How to automate boring public relations tasks
24
description
Most public relations teams still use the same tools they did in the previous century. They lose time with the inefficient workflows of these tools. Yet there are many modern solutions that can help automate repetitive tasks. The tools in this list are Rapportive, Prezly, Yesware, Contactually and FullContact
Transcript of How to automate boring public relations tasks
Remember
1999?
These were our phones
Napster launched Transforming the music industry
This was Britney SpearsAsking to hit her one more time
A lot changed in the past 15 years.
Yet our PR tools remain the same.
Managing thousands of contacts? Let’s put them in Excel
Emailing them?Let’s BCC them in Outlook and hope that our
server doesn’t explode
Really?
We can automate many of these old-school workflows by embracing our inner geek
This lets us focus on what we do best:
creativity & human connections
There needs to be a large technology component inside the future successful PR firm. It needs technologies of promotion that can scale the work of its practitioners in the service of its clients.
Tom Foremski,Silicon Valley Watcher
“
There’s an app for that
!
Most of the workflow difficulties that you face aren’t unique. Google it and chances are big that
a geek somewhere already built a solution.
Here are 5 examples of tedious PR tasks we can automate
Enrich your influencer list with social data
Knowing the reach of influencers online can be valuable: how many Twitter followers do they
have? Are they active? Saving this info manually is utter madness: switching back and forth between
Excel and Twitter to update your data. And it’s immediately outdated.
fullcontact.com
Try FullContact. Using it feels almost magical – enter an email address or Twitter handle, and get back a list of all the social profiles
associated with that email or handle. You can also sync contacts from all your address books, fix duplicates, and correct formatting
errors in your database.
Publish & pitch multimedia press releases
Building a multimedia press release is hard enough. Making it responsive and email-ready is
even harder – you need to get your contacts from Excel to your email provider, upload high-
resolution assets to your press room, add image previews to your emails, make sure your assets look good on multiple devices… the list goes on!
Prezly combines email pitches with online newsrooms. Create a multimedia press release in your newsroom, and Prezly generates an email version that you can pitch to journalists. Every email includes
analytics to help you track response rates.
prezly.com
Craft relevant email responses
When an influencer emails you, you want to craft a response that’s as relevant as possible. So what do you do? Do you research this person on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google to see who they are and what they care about, and tailor your email accordingly? Or do you automate this tedious
process with Rapportive?
rapportive.com
Rapportive is a simple Gmail add-on that automatically shows you important social data from people who email you, helping you to create a relevant response based on where they live, what they’re
tweeting about, and any other recent online activity. The information appears right in your inbox.
Track who responds to your emails
If you send a lot of pitch emails, tracking them manually gets tricky in a hurry. It’s easy, though
time-consuming, to keep a spreadsheet of everyone who writes you back, but for those who don’t respond, how do you know whether they’re
reading your emails or ignoring them?
Yesware is a Gmail add-on that was originally designed for sales professionals. Use it to monitor opens, clicks, and responses for every
email you send to influencers. You can also create templates to automate your outreach and track which messages resonate best.
yesware.com
Stay in touch with influencers
It’s a smart PR move to stay in touch with your influencers, even when you don’t have big news to
share. Sending an occasional relevant link or useful article can build rapport with a journalist, establish your credibility as a reputable source, and increase your chances of getting coverage
when you need it. But we’re all busy, and keeping in touch is easier said than done.
contactually.com
Contactually sends you automatic reminders to contact people on your media list whom you haven’t reached out to in a while. The tool also provides helpful contextual information like social updates and recent conversations, as well as email templates
to help you know what to say.
