Buy storytellers, not relationships

When I look at PR manager job posts or PR agency tenders, I often find some variation of this requirement listed - "Existing relationships with national media and related trade press."

As a PR professional, this line is always a red flag for me. There are two reasons companies ask about media relationships and neither of them suggest the organization has a strategic approach to their communications.

The first is that they are trying to gauge industry knowledge. While industry knowledge is important and can shorten the learning curve, a close look at a candidate's prior experience or an agency's past clients is a much better indicator than media relationships. Organizations asking about media relationships as a way to gauge experience haven’t done their homework and that indicates to me that they don’t have clear goals for their communications program.

The second reason is that companies are seeking a quick way to buy relationships with media so they can accelerate their growth. Unfortunately, this is a wrongheaded approach and doubly so if it comes at the cost of hiring a great storyteller.

Here's why:

Companies, especially start-ups, frequently miscalculate their importance in the market. They’ve invested so much time, talent and treasure to developing their products, routes to market, partnerships, etc., they believe they've created the "next big thing." They may have, but getting a reporter to believe that is a tall task. Reporters need facts, data, third party validation, customer stories, etc. to be convinced. They also need to see a company consistently deliver over time.

A company who hires a candidate or agency with existing media relationships in their category can certainly expect that a reporter will more readily take their call but if they don't have a strong, convincing story to tell, that advantage quickly evaporates.

The key to success in this approach is transferring the trust a reporter has in the new hire or agency partner to the company brand. To accomplish this, the PR professional has to be able to credibly deliver a story that resonates with the reporter. Reporters will take the call because of a preexisting relationship with the PR representative but if they can't deliver something newsworthy, they won’t write. Not only that, but the company's brand and the PR manager's or agency's relationship with that reporter will have been damaged. Just like Persian kings, they will kill the messenger if they don't like what they hear.

The PR agent’s relationship that was an advantage for the company no longer exists and the company will quickly find it has to make a new hire because media will no longer take their calls.

On the flip side, great storytellers can always develop the necessary relationships BECAUSE they have created content that is compelling. It may take time for the right pieces to come together and PR representatives without pre-existing relationships may take longer to get a reporter’s attention but the value then can deliver over the long run is much higher.

Organizations looking to buy media relationships are looking for quick wins and that indicates to me that they have less interest in building a sustainable, long-term PR program.