Ahh, late August. A time for backpacks, school buses and budget planning. With Q4 closing in on us, companies are swinging into full 2011 planning mode. While 2009 was a financially challenging year for many, 2010 has seen some budget increases – or at least a correction back to similar pre-recession levels. Where is your organization this year? If you are considering a new external PR program, investigating a new agency or planning an agency search, here are a few tips:

• Establish what you want your PR partner to accomplish and who is going to be involved in the decision making up front, so there aren’t roadblocks along the way.
• Focus your agency search. Starting with a field of 20 agencies is going to drain your energy (and your interest in the effort) and waste a lot of time. Look for industry experience, personal recommendations and proven success for the agency’s other clients to narrow the field of candidates.
• Be realistic about your timing. We all have good intentions about timelines to selecting partners but—in reality—it always takes longer than expected. Stay in touch with candidates to keep them updated on the latest, or at least let them know there are no changes.
• Pay attention to follow through. Make sure the agency delivers what it promises. Timely responses and meeting proposal deadlines are absolute must haves. And don’t forget reference checks to learn what it is really like to work with a particular agency’s team.
• Don’t lose sight of the value of chemistry. Certainly industry experience and creativity are helpful, but at the end of the day it is often about who you work with best.

There is still a great deal of dissension regarding social media and its value for the business community—with some ready to give their right arm in its defense and others caring less if their tweets dwindle off or their corporate Facebook page sits stale. With little hard measurement or research proving its ROI (yet), but plenty of anecdotal examples of social media’s ability to elevate a company’s reputation, I’m in the camp of social media believers, however, it shouldn’t cannibalize other priority marketing/PR activities. In other words, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Here are a few ways to balance your investment in social media without overdoing (or underdoing) it.

–Don’t Get Sucked Into Compulsive Tweeting: It’s easy to get engrossed in Twitter updates all day and feel compelled to tweet once an hour or catch up on Facebook posts while multitasking during meetings. Resist the urge and give yourself a range on both the low and high end for the desired number of weekly updates/posts, so you can better plan for them and not go wild (or dormant) in lieu of other priority activities.

–Give Traditional Marketing/PR a Social Twist: Marketing and PR don’t have to be either all traditional or all social, so why not make them a hybrid for extended reach? For example, instead of doing a straight e-mail newsletter with stagnant content, insert some social media elements such as a link to a brief industry survey on your corporate Facebook account or pose a thought-provoking question on Twitter and report on the responses (if relevant) in a press release or webinar.

–Continue Your Core PR Program Momentum – There are table stakes to a successful PR program – consistent, strong and clear media messaging; ongoing communication with key audiences to relay company news and thought leadership content on relevant trends/issues; and spokespersons who are prepared to bring their company and content to life. Remember that these elements are the underpinning of the overall marketing/PR program and that social media flows from them, rather than the other way around.

As back-to-school season is upon us, businesses can learn from this annual rite of passage for students and apply it to their public relations programs. That means taking a look at what is and isn’t working.

Here are a few questions to ask during this back-to-school season:

1) What are your PR goals and objectives?

It can be easy to get mired down in the day-to-day.  Take a look at your PR program’s objectives and line them up with expected metrics.  Don’t be afraid to modify elements of the plan if it will meet the desired outcome.

2) Are you reaching the right audience?

Public relations is designed to support sales team and marketing efforts and it is critical that initiatives are reaching the correct audience.  Otherwise, your efforts might not meet the goals above or boost the organization’s visibility, credibility and bottom line.

3) Are you allocating resources properly?

If you are with an agency, adding another executive to the client account team can reinvigorate a PR program and that individual might grow professionally because of the opportunity.  New ideas and a fresh perspective can help boost the account and foster idea growth among all peers involved.

4) Do you have the right toolkit?

You might need to eliminate one or two tools or add additional tactics.  Now is a good time to trial a new approach to your blog, a Twitter program or case studies.

5) Do you need a new look?

It might be time to reevaluate your website, blog, logo, corporate materials, etc. and address how you are presenting yourself visually. Keep your company’s core message front and center, but do so in a clear and concise way.  Readers are known to skim over heavy-copy websites and materials.

As a follow up to my recent blog post regarding byline articles, it seemed a natural extension to address comments on contributed content. Today, any professional who participates in media relations – who puts their name to a fact or opinion online – should expect the peanut gallery of respondents to include supporters, doubters and a few a-holes. Comments are a good sign – it means people are reading your contributions but some of the comments can be disarming as readers can post comments without identifying themselves. As we are often helping clients get their insights and opinions heard online via byline articles, quoting opportunities, case studies and more, we are often asked how to respond to comments. Here’s my two cents. First, have a thick skin – understand that the Internet affords everyone – regardless of credentials or knowledge – to be an expert.

Second, it helps to set a policy for how to handle comments so there is organizational and individual uniformity. This includes who responds and the frequency of review and responses. Similarly, set a policy or guideline for how your organization will respond to articles from others. We typically don’t recommend addressing individual comments as it can be endless. It also sets a precedent that commenters will come to expect and that must be maintained. It doesn’t help the case to selectively respond to individuals. This is obvious, but sometimes hard to do – don’t entertain irrational, nasty or threatening dialogue.

Consider an overarching response once a few comments have posted, acknowledge the input and thank them for the idea exchange. You could even offer your email address – this detracts commenters that post without identifying themselves. The beauty of the Internet and the evolution of media is there are an abundance of channels to share expertise and opinions.