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Comms Rundown: Sharing The List of August To-Dos
Let's gear up for the fall in PR!
MA Family
August 14, 2023
Issue #4, August 2023
Hey, how is your summer? Working hard or hardly working?
Either way, this is MA Family and welcome to the fourth edition of Comms Rundown, our newsletter on PR and communications.
Time really flies — can you believe summer's almost over?
August is a pretty slow month for PR per se, but not for PR people preparing for the fall.
So let's make this quick and enjoy the last summer days!
In today’s rundown:
❌ As usual: ads, self-promotion, paid posts, and generic tips
✅ Industry news and reporters’ moves
📅 PR Calendar: list of August to-dos
📝 Guide to crafting press releases and other tips
Blitz 🎯
Elon Musk explained why he decided to rebrand Twitter to X and noted that it's more than just a name change.
Grit Daily launched 4 new media publications, covering everything in tech, from medicine to travel and finance.
The Information launched AI Agenda—the one newsletter you need to read on AI to get an informed (not dumbed down) point of view and summation of the biggest issues of the day. Check it out!
List of August To-Dos 🆕
As August comes with a quieter time in the world of PR, it's like a chance to get ready for the next busy season. Use this time to make your strategies better and make your connections stronger.
Here are some valuable actions to focus on:
Check Out the Competition: Spend some time looking at what your competitors are doing in their PR. This can help you find ways to do things even better.
Talk to Your Team: Connect with the people inside the company to get fresh ideas and updates. These can be used to create stories for the rest of the year.
Make Your Fall Plan Better: After you've talked to your team and looked at the competition, refine your PR strategies for the upcoming fall season.
Get Ready for Next Year: Begin collecting events, conferences, and industry happenings for 2024 to align your PR strategy.
Train Your Speakers: If you have people who speak to the media for your company, get them ready for future opportunities by giving them training in advance.
Talk to Journalists: Even if there's not a lot of news, reach out to journalists with new ideas. This can help you build good relationships and get coverage in the future.
Show Your Expertise: Spend some time creating content that shows you’re an expert in the field. This can help build your reputation.
Use these tips to make August a really productive time for your PR work. Your efforts now will help you succeed in the future!
Who's where? 👀
Bloomberg Technology welcomes 3 new teammates: Shirin Ghaffary to cover AI ethics/policy and pen a newsletter that will guide readers into the AI age, Seth Fiegerman to help edit and pilot the AI coverage and Leon Yin on data-driven investigations!
Cristina Gallardo announced that after four fantastic years at Politico, as of September she joins Sifted as senior reporter.
Emma Newburger joined Bloomberg as an editor on the news desk team.
Max Yakubowski took over the OpEd section at Crypto.News — DM him your ideas, submissions and drafts!
Kate Clark is now deputy bureau chief responsible for venture capital coverage at The Information.
Andrew who was previously an Executive Editor at The Block started a new role as Editor in Chief at Digital Frontier, a new London-based media and events company.
Natasha Mascarenhas celebrates her first two months on the gig at The Information. Keep sending her your tips on what's happening behind the scenes in venture and startups!
Harrison Jones started as a senior journalist at the BBC — get in touch with tips and stories!
Heads-up 🔜
If you're in NYC, would u want to come have a drink hang with a few @VentureBeat writers to talk AI? Just wondering. 🤔
— Sharon Goldman (@sharongoldman)
1:10 AM • Aug 11, 2023
Excited to be on this epic press panel next week with @CNBC@levynews@crunchbasenews@geneteare@svbizjournal@amendeznews moderated by @SusaVentures@CourtneyBuie
— Martine Paris (@contentnow)
11:52 PM • Aug 10, 2023
Mood of the month 🧐
Barbie & Oppenheimer memes :)
How people outside of PR see PR // How people in PR see PR
— Mauro Battellini 🇦🇷🇺🇦 (@MauroBattellini)
6:24 AM • Jul 24, 2023
Publicists after version 62 of the press release is still not approved.
— Sabrina Ram (@SabrinaRam_)
5:51 PM • Jul 26, 2023
PR managers realising they misspelled the journalist’s name after sending the pitch
— Alexandre Rizos (@alexandrerizos)
2:35 PM • Jul 27, 2023
Workbook 📝
Haje Kamps, a TechCrunch reporter, crafted a guide on how to create a press release and get it in front of journalists — and it’s still relevant!
Check it out 🔽
Tips and insights 📚
dear investment world: please announce your news earlier in the morning, not at 10am ET....
— Kia K. (@imkialikethecar)
2:10 PM • Jul 19, 2023
sometimes the best person for interviews at a company is *not* the CEO/founder
and that's ok
— Jacquelyn Melinek (@jacqmelinek)
3:24 PM • Aug 4, 2023
Trying a new policy. When a PR firms misleads or tries to play us, we will report that and name them. A benefit of having built a truly independent publication over the last decade is we aren't beholden to people. We can and will tell readers the truth.
— Jessica Lessin (@Jessicalessin)
2:24 PM • Aug 1, 2023
Just got a pitch for an "end of year" story...on August 8...
— Becca Szkutak (@rebecca_szkutak)
2:37 PM • Aug 8, 2023
The number 1 thing that takes me from not doing something to doing something is making it a daily habit.
Want to post more on social? Do it daily.
Want to get in shape? Exercise daily.
Have better relationships? Text/call daily.
Get in touch with a reporter? Email daily.— Stephen Karaolis (@StephenKaraolis)
12:55 AM • Aug 11, 2023
To me, personalisation in outreach has more to do with good prospecting than with the pitch.
If I send the right story to the right person, I'm showing that:
☝️ I did my research
✌️ I understood their work
🤟 I careI've built many relationships (and links) that way.
— Gisele Navarro (@ichbinGisele)
6:20 PM • Aug 10, 2023
Your brand strategy is a lot more than a logo and color scheme.
It’s your brand’s identity - Everything that tells customers who you are and what you’re setting out to do.
Congruency matters.
What your brand says should align with what your brand does.
— Carly Martinetti (@PRcarly)
2:01 PM • Aug 10, 2023
Today's PR tip: _Always_ send yourself a test email pitch before you send it out to reporters - check to make sure any links work, formatting looks good, etc.
#PRTips
— Michelle Garrett (@PRisUs)
3:27 PM • Aug 10, 2023
Part of a successful PR effort involves having an active social media presence.
Nearly 60% of journalists look at a company's social media - so be sure you have an active presence *before* you pitch.
bit.ly/3DQXzZW
#PRTips— Michelle Garrett (@PRisUs)
6:10 PM • Aug 10, 2023
I can't stress this enough when it comes to outreach: always follow up.
People are busy, their inboxes are cluttered, and they forget to respond. Only reaching out to someone once could prevent you from getting a "yes, I'm interested!" from them ☝️
— Ashley Mason (@ashjeanmason)
7:45 PM • Aug 10, 2023
Thank you for joining us for the fourth edition of our newsletter on communication and PR!
If you don't feel like this is something relevant for you, you can always unsubscribe below — otherwise, see you in September 🙌
Aleksandra from MA Family
