The PR Pitch & The Pandemic: How to Balance Self-Promotion & Compassion

Summary: According to a recent study from Kantar, 75% of respondents felt that companies should not exploit the COVID-19 crisis to promote their brand. At the same time only 8% felt that companies should stop promoting altogether. The survey also reveals that 77% expect brands to be helpful during this pandemic. With this backdrop, we need to shift our PR efforts from product/service promotion and instead focus on ways that we can genuinely help and support our customers/clients. Here are some best practices to help you balance self-promotion and compassion in your PR program.

Outline of key points:

Audit what the media is covering now

Assess what journalists and bloggers are writing about, and pay special attention to the tone of these stories. Based on this research, you may need to adjust your PR strategy and message. Journalists are wise to being pitched to cover products and services with a “in these difficult times” lead-in and are generally not open to that sort of story unless the connection to the news cycle is authentic.

Be of service with your expertise

Whether you are pitching the media, posting on LinkedIn or creating content for your website, blog or newsletter, it is more important than ever to be seen as a trusted advisor and thought leader. How can you provide expertise to a journalist writing about your industry? What are you seeing or noticing in your field that is not being addressed in the press? Identify key topics and a point of view that can be of help and you can become a valuable source for interviews and quotes.

Also think about the challenges your customers are facing and communicate how you can help address their needs. Develop educational content that speaks directly to their concerns and pitch it to the media outlets your customers are relying on for information and guidance.

Remember it is not business as usual

People are fearful and hurting – even dying. Avoid news releases and product pitches to the media that are not absolutely on point at this time. Trying to launch a new company, product or service that is not directly tied to the pandemic will seem irrelevant and insensitive.

A tone-deaf media pitch or press release can be incredibly damaging to a company’s reputation – especially when the media itself calls you or your company out, as has happened to several companies of late. [see NYT article]. I recommend putting off that product launch for a bit, if you can, and do not try to tag company news onto a coronavirus-related release.

OK to pitch	Not ok to pitch
Product to help increase web traffic	Product to help increase foot traffic

Find ways to be helpful

This is not the time to cold-call journalists or to go for the hard sell. People choose to do business with brands that they “know, like and trust” (thank you, Joe Chatham!). Those businesses that are insensitive to the fear and economic difficulty that people are facing right now, are damaging their reputation. This applies to journalists as well. If a reporter sees you as trying to hock a product or service, they will not take you seriously. [see WSJ article]

Community involvement can be appropriate for media pitching. It is okay to promote your good deeds in the press and on social media, but ask the beneficiary to take the lead on the promotion, if possible, so it does not appear as totally self-serving. Building positive relationships with the local community and your industry through financial support, volunteer work and thought leadership initiatives should be part of your PR strategy in good times and bad.

Be on high alert

Closely review all potential media pitches and social content for risk, backlash, and insensitivity before sending. If you have a PR pitch that is not specific to the challenges and realities of this pandemic, put it on hold. you can be certain that reporters will tune you out.

Focus on social media

With so many people working at home, many are spending a lot more time on social media these days. Take advantage of the time not spent writing news releases and product pitches to invest in your online initiatives. Develop educational content for your website that you can promote on social media. Change up your profile descriptions on LinkedIn, Twitter, etc., to increase visibility and get more active on social media.

Also, get active on LinkedIn. Determine your key audience and develop a strategy for what types of content to share here. This can be articles curated from around the web, original posts on important topics that are top of mind or actively commenting on news being shared within your own LinkedIn network. The idea is to showcase your expertise – not sell your services – with insightful points that those in your network can benefit from.

Do not go silent Although this may not be the ideal time to promote yourself, it is the time to manage your reputation. Silence leads to assumptions, including the belief that your business must not be operating or performing well because it has gone quiet. Authenticity goes a long way in any communication, so while your PR or marketing strategy may need to be re-evaluated, it is more important than ever to continue to communicate clearly and authentically to your clients, customers, referral sources and the press.