Award Ceremony Planning

(A note to all my overwhelmed comms managers who are doing it all!!) If you’re in a comms role and suddenly expected to “do PR,” you're definitely not alone. Press isn’t just an extension of marketing, it’s a completely different discipline with its own rules, rhythms and relationships. Over the years, I’ve worked with lots of comms managers who were expected to “just send a press release” and instantly generate coverage. Often, they're given KPIs that simply don’t work in press, because media coverage doesn’t follow the same logic as campaign impressions or email open rates. Below are a few common mistakes I see (as a former journo), usually driven by pressure to deliver arbitrary amounts of coverage, that can actually backfire (and what to do instead.) ❌  𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 I know your internal stakeholders think it’s a big deal, but unless it’s a senior appointment, a substantial survey (2k+ sample) that has something new to say, or a genuinely new product/service, a press release is overkill. Focus on the story, not the format. 𝗦𝗽𝗿𝗮𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 Sending a generic release to 200 journalists isn’t outreach, it’s a lot of unnecessary noise. Offer an exclusive where you can. Build fewer, stronger relationships. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗞𝗣𝗜 Press releases aren’t monthly deliverables. Only send one when there’s actual news. It’s better to pitch strategically than tick a box. Focus on outcomes, not output. ✅ 𝗧𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 (𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵) I rarely pitch to more than 10 target titles. And each one gets a slightly different version - based on what that journalist actually covers. Spend the crafting your pitches, instead of pushing out hundreds of emails. 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 Open with: why this matters and why now. Then add three concise bullet points max. You’re aiming to save the journalist time, not take more of it. 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 - 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆’𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗰 If the story isn’t strong, even the best contact can’t place it. The story always comes first. Showing that you care about a journalist's time and respect their craft, also leads to better relationships in the long run anyway! 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝘂𝗽 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗻 Polite persistence is fine. Pestering is not. If it’s a “no,” consider reworking the angle or holding it for a better moment. Or if they do respond with a no, ask them what they are working on and how you can actually help. This has led to me securing whole op-eds for my clients as a result! Personally, I prefer the little and often method. Pitch one smart idea a month - a comment, insight or news reaction. If it’s not picked up = save it, repurpose it as a newsletter or post, or pitch it later when there’s a relevant hook. Would love to know how other comms managers have managed to strike this balance!

I can predict exactly when most PR agencies will stop delivering results. It's the moment between your last announcement and your next one. This gap—often spanning 3-6 months—represents the biggest waste in modern PR. Not because there's nothing to say. Because agencies don't know how to say it. And this addiction to announcements kills your PR strategy. Most teams operate on a simple formula: Major news = Media coverage. No news = Silence. But publications don't pause their editorial calendars waiting for your press release. They're publishing daily. Weekly. Monthly. And they need expert voices to fill those pages. When we work with clients in "quiet periods," we follow a proven approach that generates consistent coverage: 1️⃣ Start with trade publications: A retail client had zero news for Q4. We created a competitive analysis report that landed coverage in 5 industry outlets and established them as the category expert. 2️⃣ Move to mainstream media: Our healthcare client's CEO became the go-to source on industry consolidation trends—landing features in WSJ, Forbes, and CNBC during a gap between funding rounds. 3️⃣ Leverage niche publications early: These smaller outlets become testing grounds for messaging. One client dominated 6 consecutive issues of an emerging publication before competitors even noticed it existed. The insight: Editors have publication timelines independent of your announcement calendar. They need commentary on industry shifts; analysis of emerging challenges; perspective on market dynamics. Strategic PR fills this gap consistently. Tactical PR waits for permission. Your story doesn't pause between milestones. Your media strategy shouldn't either.

The golden rule of media relations: make it easy for a journalist to say yes. It sounds simple, but too often, the basics get missed. If you want coverage that cuts through, don’t put friction in the way of a journalist doing their job. ✅ Make sure your angle is topical, newsworthy and relevant to their audience, not just important to your business. ✅ Check spelling, facts, links, and names. Typos and broken links are an instant frustration. ✅ Keep it concise. Journalists don’t want three pages of filler; they want the hook fast. ✅ Always include contact details on every press release and pitch. ✅ Ensure spokespeople are ready. Anticipate likely questions, have insightful and memorable quotes, and make sure you’re available following dispatch, not next week or month. ✅ Provide good quality headshots, photography, and B-roll, don’t make the newsroom chase you for assets. ✅ Time your announcement to the news cycle, don’t drop it Friday at 5pm and expect magic. ✅ Don’t use embargoes unless there’s a very good reason. Good media relations is about removing obstacles. Journalists are time-poor, flooded in pitches, under constant pressure and tight deadlines.  If you respect that, you’ll not only get coverage, but you’ll also build trust and better long-term engagement. PR isn’t about spraying and praying and pushing harder. It’s about making it effortless for a journalist to say: “Yes, I’ll run this story.” #PR #media #journalism #Australia #marketing #brand #spokesperson #business #company #organisation

As we head towards 2026, one thing is clear: earned media is harder to secure than ever before. Newsrooms are smaller, reporter workloads are heavier, and traditional outreach alone won’t get companies the visibility they expect. So what should teams change when evaluating PR plans for the year ahead? 1. Expand how you think about “media.” Substacks and independent newsletters have become legitimate earned channels. Add them to your media lists. If you need inspo, follow Meredith Klein (she/her) of Meredith & the Media for a window into how reporters are working today. 2. Activate your executives and employees as LinkedIn brand advocates. With social platforms driving more discovery than ever, your internal voices can often create more reach than a single placement. 3. Create content for both humans and machines. We structure and write press releases differently depending on the audience we need to reach. Are you writing for a journalist or to boost AI search results? PR teams that adapt here will see meaningful visibility lifts. 4. Continue to build reporter and creator relationships. One pitch won't do it. Cultivate trust and relevance with the people who influence your audience. Those relationships compound over time. Oftentimes the results aren’t immediate, but they are meaningful. 5. Invest in integrated communications. The strongest programs pair earned media with owned content, social storytelling, and consistent amplification. As you plan for 2026, it’s less about pitching harder and more about evolving how you show up across every channel. What else is on your mind for 2026 planning? Share below or DM me to discuss the 2026 comms trends that we're baking into our client campaigns now.

If you judge PR by media coverage secured each week, you’ll fire your team or agency before the big win lands. Here’s the truth... PR doesn’t move in weekly sprints. It moves in cycles. A “quiet” month on the coverage side usually means a loud month on the activity side: Building new reporter relationships. Crafting and killing 10+ pitch angles to find the one that sticks. Prepping your story for the right timing (fundraise, product drop, market shift). Laying groundwork so when a reporter does bite, they’re not half-interested, they’re ready to write. The problem is that many only see the outputs (media coverage) and not the inputs (actions being taken to secure media coverage). So when coverage slows, it feels like nothing’s happening. That’s when teams get itchy and often pull the plug right before the payoff. What to ask during a quiet PR month instead of “where’s the coverage?” Story sharpening → What parts of our narrative are reporters pushing back on, and how do we adjust? Competitor pulse → Who is getting covered this month, and why? What can we steal or counter? Angle inventory → What “evergreen” stories are we building now that could drop when news is thin? Reporter feedback → Any clues from “no’s” we can use to improve future outreach? Internal prep → Are our spokespeople ready for when the next hit does land? (messaging, quotes, POVs) Search tie-in → How will this groundwork impact our discoverability in AI/search later? Relationship status → Who’s warmed up but not ready to cover us yet and how do we nurture them? Coverage is the harvest and activity is the planting. If you only measure the harvest, you’ll never stick around long enough to see the crops. Quiet months aren’t wasted months. They’re setup months.

Your press hit dies in 24 hours because you're wasting it. Got featured in the WSJ last month? Congrats 🥳 Now what? Most companies treat press coverage like a lottery ticket—celebrate when you win, then move on to chasing the next hit. Meanwhile, the coverage you fought so hard to get disappears into the digital void after less than a day. One good press placement should fuel your content engine for weeks, not hours. Companies of all sizes are missing the mark on this one. That WSJ feature? Turn it into: - A LinkedIn multi-post series exploring each key point from the article - Sales enablement content your team can reference in conversations - Website copy that reinforces the narrative the journalist highlighted - Press page content that shows your media wins - Newsletter content for current and target stakeholders - Social proof for your marketing campaigns and investor materials The companies maximizing their PR understand that coverage isn't the finish line—it's raw material for everything else they're building. I've watched clients turn a single media mention into three months of marketing content, sales conversation starters, and follow-on coverage opportunities. The story keeps working for them long after publication. Your press hits aren't trophies to collect. They're assets to deploy across your entire go-to-market strategy. Most PR agencies hand you the article and consider their job done. The smart ones help you squeeze every ounce of value from the coverage you earned.

The key ingredient to getting more press coverage? First-party data. One big takeaway that stood out to me in Cision’s annual State of the Media Report is how heavily journalists are relying on data to shape their stories. This year, nearly two in five journalists say data is playing a bigger role in how they approach their work. You can make their jobs easier - and earn media coverage - by: 1. Conducting your own surveys to create first-party data. 2. Including that first-party data in your pitches. 3. Including multi-media visualizations of that data (videos, infographics) in your pitches.  4. Connecting your data to newsworthy trends that are earning press coverage and clicks. Generating your own data not only benefits your owned channels, like your sales pages or blogs - it makes you a valuable resource for journalists who need great and unique data to support their storytelling.

#mediarelations & PR: it's not about ego, it's (always) about strategy 😉🦄🔥 Getting media coverage can feel like a huge win, but here’s a hard truth: coverage for the sake of ego doesn’t work 🤷🏻♀️⛔✋ It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of seeing your brand name (or your own) in headlines or getting mentions in the press. But without a clear purpose behind it, that attention fades fast 👻 Any #PR activities (be it a funding or partnership announcement, a speaking gig, thought piece) should *always* be strategic.  🟣 TARGET THE RIGHT AUDIENCE: getting featured in the wrong media outlets may inflate your ego, but it won't drive your business forward. Focus on publications that resonate with your target market: top tier should not be your only option, and chances are it’s not where the bulk of your target audience is regularly reading. Look into trade and niche pubs, too. Ask yourself: what is the point or purpose of this “win”? If you do consistent work with trade publications you have a good chance of making a name for yourself in the industry. Top tier can’t be pursued every day, so understand the right timing and method, and be ready for when the time comes. 🟢 STORY MATTERS. MORE THAN HYPE: #journalists and readers want compelling narratives, not just another product plug. No one cares about your add-ons or services, or the launch of your website. Your story has to have a strong narrative and a good hook. What’s your *why*? How are you changing the industry? What was your eureka moment? How are you helping your target audience? What newsworthy moves are you making? Tell that story. 🟡 CONSISTENCY BEATS FLASHINESS: PR is not a ‘one-night stand’, but a long term relationship, which in turn requires nurture, consistency and long term investment. Doing a one-off PR piece is nice, and at early stages it makes sense of course. But if it’s time to get serious about PR at the company, think about it in a more strategic way: share meaningful updates and positioning your brand and yourself as a thought leader. It will build long-term credibility and trust. 🔵 MEASURE IMPACT, NOT IMPRESSIONS: PR can be difficult to measure. There are a lot of things one can do to get an idea of performance but it’s imperative that we don’t let vanity metrics dictate your strategy  as hitting those don’t always translate to success. Instead, look out for two things: 🎀 One, with your tools available, find the most accurate way to track how media exposure influences real results: sales, partnerships, investor interest or customer engagement 🎀 And two, understand the value of PR work beyond numbers – are the right messages landing consistently in the right channels in front of the right audiences? Is your startup creating the image Remember, good #PR is about moving the needle for your business - not just seeing your name in lights 🧘♀️🍸🫒

Let’s get real about the importance of processes in the marketing and communications function. Tech companies in their early stages of growth often misunderstand what marketing is supposed to achieve. Many believe marketing is just social media. But as we know, there’s a lot more to it. To achieve the primary goal of marketing and communications—bringing visibility and authority to the company—there must be internal processes that make everything run smoothly and stay aligned. Enough of the ad-hoc and chaotic approaches that make everything appear inconsistent and disjointed. For maximum impact, you need to streamline processes to align internal communication with external strategy execution. Let’s take PR as an example. It might seem simple: write it up and publish it on the website, then do the same thing two weeks later, and repeat. My head spins just thinking about it. So let's untangle this. When we think about PR, we think about company's reputation and visibility gained through media coverage. But effective coverage doesn’t happen by blasting PRs every two weeks. You need an internal process that ensures important announcements gain maximum reach with the media. Here’s how you do it: 1. Regular sync meetings: Develop regular sync-up meetings between product development and PR teams to understand what’s coming down the pipeline. This allows for advance planning and allocation of the right resources and energy when the time comes. 2. Align with industry events: Aim to align announcements with industry events, especially if you’re exhibiting. Many journalists attend these events, allowing you to cast a wide net at once. 3. Space out announcements: Don’t distribute PRs every two weeks unless it’s absolutely necessary. Prioritize importance and space them out by at least 3-4 weeks. Avoid media fatigue. Make sure you use PR distribution services to further your reach. 4. Pitch feature stories: For major announcements, consider pitching a feature story to key outlets and have spokespeople ready for interviews if journalists are interested. 5. Social media collateral: Prepare all needed social media collateral for the announcement to amplify the message. Tag partners and customers to tap into their audience reach. By being more strategic with your PR and communications approach, you’ll save time and ensure your company and leadership gain the most visibility during product launches or announcement campaigns. #BusinessProcesses #OperationalEfficiency #StrategicGrowth #marketingefficiencies #prprocess

Your 2026 PR strategy checklist: Phase 1: Audit Pull your media coverage from the past 12 months using a tool like Meltwater or Cision and export as a CSV. For each placement, note the outlet, journalist, story angle, and resulting traffic/leads. Add to your spreadsheet. Audit each piece of coverage and assign actions (Repitch and New Angle). Phase 2: Quick Wins Identify low-hanging fruit like journalists who covered you before, outlets that featured competitors, or stories you can newsjack. Find ways to repurpose existing coverage into new angles (case studies into trend pieces, product launches into founder stories). Phase 3: Customer Research Talk to customers to extract PR-worthy stories: - Problems they had before your product - Results they achieved after using it - Why they chose you over competitors - Objections they had before buying - Unexpected ways they use your product Phase 4: Story Research Enter competitors into a media database and export their coverage to reverse-engineer their PR strategy. Identify 'seed' angles from customer research and use journalist beat analysis to start your research. Use tools like SparkToro or Twitter Lists to find journalists covering your space and note their recent stories. Build story angles around product features, customer wins, industry shifts, or founder expertise. Identify bottom funnel angles like trend commentary, data-driven insights, and expert roundups. Identify middle funnel angles like how-to guides, case studies, and problem-solution stories. Identify top funnel angles like newsjacking, hot takes, and founder origin stories. Phase 5: Outreach Plan Collate all story angles into a spreadsheet with target outlets, journalists, and pitch deadlines. Prioritize pitches by outlet authority, journalist engagement, and story fit. Strategy done. - Fix your media list gaps - Repitch your best stories - Execute new pitches from your plan - Scale outreach with AI tools And don't stop.