This episode features Rishita who is an electronics and communications engineering student, boldly explored her interests in marketing through multiple internships, leading her to discover her true passion and pursue it as a career. She highlights the power of well-written news pieces as an effective inbound lead magnet, saving time and effort on outreach.

Introduction

0:52 She pursued a degree in electronics and communications engineering, but during her second or third year, she realized that it was not her passion and not what she wanted to do for a living. She regretted not seeking career counseling before college, but it was never too late to explore other options. She decided to try out different internships that fell under the marketing domain, such as content writing, social media, PR, and events. Over three years, she completed roughly 15 internships and discovered that she thoroughly enjoyed marketing and communications. Working in this field did not feel like work for her and brought her actual joy.

After graduating, she joined Innovation as an intern, which was the only company that came to her college for recruitment for non-technical roles. She started as an intern in 2019 and then, after six months, became a full-time employee as a PR specialist. In that role, she managed all of their PR efforts for 3.5 years across four different countries, including India, US, UK, and UAE. This job marked the beginning of her journey in PR, and she eventually moved on to Klub, where she currently works as a PR and Communications Manager.

Favourite Campaign

2:44 When asked about her favorite campaign, she reminisced about her internship at Innovation. She expressed her gratitude towards her mentors who gave her the opportunity to learn and understand how PR works. During her time there, she worked on a project related to social determinants of health. She led a research team that created a heat map to determine how geographical locations affect the prevalence of certain chronic ailments, like cancer. Her hard work paid off when she successfully got the report exclusively covered on the Wall Street Journal. It took months to achieve, but she was proud of what she accomplished, and it remains one of her favorite campaigns.

At Klub, she believes PR isn’t just about traditional media, and she is grateful that the company’s strategy includes new and digital media as well. She had the opportunity to organize a round table discussion with 8-9 industry leaders from companies like CRED and Meesho. Together, they developed a research paper on the strategies that D2C brands use before festive seasons to boost their revenue. She managed everything, from the event’s execution to writing the research paper and taking it to distribution. The campaign was a success, with over 4,000 downloads from the industry. These were some of the major highlights of her work and some of her favorite days at the office.

First interaction with data

5:04 She recalls her first experience working with data during her time at a company where they had a gold mine of information. The data included a comprehensive heat map of the US and the different health ailments present in various geographies. Initially, she found the data overwhelming and spent days trying to understand it with the help of the research team. She eventually gained enough knowledge to pitch and talk to a Wall Street Journal journalist. She also conducted her own research and mock interviews to prepare for the journalist’s questions. She realized that every company has a wealth of data and that it’s crucial for the communications team to be aware of it. She believes that many untold stories are hidden within data sets, waiting to be uncovered with thorough analysis. Although it requires a lot of effort, she finds it equally rewarding.

Challenges in communications

6:36 Initially, she struggled with understanding the US market and its healthcare issues while working on PR for a healthcare company from India. She found that adapting to the cultural differences was challenging, and she had to learn to be concise in her communication. She also faced logistical challenges due to the time difference. However, she was able to adapt and improve her PR skills. After a year, she made the switch to fintech, which presented another challenge. She had to learn about the industry, including credit and debt, but found it interesting since it affects people’s daily lives. Despite her initial difficulties with data, she has now learned how to study it, though she was initially intimidated by the vast amount of information. The internal dashboards at her previous company made it simpler for her, but it was still a challenging experience.

Important metric to measure

8:15 She explains that the metrics for measuring the success of a PR campaign vary depending on the campaign’s goals. For instance, if they want to tap into the current trend of layoffs happening in the industry, they might release a statement announcing that their company is aiming to double its headcount. In that case, their primary metric would be website traffic and the number of new applications. However, some metrics are always going to be essential, such as the type of media coverage they receive and which outlets they’re mentioned in. She explains that her company has categorized media outlets into different tiers and tries to have an equal number of news mentions in each category. Additionally, website traffic, social media engagement, and the sentiment surrounding the PR are crucial metrics to keep track of. She also notes that well-written news pieces can have a massive reach and act as a great inbound lead magnet, which saves time and effort on outreach.

Favourite tools

10:12 She primarily uses in-house built tools and dashboards to understand website traffic patterns, identify which press releases generate the most traffic, and determine the best time to release them. She has also used third-party tools like Wizikey to analyze competitors’ market penetration and share of voice. However, she believes that research is the most critical tool for PR professionals. As a reader and writer, she spends a lot of time researching the industry and talking to reporters, journalists, and customers to understand trends and language. She believes that this research gives her more insights than any other tool. Nonetheless, tools provide valuable benchmarks to measure performance.

Dream metric/feature

11:43 She believes that the PR industry is constantly evolving, and she swears by the importance of keeping oneself updated. In her opinion, it’s essential to understand the impact of tools that are being created to stay ahead of the curve. For instance, a tool that can help her gauge the market sentiment, understand trending topics, and spot emerging trends can be extremely helpful. She also stresses the significance of local newspapers in a PR strategy. While many disregard local newspapers, she thinks that they play an integrated role, especially if one wants to tap into a particular city or region. She cites Dunzo’s vernacular advertising campaign in local newspapers, which got them a lot of eyeballs in the D2C ecosystem. Therefore, understanding how well local newspapers are communicating with the target audience as compared to national newspapers is crucial.

Evolution of PR and comms in coming days

14:00 She believes that the PR industry is continuously evolving and moving towards new and digital media. She follows the PESO method for any campaign she designs, ensuring equal weight is given to all four channels: paid, earned, shared, and owned media. She understands that reaching the target audience is crucial, and the involvement of PR in new media is becoming increasingly important. She notes that podcasts have an immaculate reach and are reaching millions of people at once. Thus, it’s crucial to identify the best podcast to feature and understand the target audience it is reaching out to. She believes that the movement from traditional to new media is still in progress, but the PR industry is evolving in that direction.

Role of PR in recession

15:18 She believes that during a recession, PR plays a critical role in crisis management, particularly when companies are faced with the tough decision of layoffs or cost-cutting measures. It is important for PR professionals to communicate the message of stability in the market and explore alternative ways for companies to continue functioning. For instance, when her company provided debt capital during the funding winter and layoffs began happening, they wanted to highlight that there were still options available in the market, without offending the affected employees or companies. If a company has to lay off employees, she emphasizes the importance of PR professionals advocating for the best method of execution to ensure that the process is handled in a professional and respectful manner.

My two cents

16:28 She recommends taking a step back and reflecting on what’s working and what’s not, and then developing a strategy instead of getting intimidated by the competitive world of PR. In her opinion, having a healthy balance of traditional and new media skills is essential to be efficient in the PR ecosystem. She also emphasizes the importance of networking and relationship-building skills, which she feels has been lost during the pandemic. She suggests talking to customers, peers, editors, and journalists to gain insights and build strong relationships. Additionally, she recommends upskilling oneself from time to time to keep pace with the industry’s evolving trends.