story – and educate your target market – really matters.

“It’s better to be the big company in a niche market than to try to get everyone’s attention, ” Lee added.

Take the Facebook test

When you are creating new content, run it through a “Facebook test”. Would you want to see your content on your own Facebook News Feed? If the answer is no, the content probably isn’t worth sharing, BuzzFeed’s Andy Wiedlin emphasized.

To create the best PR content, be strategic in your efforts: Focus on those who will be more likely than the average person to embrace your message.

Consider the relevance and timeliness of what you’re saying, too. Strive to keep the conversation going and engage your audience – just as you’d do on Facebook.

Trade in share-able, snack-size bites

“In social advertising, you don’t create one thing and see how it goes, ” BuzzFeed’s Wiedlin noted. “You create 12 and see what catches your audience’s attention.”

The lesson for PR professionals? Keep your message short and simple. And don’t be afraid to iterate.

Show me! Don’t tell me!

“Emotional engagement with your audience is the only thing that is going to drive your product forward, and get people to come back, ” stated Kym McNicholas from PandoDaily.

Your company should come off as transparent and candid so your audience can create their own opinions.

Write content for a person, not all people

“The ultimate moment of truth is the next person’s zero moment of truth, ” Altimeter’s Brian Solis observed.

Translation: there is no way to reach multitudes with one message, so you must narrow down your target audience. Once you have reached a single person and established a connection, your message will be able to take root and spread.

Ultimately, PR is about creating stories. Narratives that touch people at a personal level are what separate superb PR campaigns from less-effective ones.