Key Terms In The PR Industry – What You Need To Know

PR isn’t exactly a complicated discipline… but like anything in life, it has its own set of terminology to communicate the various activities that we undertake every day. There are a number of terms – such as an embargo, an exclusive, a byline, media list, and many more – that are used to describe these activities and anyone who is interested in using PR as a strategy for generating awareness, driving sales, and growing their business should know what they mean.

But first, it’s important to remember why we rely on public relations as part of our overall marketing mix to begin with. We could just spend money on advertising but that only goes so far. After all, with the number of ads we are all exposed to every day, most of us are conditioned to tune out these messages. Not to mention, if it’s coming from the brand itself, of course it’s going to be positive! Anyone can buy ad space or airtime and speak highly of themselves. PR on the other hand is the art of managing your public presence and forming opinions that your target audience will have of you. This includes getting other people to speak highly of you and reference your business as one that is credible.

When we see the sources of information we turn to – including top tier publications, trade outlets, and even local newspapers – speaking positively about you, that creates a different chemical reaction in the brain. It makes you trust who is referenced and if what they do is relevant to you, reach out to them.

This is why we do what we do and it’s critical to remember that. Because without understanding why we do it, the terms and the day to day activities won’t make a lot of sense and won’t be carried out properly. I’ve partnered with several PR firms and marketing firms who claim to offer PR, and I’ve been amazed at how little that people actually know about the industry they work in. How can they do effective work for a client if they don’t know what a byline even means?

Here are some thoughts for companies who are evaluating potential PR partners. Have a basic understanding so you know what to look for!

Embargo – refers to the period of time we give to a member of the media to review an announcement before it goes live. A reporter, writer, editor, etc. must agree to the embargo to access all of the details about the announcement, and if they do, they cannot share the news before the time that was provided. For example, if we tell a reporter we have an announcement that is on embargo until March 15th at 8:00am, and they agree, they cannot publish the news we share in advance until March 15th at 8:00am.

Why do we even bother with this? What are the risks? We share news on embargo because it gives reporters a chance to get news in advance of everyone else and write their story so that it is timed with the public announcement. If someone agrees to an embargo, it’s a good sign they are planning to write, but it’s no guarantee… There are risks that the embargo will be broken, and depending on the announcement, that can negatively impact the business.

Exclusive – refers to the process of giving just one member of the media the news in advance (also called a scoop). The nice thing about offering an exclusive is that the reporter is much more likely to cover (if they’re interested) because they are the only one who has the information. If they are offered news on embargo, they likely know that others were offered the embargo as well. But with an exclusive, that reporter is the only one who has it, making it more special for them and creating the ability to play a role in shaping the announcement with no competition from other outlets.

What are the downsides? The only thing bad about an exclusive is that just one outlet will be covering the news on the day it is made public (usually with a press release). Others can pick up the news once it’s public, but the main story is likely already written. You have a better chance of securing coverage in advance but may not get multiple outlets to cover as you potentially would with an embargo.

Byline – this is perhaps the most misunderstood term. A byline is an article that is written by the client and placed at an outlet. It is “by” the person or company we are pitching, as opposed to being written by a reporter at a certain media outlet. Also referred to as “contributed content,” it is copy that we write internally and then pitch to a publication.

Importantly, bylines should not be written in advance and then pitched. This is a waste of time, as you may end up spending hours researching something, writing it, etc. only to have it not accepted. Rather, it’s better to pitch an editor on a concept, get buy-in, and see if there is anything they want included as well. When you do this, the editor feels like they are getting a piece that will be truly tailored to their audience and they are learning something as well. Also, if you get interest in a concept, you can justify writing the full article as you know you have a home for it. There is no guarantee as an editor may like a concept but not the article once it’s written, but this is rare.

Why bother with bylines? Can you be promotional? There are pros and cons to pursuing bylines as a tactic. The good part is that you can control the messaging and write the article you want to see. And it’s a great way to offer thought leadership, as the person who gets credit in the “by-line” itself is associated with all those good ideas. The downside is that you can’t speak highly about the company / client… It generally has to be strictly thought leadership and educational, not promotional. Overall, bylines are great, and we pursue them often. But they shouldn’t be the only you do…

Hopefully this quick background is helpful. There are so many more terms to include, and we will cover them all in future posts!