I thought I would share three tips from a panel event I spoke at last week. We covered a lot of ground in an hour and the debate was lively with lots of PR people clearly challenged by communicating the shifting media sands to their boards.

We all accept that the media is changing and as PR people we have to react to that change. With this in mind, here are three tips for digital PR:

1. The newsroom has shifted from thinking in terms of headlines to thinking about interaction. What will generate the most debate or shares is a key consideration for news selection. This should shape the content from any PRO.
2. Think in multi-media. This goes beyond video news releases or great pictures. A French doctor was interviewed on the Today programme last week because of she added 100 female scientists to Wikipedia. How we use content can make a story.
3. News is real time and churnlism is here to stay. It is not good enough to simply fire out a press release and wait for the coverage. Stories can be built over time, recycled, comments used to inform strategy. Every story should be approached as a game of chess and carefully planned. Sometimes it is worth thinking laterally about your media selection. Trade magazines may give your story the weight it needs to appeal to national or international press. Broadcast news will often shape their running order around trending topics. Monitor and react to the arc of your story.

Interesting times.

Nathan

Director, Campfire PR