Don’t forget the WHY in your PR campaign pitch!

People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.

The video below is a great Ted Talks to watch when working on a Public Relations campaign for a client. Make sure you watch before the big pitch!

As the PR professional, you know exactly why you conducted certain research, why you chose one audience over another, or why you chose your overall campaign message. Deliver these why statements to your client to drive the message home.

Ted Talks: The Why

Enjoy, and remember the why!

Sneak Preview: SPARK Industries PR campaign for Tomorrow’s Leaders

 

Here is a sneak preview of our PR campaign for Tomorrow’s Leaders!

Our campaign was chosen out of four total campaigns presented to the client as the winning campaign based on overall plan and pitch. Deciding elements included presentation, overall campaign books, research and findings, as well as campaigns goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics.

Our campaign included two tactics for awareness of the organization, two tactics for recruiting and retaining mentors, and one fundraising event to bring in vital funds needed for a nonprofit organization. The fundraising event was chosen based on its ability to also bring awareness and recruit mentors.

More details coming soon!

10 Tips for Pitching to a Client!

SPARK Industries pitch for Tomorrow’s Leaders is fast approaching so it’s time for a pitch post!

In Public Relations, the pitch is an important aspect to any campaign. It is important to have a great idea, but selling your idea is the number one priority.

Follow these 10 tips to ensure a great pitch!

1. Lose the jargon.
2. Dress to impress!
3. Be open to questions.
4. Portray confident body language.
5. Bleed professionalism.
6. Know your content.
7. The projector screen isn’t the one hiring you.
8. Keep it simple.
9. The pause is a powerful thing.
10. Tell a consistent story.

30 Signs You’re a Texas Tech PR Major

The SPARK Industries team has four years of experience as Public Relations students at Texas Tech University. During this time, we’ve noticed some unique things about our major and our college.

Image credit: College of Media and Communications Facebook page

You know you’re a Texas Tech PR major when …

1. You get asked multiple times what can you do with a Public Relations degree.
2. You’ve had Bill Dean as a professor and you know all about his crazy, festive ties.
3. You think Bill Dean’s class will be easy until you realize the whole test is true/false.
4. You have tweeted for a grade.
5. You’ve created some kind of social media account for class (LinkedIn, Blog, Twitter, etc.).
6. It took you more than one time to pass the GSP or you waited until the very last minute to take the GSP.
7. Those two basic math classes were killer.
8. You find yourself editing friends’ grammar in your head during conversations.
9. Friends have been scaring you with Campaigns ‘horror stories’ since freshman year.
10. You realize some of those stories are too real during your first Campaigns team all nighter.
11. You barely made it through News Writing, only to be told to forget everything you learned in class because PR Writing is nothing like News Writing style.
12. But you still appreciate News Writing for making you memorize the AP Stylebook, it’s been your friend ever since.
13. Friends always come to you with questions about current events.
14. Presentations don’t even faze you anymore.
15. Three is the maximum number of males in every class.
16. Five papers due in one week is an easy workload.
17. You know ‪#PRstudchat does not include conversation about Puerto Rican hotties.
18. You know who Aleesa Ross is.
19. You laugh when people from other majors say they are good at social media and writing.
20. You think you know about research, but you really don’t until you take Campaigns.
21. You check the AP Stylebook before writing a Facebook post.
22. You are offended when people say Public Relations is a major where you plan and attend parties.
23. Jimmy Reeves is the professor of choice for your elective Electronic Media and Communication classes.
24. Determining between strengths and opportunities is a real struggle.
25. You’ve edited your paper 100 times before turning it in. Then you get it back and there are red marks everywhere.
26. You turn crises in your own life into ‘opportunities’.
27. Professors have said the word “that” is frowned upon and often unnecessary. (We dare you to try and find the word anywhere else in this post.)
28. If you’re a junior or senior, you remember the transition from our small Mass Communications building to our current building… and you think about it every time you have to take the stairs to the third floor!
29. You participate in research surveys for extra credit and good karma.
30. You realize you were nodding your head as you read each point, even this one, and now you want to share this post in true PR fashion.

We hope you had as much fun reading the list as we did creating it! Can you think of any other classic Texas Tech PR signs? Comment and let us know!

Best Questions to ask The Client

When first meeting the client, you have probably gathered some basic knowledge of their organization. To further your understanding before conducting any research, we put together a list of the best questions to ask your client at the first meeting. These questions should help you identify possible campaign goals, get a big picture statement from the client, or just gather nuances from an internal source.  Note: These questions are specific to our non profit client, Tomorrow’s Leaders.

Tomorrow’s Leaders As A Whole:

• What is a typical day like for Tomorrow’s Leaders?
• What is the scope of your key publics/audiences?
• How are you currently sending messages to your key publics? (ex: Facebook, Email, Blog, etc.) Is this a channel that allows two-way communication?
• What values are most important to your organization?
• Why are you passionate about this cause, and why should other people be passionate about it as well?
• What do you think is the main problem Tomorrow’s Leaders is facing?
• How would you describe your organization using one word?
• Do you have a wish list of initiatives that are not part of this program, but you would like to see come into play in the future?
• How many current volunteers does Tomorrow’s Leaders have?

Outside Organizations:

• Who are your biggest threats within the community? Supporters?
• What does your competition offer/do that you don’t?
• What makes your organization superior to your competitors?
• Do you have partners, or perhaps any people or organizations you look up to and would like to support?

Tomorrow’s Leaders Reputation:

• What is the reputation of your organization, and how do you want to affect this reputation?
• How would you like to be remembered within the community?
• What are common mistakes and misconceptions, if any at all, people make or have about your business and brand?
• Has the organization changed in the past years? (improved/deteriorated)
• Are there any aspects of your company that you would not want to change?
• What do you want your organization to look like in one year, two years or five years?

The Campaign:

• Have you tried planning a campaign before, and if so was it successful? Why or why not?
• What are some goals and objectives of this campaign?
• What is the number one driving force of this campaign?
• Do you have a timeframe of when needs must be met?
• What will make this campaign successful in your eyes?
• What kind of research and development do you see as necessary for you to meet your strategic objectives?