5 Biggest Misconceptions about PR

Nothing shines a bigger spotlight on common PR misconceptions than the client pitch meeting experience. Attend enough of them and you come to anticipate certain questions or statements that pop up. It’s inevitable. It’s normal. It’s simply part of the process as people learn about what we do.

From my perspective (and two decades of said meetings!), these are the 5 biggest misconceptions about PR:

1. PR and advertising are basically the same. FALSE. Advertising pays for space in a media outlet while PR is pitched and earned. While anyone can buy and place an ad, you need a news hook and timeliness to get earned press coverage. Of course, there are benefits to both. With an ad, you’re creating a direct message, and you can essentially hype your company in whatever way you want. An earned article, however, brings the added credibility of a third-party endorsement. A journalist has found your story newsworthy, which often carries more trust than the ad people know you created yourself.
   

2. PR is just writing press releases. NOPE. While the press release is certainly one tactic for sharing news about your company, PR is so much more. It’s about turning your key executives into thought leaders who are quoted as experts, invited to contribute guest columns, appear on podcasts or speak on panels. It’s about securing profiles and work highlights, case studies and Q&As. If your PR strategy is limited to press releases, you probably need a new strategy.

3. Any publicity is good publicity. UNTRUE. In the same way a solid, clever PR push can get you exposure that grows your business, a sloppy, unvetted approach can actually repel potential business. And what makes this 1,000 times more difficult today is the near-instant spread of information across social channels. A good publicist will know how to “read the room” or gauge the climate of the news cycle before pitching an idea. They won’t be afraid to say no to a client’s idea if it has major damage potential, or — ideally— they’ll be able to suggest something a whole lot better.

4. PR results happen instantly. NOT ALWAYS. You may have a one-off project that garners press coverage the day you get it into the hands of journalists, but much of PR is a building process that takes time if done right. You’re putting actual strategy behind your story. You’re queueing up messaging and tactics. You’re building relationships with journalists. Once you begin getting press coverage, you’re also maximizing those hits. So often, PR is on the peripheral initially. Your stakeholders begin to see your company’s name in headlines. Whether or not they click through, it’s there, making an impression. As press begets press, your positive exposure grows along with your business.

5. I don’t need PR. I have AI. NOT YET. I say this with guarded optimism, and I imagine most of us in creative roles feel the same way. AI has yet to replace the human gut call and ability to build relationships that are so inherent to PR. You might be able to tell ChatGPT to write you a press release, but (at least as of today🤣) don’t expect much from that either. If anything, journalists are becoming increasingly annoyed by the AI-generated pitches and/or press releases they receive. While I’m sure the quality is a product of how much you put into it, so much of AI-generated content is formulaic and almost cringy. And it’s detectable!