Why PR Stops Working—and What to Fix First

So you’ve aligned your brand goals with your public relations strategy and have implemented the tactical plan that will help achieve your business objectives. Your story pitches are getting picked up right and left on the sites you targeted, sales have increased and, lo and behold! Your CEO just won an award for leadership and business vision. Congratulations!

And then gradually (or not so gradually), the story wins are fewer and farther between. Your friends at the top trade pubs stop returning your emails. And there are unpleasant social posts suddenly cropping up every day. You did all the right things…

We’ve seen it many times – your PR has stopped working. Now what?

What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

To avoid this loss of effectiveness, PR professionals need to be aware of the key things that can – and often will – go wrong after launching a campaign. 

Relationships Fade – Keeping in touch with your media contacts is essential. This means going beyond simply liking their LinkedIn posts. Forging actual relationships where you at least speak to your contacts on the phone is essential. Build trust by bringing them content their audiences will consume. Listen to their challenges and do your best to help make their day easier. No one likes a deadline-pusher!

Audience Mismatch – What a brand team thought was a key audience turns out to not be so interested in your product or service.  There are several possible root causes. They include old messaging that hasn’t kept up with the audience; you’re not speaking their language; competitors who break through with updated content; and one simple, obvious answer – the brand missed the mark in the planning stage. 

Improper Execution – It’s a more common occurrence than you might expect. Think missed deadlines, wrong social platforms, content that’s slightly less than relevant and missed opportunities due to budget and time limitations. Organizational constraints can be a formidable unseen obstacle. Account for them before you start.

Evaluation Oversight – At Paquin Public Relations, one of the things we stress is constant monitoring of your campaign’s progress, or lack thereof.  Learn to recognize areas that need attention or ways to multiply the wins you’re getting. If the PR team can’t see how its efforts are doing, how can it learn and avoid those pitfalls later? Set up KPIs and benchmarking metrics that give you a dashboard from which to dial-in your success.

PR Plan vs. Business Reality – It happens to the best of us. You’ve built relationships, studied the audience, laid out a reality-based execution plan complete with contingencies and set up systems to monitor your progress. The big day arrives and “suddenly” no one wants to buy your product because a news story scares consumers, a wicked nor’easter lashes your region or a global pandemic breaks and no one’s going out to events. 

Base Your Fix on Reality

It’s this last pitfall that we’d recommend fixing first. If you don’t have a plan that’s relevant to your business’s market for whatever reason, then however you proceed, it won’t work. Take the time to analyze what’s going on and why the market has changed. Be clear on where and how the brand came up short. When you understand these things, you’ll be able to more easily adjust every other component of your PR plan.

Of course, part of the adjustment should be a constant re-examination of each of the potential danger areas:

• Keep those relationships strong and relevant. Make your media contacts’ jobs easier. Position them for success and yours will follow. By all means, connect offline.
• Continually monitor shifts in audience preference. Look for ways to tell your story to new demographics. Slight changes to media lists, content, narrative and tone can yield big results.
• If you make a mistake in execution, fix it. Avoid missteps by clearly outlining the parameters that will impact your success – budget, timing, resources, partnerships, contingencies, etc.
• Evaluate, evaluate, evaluate! You wouldn’t leave a dish on the stove and expect it to cook itself, would you? With that same thinking, constantly monitor your progress, make changes and take opportunities as necessary.

Lastly, we know through our own experience and observing others that aligning with the brand’s business goals and operating environment is essential. Approach the process as a continuum, not a one-and-done. 

If you’d like to hear more about how the best PR strategy is one that’s continually refined, we’d love to talk more.  Reach out and let’s start a conversation.