Articles
What a freelance PR & communications consultant can do
By Carsten Bjerregaard, Marketingcapacity.dk (Link to articles. Copying/publishing without agreement is not allowed)
A PR & communications consultant works to strengthen a company's reputation in the public eye. Its reputation or image, if you will. Hence the name Public Relations. The specialist works with media and press as well as the company's own channels - e.g. websites, magazines and social media presence. Both proactively to promote the company's views and defensively in the event of so-called shitstorms or unwanted publicity in general.
View PR and communication consultant profiles
What is PR & Communication?
Basically, it's about shaping public opinion or opinion in the direction the company wants. Because it benefits the company's sales, long-term strategic development and, not least, the company's value. Many large public limited companies, even entire industries such as French wine producers, have experienced how costly it can be if the public, rightly or wrongly, becomes critical of them.
Tasks include typical ones:
- Developing communication strategies
- Developing press readiness - both positive and negative
- Developing a press network
- Press contact regarding financial statements, Mergers & Acquisitions, product launches, management changes, etc.
- Press meetings
- Crisis communication and managing shit storms
- Development of CSR strategies
- Execution and press coverage of CSR projects
- Media training for people who will represent the company from the outside
In short, any work that can or should influence the attitudes and feelings of stakeholders inside and outside the company. You could say that the PR & communications consultant sometimes acts as a spin doctor for the company. In relation to:
- TV
- Radio
- Newspapers
- Magazines
- Blogs
- Social Media
- Reports
- Educational institutions
- Etc.
What else is a PR and communications consultant called?
There are many names for many things. This also applies to gentlemen and ladies in public service. We see them referred to as:
- PR advisor
- PR consultant
- Press advisor
- Press officers
- Press contact, and yes...
- Spin doctors
How does a PR & communications consultant create value?
If we look at the specific activities, a PR and communication consultant creates value in a wide range of areas:
Research
- When a company wants to be a thought leader, or even just be in the public eye, it needs to know what it's talking about. Even beyond the products it markets itself. This is where research comes in. As a journalist, a PR and communications consultant knows a lot about how to do relevant and in-depth research.
Angling of stories
- Angling is a journalistic court discipline. There are endless ways to angle a story. And if the company doesn't do it itself, it can be sure that the outside world will. Take, for example, a laconic announcement such as: "The CEO of company x is resigning". If the company doesn't angle it, it opens itself up to all sorts of interpretations: "He's been fired", "He's had a disagreement with the chairman of the board", "He's probably fallen into the Me-too trap", or whatever else people can come up with. This is where a good PR & Communications Consultant can show their value by truthfully formulating the explanation that is best for the company. And preferably supplement it with Q&A's so that the company's management is prepared with what to answer if they are asked. In this way, the company can control or at least influence which story becomes the accepted one. The narrative that many are talking about today.
Storytelling
- Related to angling, we have storytelling, which is about being able to tell stories that can benefit the company. The press part of CSR is very much about that. For example, if a company goes the extra mile to sort its waste, good storytelling can use this to create a larger narrative about the company's social conscience. This may benefit both the company's image and its employer branding, so it can attract more competent applicants. It's all connected.
Press contact
- A good PR & communications consultant understands the work of the press and the conditions under which the press operates. He may even have a network of journalists at various relevant media outlets that he can talk to. Within summary and 'for background'. Let's say we're talking about a waste management company. Then it might be a good idea for the PR & Press Consultant to make the company's professionals available to the press when writing stories about waste in general. This gives the journalist easy access to professionals who can explain and provide insight. This can help pave the way for good stories about the company itself. Journalism and stories are also commodities that can be sold or negotiated. There's nothing wrong with that, but it takes skill to be able to operate in this area. There is a high degree of trust and give and take involved.
Writing
- Many PR & communication consultants can write journalistically themselves - because they are trained journalists. This means they can research, angle and write in an easy-to-read format. For example, for blogs or magazines that the company publishes. Typically, PR & communication consultants write company press releases.
Overview, strategies and preparedness
- A good PR & communications consultant also creates value by being able to predict what will be 'the next big thing'. What's coming up in the world around the company or the world in general. And he can also use this insight when making strategic plans for where the company should position itself in the public debate. Whether it should get involved at all, and if so, how it should do so. The consultant often has a knack for letting less fortunate stories leak at the right time. An unfortunately well-known example is that the day after September 11, 2001, a lot of companies in the US issued press releases about bad cases. Safe in the knowledge that no one would read them. Naturally, there was only one thing that had the public's interest. While this example is sad, it tells you exactly what it's all about: What will the public care about?
The value of work can be measured in many ways. Many companies want specific KPIs, and they can be tied to the amount of publicity, the value of publicity (some press services measure whether an article is positive, negative or neutral), or the company can measure awareness, image or other parameters that the press work should influence.
What types of PR and communications consultants are there?
The vast majority of people working in PR and communication are journalists. This is partly because a journalism degree provides exactly the skills needed, and partly because the major media companies require their employees to have a journalism degree. That said, you can work in PR and communication in a company without being a trained journalist. If you still know the things you need to know.
You'll also see different profiles performing this function:
- High-profile people, e.g. readers from the TV news. Perhaps based on the idea that you can get some traction on your stories if it's a popular person who has to 'sell' them.
- The gray eminence. You also see the senior consultant who has seen and experienced it all. And who can keep a cool head when others are panicking.
- The silent worker. Some press officers don't have a strong need to be on. They measure their success by how many millimeters of coverage they can get their company in, for example, local newspapers. This could be the press consultant at a national brokerage firm, for example.
- The tough dog who stands up in critical interviews or otherwise protects the company from a beating from a hungry press pack. Although ultimately, nothing can stop really bad things from getting out.
- And there's a new type of influencer on the rise - people with experience as influencers. They know how to write - and film - stories that resonate with their target audience. And that can successfully go viral.
... to take just a few archetypes.
What does a PR and communications consultant need to know?
In addition to the professional qualities we've mentioned, a good PR and communications consultant will often be characterized by
- Rhetorically skilled (can speak in a way that everyone understands and accepts)
- Charismatic (can speak so people listen)
- Gifted (understands the whole game and can negotiate)
- Likeable (gets goodwill when 'selling' their stories or views
- Experienced (knows the media landscape)
- Knowledgeable (has a great working knowledge of a little bit of everything)
- Good at networking (knows everyone)
- Assertiveness - that extra quality that can't be taught. Guts to see the good story. Guts to see how an ordinary story becomes good. A flair for timing. Everything that a Simon Spies had by nature
Examples of good PR work
Often, PR is most noticed when things have gone wrong. For example, when a company is accused of greenwashing (claiming to be more environmentally or climate friendly than it actually is) or if a bad story is allowed to grow out of proportion.
But you also see the opposite. Danish company Roccamore, which sells comfortable and stylish shoes for women, has a huge amount of press coverage for a company of its size. This is due to skilled, creative and active press work.
It's also fair to say that Ørsted did exceptionally well with its name change from DONG to Ørsted. And the whole positive story about how CEO Henrik Poulsen drove the company towards a more climate-friendly profile. These things don't happen by accident. When you click on Ørsted's website, you can read all about sustainability.
Why a freelance PR and communications consultant?
In the past, most people might have thought of freelancers for one-off projects. However, many companies have now realized the benefits of working with freelancers on a long-term basis:
- You can cover needs that don't justify a permanent position
- In periods when you don't need it, you don't pay for the skill
- In a long-term relationship, the freelancer gets to know the company almost as well as a permanent employee
- Compared to buying the desired skill set from an agency - such as an advertising agency - working with freelancers is usually much cheaper
- You have the flexibility to rethink the overall competency profile of the person responsible for an area
- More and more really talented people prefer to work freelance
- A freelancer can still look at your business 'from the outside' - which is a valuable thing when thinking about creative
- Freelancers can bring fresh, outside inspiration to your business
How do you find a good freelance PR & communications consultant?
Finding the right freelancer can be difficult. And above all, it can take a long time. Because there are many freelancers within the same field, and even if they boast the same skills, there can be a big difference when it comes to the way they work and the work they deliver. When you ask Marketingcapacity.dk to help you find a freelancer to work with, the process is simple:
- You describe your needs to us (either in writing or verbally - we'll confirm in an email)
- We screen the thousands of profiles on Marketingcapacity.dk and, if necessary, the market through our channels
- We nominate a list of candidates and talk to them according to your needs
- You will be presented with 3 candidates that seem to meet your needs
- During the 3 meetings (at your location or digitally) you can ask questions and see examples of their work
- You choose the freelancer you would like to start working with
- We set it up in our systems with time tracking etc. so you have an overview and full control
In other words: After describing your needs, simply set aside 2 hours to meet with 3 hand-picked and screened candidates. That's your guarantee of a good result with reasonable effort.
