6 PR lessons from Santa Claus
He makes a list and checks it twice—just as public relations pros should. Stuff your stockings with these pieces of advice from Kris Kringle’s yuletide protocol.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year—if the holiday rush hasn’t crushed you yet.
Whether you’re filled with the spirit of the season, or humbugging your way through December, there are a number of PR lessons you can learn from Santa Claus.
Make a list, and check it twice
Imagine if Santa gave a Barbie doll to a child asking for G.I. Joe? In PR, building lists is obviously a crucial and tedious task. How many PR pros have been outed by bloggers because of stray pitches arriving in their inboxes?
If the man in the red suit can do it, so can we. Make sure the elves helping build lists are all aware of this important task, but in the end, the sender is responsible for what gets sent. Check it twice, even thrice.
Plan, prepare, and deliver
To ensure he delivers every year, Santa gears up for the gift-giving season by planning and preparing months in advance.
In PR, we don’t have months to prepare. Many times, we don’t even have minutes to prepare, but if we have a basic plan for a crisis or media opportunity, we should be able to deliver.
Never promise anything to the media that you can’t deliver within their deadline. We can’t all be batting a thousand like St. Nick, but we should try our best.
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