Following on from our insight into the life of a social PR manager at blur Group I thought it would be interesting to show how in the social world, PR and sales share some common ground. We’ve already covered the Twitter (not) killing off the PR consultant but what are the characteristics needed to be effective when people, information and action is all around in social ecosystems and away from traditional lists!

1. Target oriented. Much as we’d love to think that PR is a soft art, clients and in-house marketing teams demand targets. Whether it’s column inches, blog mentions, or simply a contact schedule that’s been met, PR pros have the same requirement to deliver numbers as the most ferocious salesperson.

2. Organised and planned. The PR world depicted in Ab Fab was crazy and scatty; the modern PR is anything but. With a broader range of media to understand and target, more channels to reach and use, hoping for a casual encounter in a champagne bar resulting in a front page spread (of the non super-injunction type) is not going to achieve success. Just as the well-oiled sales team is closer to CRM than to its mother, so must the enlightened PR. And social contacts are as important as traditional information.

3. Persistent. Journalists may complain about the rottweiler-like PR person who harangues them across every medium, but  we know that busy journalists are going to forget you as soon as they’ve logged off email (4,370 in their inbox this morning), turned off Twitter or switched their phone to silent. So within reason, keep in touch and let them know when you’re going to be in touch again.

4. Engaging and engaged. If you’re interested and show that you know more than just how to dial a number, or the social equivalent and that you remember the particular interests of the journalist then your persistency above will be tolerated more than the ‘telling’ mode. So just as ‘sell don’t tell‘ is an old sales adage, trying to show that you understand the media’s needs rather than just megaphone treatments of your story will help your PR success.

5. SW3 – some will, some won’t, so what.Recognising that not everyone is going to love you. One of the beauties of social media for both sales and PR is that you get an insight into the people you’re talking to that in the old days of formal meetings took months to uncover. Now you can decide really quickly whether this is going to be someone who buys your story/your product/ your service or will be one of those. And if they’re not, move on. Someone will buy so keep the action going.

6. Perfect pitch. Last, but by no means, least – it all comes down to the pitch. Journalists and purchasing decision-makers like elevator pitches, or increasingly the 140-character social story. Are you still tweeting randomly? Is your message consistent whether you’re on the phone, on email, on Linkedin, FB or Twitter?  Be polished. Be perfect. Be proud of the tale you’re telling. Whatever your discipline, when you’re representing your brand, failing to deliver that first crucial message means you rarely get a second chance. So practise! And then when you’re talking to the publication that will deliver you the greatest success, or the prospect who will smash your revenue targets, you’re convincing.

So whether you’re a demon sales person or a publicity-hungry PR – remember some basics and recognise that as with all things social, you have to be alert at all times because for everything that you’re gaining from having a wider reach, you’re also even more exposed. Want some help with your PR campaigns – brief us now!