PR professionals have had to drastically change how they engage with media due to changes and staff reductions in the newsroom, attitudes about content, and emerging technologies. As a result, those working with professional services, corporations and businesses need to stay on top of current trends and most effective strategies to gain and maintain visibility through targeted public relations activity.

It’s more important than ever to dust off and review your firm’s PR/communications strategy and plan annually. What worked best over the past year and what should priorities focus on this coming year?

Data from recent studies may help to refine your PR strategy. This article highlights some important points, along with several tips to make your program a success.  

News Media

It should be no surprise that earned media results in traditional news outlets remain king for credibility and reach, according to the Greentarget and Zeughauser Group’s 2024 State of Digital and Content Marketing report. The survey compiled responses from more than 285 in-house counsel and C-suite members in a range of industries, from financial and legal services to healthcare and technology.

PR professionals should continue to keep their eye on that prize, especially because 88% of respondents find traditional media to be of value (the highest percentage in the past seven years, according to the survey).

Industry and professional trade publications remain important sources of valuable content, and articles and research reports are the top two most preferred content types. Working with your firms to have attorneys write more articles for industry and professional trades continues to be critical to success.

Another report’s findings last year, Cision’s 15th annual State of the Media Report for 2024, offered more insights that legal PR and marketing professionals should pay attention to. Cision’s annual survey connected them with more than 3,000 journalists across the globe on topics such as the challenges and implications of changing audience behaviors, industry downsizing and the rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI).

Social Media

Nearly half of reporters surveyed (46%) use social media to connect with experts or interview subjects, continuing to validate the importance of PR professionals maintaining an online presence to reach reporters through various online channels. Instagram, followed by LinkedIn and Facebook, are the top three social media platforms that reporters plan to focus on more for their professional activity. It’s important to know your audience and which platform(s) they engage most on to develop an effective campaign.

Content

Journalists still find the most value from and want to receive press releases and announcements. Interviews with industry experts are important, but original research reports and story exclusives rate higher as desired content from PR professionals, according to the survey.

Information in press releases and direct pitches from industry experts are the top three sources reporters find most useful for generating ideas and stories. Press release distribution services came in last, with only 25% reporters finding them useful.

Multimedia content continues to be an important element that helps reporters decide whether to write a story. Images, infographics and videos come in as the most valuable types of multimedia most recently used by reporters, while animation came in least.

Media Pitches

While pitches came in as the second most useful source of information for reporters to generate stories, the noise level is incredibly high. How to break through, when one in two reporters receive more than 50 pitches per week – and 15% receive more than 150 pitches per week – with nearly 75% of them not considered relevant? More than 85% of reporters prefer pitches sent via email, so the ability to stand out by understanding the reporter’s audience, being responsive, and providing helpful data and sources for interviews are all critical to the success that PR professionals seek through their efforts.

Guaranteed no-no’s are spamming emails with irrelevant and inaccurate data, marketing-speak and continuous follow-ups. “One and done” is the preference of most reporters. You can be assured that no response is a response.

Public Relations Challenges

Changes in the newsroom continue to be reporters’ number one challenge: downsizing and reduced resources, which further affect your ability to achieve earned media.

Therefore, it’s more important than ever to have a well-rounded PR strategy that relies on an integrated approach with a variety of marketing and business development tactics.

Law Firm PR Tips

Make it easy — for both reporters and for your firm’s attorneys. For law firms seeking to increase their PR engagement, here are several useful tips that can help firms improve their visibility this year.

Manage expectations. Discuss and define what success looks like, and gauge how realistic the outcome will be. There are several considerations to keep in mind as you set goals for the year ahead, including identifying those who will be involved in the PR program and understanding their expected level of engagement.

Know what resources are available. This is a crucial starting point for any PR initiative. At some law firms, lawyers are entirely unaware of the great resources available to them. Is there someone who can ghostwrite and edit articles or blog posts, and vet speaking opportunities? Are associates willing to do the initial legwork in response to a PR opportunity?

Co-author an article with a client. Co-authoring an article for publication serves multiple purposes: It provides visibility for both the client and the lawyer, helps to further cement a client relationship, and cuts the article workload in half. This tactic may not work with every client, but is worth considering on a case-by-case basis as byline opportunities arise.

Identify and communicate distinguishing topics. Today’s news cycle moves with hyperspeed, and opportunities too often fall through the cracks because an appropriate and relevant topic was not communicated effectively or fast enough. Generate ideas from the impact of administration changes (state or federal), new laws, rules and regulations (state or federal), industry trends, research reports — anything important to clients who expect their legal counsel to translate how those changes will affect their business. The least effective outreach is a generic media pitch not timed or relevant to a current news angle. The more direction and information a lawyer can provide about comfortable speaking/writing topics in their realm of practice, the better.

Repurpose existing content. Lawyers often have rich content right at their fingertips and don’t even realize it. In PR, there’s rarely a need to reinvent the wheel. Materials that were created for another purpose, such as a CLE presentation, client alert, case study or blog post, can be modified and reused for a variety of means. Once the initial effort has been made, maximize those materials to whatever extent possible.

Jaffe can help you develop and implement a successful PR strategy and manage expectations for your firm’s program. Contact Vivian Hood, vhood@jaffepr.com, for more information.