A few days ago, I joined April White and Laura Schooler on their PR Wine Down podcast (episode forthcoming) to discuss all things PR, including how fragmented media relations has become and what to do about it (as an aside, no wine was consumed during said recording).
During the conversation, which also included Star Wars and the Yankees, we discussed how to help executives understand the value of PR in the same way they do marketing and advertising.
Of course, we discussed the PESO Model© and how to use it to build a fully integrated, measurable framework. We also touched on how to get quick wins to satisfy our instant gratification world.
While I strongly believe the real power of PR comes with patience, some elbow grease, and a marathon mentality, there are some things you can do to get quick wins while you work on the strategic value of a PESO Model program.
Typically called growth hacks, these quick wins are creative, low-cost strategies for rapidly building brand awareness, staying top-of-mind, and even acquiring and retaining customers.
Originally popularized in the tech startup world, growth hacks have since spread to various industries, including public relations. It’s about finding unconventional ways to increase brand visibility, engage audiences, and drive measurable results—often with limited resources, which we are very accustomed to doing.
What Are Growth Hacks?
There was a conversation in the Spin Sucks Community about getting quick wins either in a new job or with brand new clients. Doing things that show you can get results while learning the business and developing your strategy.
This is where growth hacks were introduced to demonstrate your skills quickly. They include real-time social listening and newsjacking, micro-influencer partnerships, employee advocacy programs, and more. Plus, they’re fun to do and can be used anytime—not just when starting a new relationship or job.
Let’s talk through some ideas.
Social Listening
Most of you are probably already doing this, but it’s a good reminder for those of us who sometimes forget the basics (cough, cough).
Use social listening tools to identify topics and journalist requests in real time.
Though you may already be monitoring the usual suspects, research has shown that many reporters are leaving X in favor of Reddit. So, if that’s not already being monitored, add it to your list!
First, set up alerts for industry keywords, brand mentions, and relevant hashtags. Then, monitor queries through social media, #JournoRequest on X, private groups on Facebook, subreddits, Qwoted, and Peter Shankman’s new Source of Sources (SOS).
When you see something that fits, respond quickly. Not in an hour. Not in 24 hours. Not in a week. In real time.
This will allow you to get some quick media wins—and I have some ideas in a minute that will help you use subject matter experts in cases like these.
Create “Newsjacking” Packages
First, prepare pre-approved content templates that can be quickly customized for breaking news. These templates might include versatile news releases, blog posts, and social media templates. Then, create a rapid approval process for newsjacking content.
Once you have all that ready, monitor trending news and quickly adapt your pre-approved templates to offer timely commentary.
Being among the first to comment on breaking news will help you gain increased media coverage and social media engagement.
But please, for the love of all things holy, do not be gross about it. No one wants to hear about how the phone company is remembering 9/11 or how a fashion house is dressing people in Lebanon. Please only use this tactic if the newsjacking is genuine and ethical.
Micro-Influencer Campaigns
Create a list of micro-influencers in your industry who can help you develop social media content. This is a quick and cost-effective reach to targeted audiences.
Once you’ve identified your influencers, create a simple, replicable campaign structure to use with them, such as product reviews or day-in-the-life content. Make it easy for them to create and submit content without creating all sorts of hurdles, such as laborious contracts and lots of rules.
Offer value exchanges, such as exclusive access or free products, instead of monetary compensation.
This will allow you to increase brand mentions and engagement within specific target audiences rapidly.
Optimize Existing Content
Quickly boost organic traffic by optimizing existing content for search engines, generative AI, and voice-activated search.
The first thing I would do is update the top 20 articles or website pages from a year ago and two years ago. Refresh all that content with new external and internal links, add in new subject matter expertise and experience, add new stats or research, if necessary, and republish with a new date. Do not change the URL when you do this because you want to signify that it’s updated content, not totally new. You don’t want to lose the optimization the page already has.
For traditional search engines, you can also:
- Conduct keyword research to identify high-potential, low-competition terms.
- Update titles, meta descriptions, and headers.
- Add internal links between related pieces of content.
Doing so will increase organic traffic and improve search engine rankings without creating new content.
This, by-the-way, is something we do at least twice a year for our clients so that organic traffic continues to grow, they are found in all the search places, and their content is updated and fresh.
Create a “Stats Bank” for Media Pitches
Compile a database of compelling statistics about your industry or brand for quick media pitches. This is extremely important when using social media listening and newsjacking to be responsive to the 24/7 news cycle.
To do this, research and collect interesting statistics relevant to your field and then organize them into categories for easy access. Talk to the sales and customer service teams to get interesting data. If you have access to a data scientist, work with them to add even more to your stats bank.
Use these stats to craft data-driven pitches or social media posts quickly. And make sure you update the bank regularly with fresh data.
While no one is particularly drawn to numbers in storytelling, having quick access to industry and company-wide statistics will always be interesting to a journalist. It shows you have a factual story to tell that can also be interesting. And having readily available, compelling data points will put you at the top of their source list.
Add Employee Advocacy
As you’re starting a new job, working with a new client, or launching a new campaign, it’s always a good idea to talk to employees in different departments to understand their wants, needs, and desires (as well as things they’d like to see change). As you build these relationships, you can leverage their networks to amplify your messages quickly.
To do that, create easy-to-share content, such as pre-written social media posts, shareable graphics, and copy to choose from based on their personalities. You can also offer incentives for participation. For many of our clients, we’ve created a reward system that allows them to choose what they want based on how many “points” they accumulate to help us expand our reach.
At the start of every campaign, we ask for ideas on prizes, and we’ve done everything from Apple Watches and Theraguns to restaurant gift cards and headphones. This works incredibly well as long as the leadership team is down for it.
Develop a Rapid Response Media Team
I mentioned above I had an idea to get your subject matter experts to participate in rapid response media opportunities and newsjacking. Here is that idea!
Create a small, agile team for that purpose. Identify key team members with different areas of expertise and invite them to join your small group of respondents. When human beings are invited to something exclusive, they have an innate need to want to participate.
So make it exclusive and open only to a select few. Provide incentives—things that are important to them—and showcase their work throughout the entire organization.
Pretty soon, you’ll have others asking when they get to be part of that small group.
Launch a “Top Lists” Campaign
Back in the day, when Marcus Sheridan was still known as “the pool guy,” he did something brilliant (well, he did many brilliant things, but this one is applicable). He created a list of competitors who did things better than his company. It was risky because he was sending potential customers elsewhere, but it had the opposite effect.
He developed a new level of trust when he published this list and consistently updated it. People knew that he could be trusted with their money and pool project if he was willing to send homeowners to his competitors. Not only that, but his competition began referring business to him.
So, while you may not get immediate buy-in on this growth hack idea, you can be like Marcus.
Create and promote lists featuring influential people and companies in your industry, even your competitors. This will not only create goodwill in the industry but also garner website backlinks and expand your reach through their social networks.
Automated Performance Reporting
While this next idea is technically a growth hack, it really should be a non-negotiable. After all, if you don’t have a way to showcase your results, you’ll be out of a job fairly quickly.
Do this immediately: set up automated reports to quickly demonstrate the effectiveness of your PR efforts.
Use Google Data Studio or Tableau to create automated dashboards and include key metrics such as direct, organic, and referral website traffic, lead attribution, content downloads, and email subscribers.
This will allow you to report on your results consistently without doing “math.”
Create a FAQ Resource
A frequently asked questions resource may already exist, but when was it last updated? I find most organizations create one and never revisit it. Do that. And if it doesn’t exist, create one.
This gives you a great opportunity to quickly ingratiate yourself with your new colleagues. Sit with sales and customer service and compile a list of questions from prospects and customers. Talk to the senior leadership team to understand other stakeholders’ questions, such as investors, partners, and vendors. Talk with HR about the common questions from candidates and employees. And talk to anyone in marketing or comms about the most common questions from media.
Once you have that list, draft clear, concise answers that align with messaging. Publish it internally and externally (on the intranet and on the website). And make sure you create a reminder to update it quarterly.
Growth Hacks FTW
By implementing these growth hacks, PR professionals can achieve quick wins demonstrating immediate value.
These successes can then be leveraged to:
- Gain strategic influence;
- Expand team capabilities;
- Justify budget increases; and
- Pilot larger initiatives.
The key to successful growth hacks is to:
- Stay curious and open to new ideas, not just at the start of a new relationship, but consistently.
- Always test and measure results.
- Be willing to fail fast and pivot quickly.
- Focus on scalable, highly effective strategies.
- Never lose sight of providing value to the people around you.
Keep in mind that what works for one brand or campaign may not work for another. The beauty of growth hacks lies in their emphasis on experimentation and adaptation.
Stay flexible, keep learning, be bold, and push the boundaries of traditional PR practices. With persistence and creativity, you can unlock new levels of success.
