Public Relations
Public Relations consulting
When success requires the public to see things your way and reject the arguments of your critics, you need guides who've navigated these dangerous waters before. Communications Counsel has the contacts, strategic savvy, and tactical ingenuity to help you work with news media to reach your target audience.
If you just want a simple news release to be written, we're not the firm for you. A news release is a tactic. We assess and strategize first. We plan and prepare next. Then we select several tactics (maybe including a news release, maybe not) and implement and evaluate them. This integrated approach yields better, more lasting results.
After his service as a U.S. Department of Justice spokesman, firm founder Mark Weaver served as Vice President of a major East Coast public relations firm, working with major law firms and Fortune 1000 corporate clients. All team members have given public relations advice to countless clients in the business world. This private-sector PR experience is an important adjunct to our public-sector work.
Consider these questions as you think about a public relations strategy:
1. Who is your audience?
Is the news media your intended audience or are they a conduit for you to reach your audience? Is your audience local, regional, or national? Can you target them by geography, interests, or demographics?
2. How can you best reach that audience?
Legacy media is losing ground but it still has some sway. There are digital tools as well, like X, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and other digital platforms. The channel selection can be as important as the message and the messenger. An online video allows you to completely control the message, but you'll need to spread the word virally. The point here is that there are many options, any of which may be good or bad based on your individual needs.
3. Do advertising and PR mix?
Absolutely! Public relations can help back up an ad campaign and vice versa. The important thing is to utilize every tool available to amplify your message.
4. Do I need to be on every social network?
No. You need to be where your audience is. The professionals at Communications Counsel are early adopters of many new digital tools so we can share with our clients what might work or not work. We've had clients active on Reddit or Rumble, but such options may not be for everyone.
5. It seems like reporters often come and go quickly, how can you create a relationship?
It's true that reporters -- particularly in local TV news -- move on quickly, but thankfully there are more ways to reach them than ever. X is a great tool for meeting and creating a relationship with a reporter. Here's one example list of reporters - mostly from Ohio - many of whom actively seek out story ideas from their X followers.