It was more than ok, I had a great time exploring the Public Relations space over the six months at PRecious Communications. During my time, which ended early July, I realised that it had much more to offer than I thought – it was more than just doing a lot of writing. Here are 6 key takeaways from the experience that will stay with me.
1.Staying updated to find opportunities
I realised the importance of keeping myself updated with the latest trends/topics. This helped me to write content and pitches that are current and relevant. It is also a good way for me to find pockets of opportunities. For example, when a publication pushes out an article about a competitor, it is likely to publish a piece about a client. I find subscribing to newsletters, creating Google alerts, subscribing to relevant telegram channels, and creating my own news feed with Feedly to be very useful.
2.I will only get something if I ask
Like they say “you miss 100% of the shots that you don’t take”. I would never know if someone is interested in a story/product unless I ask them (sometimes a couple of times until they answer). But that’s only if they notice what I’ve asked for. Which goes into my next learning point.
3.Screaming for attention
I learned that I have to really understand my channel, i.e., knowing the topics and types of stories that the publication & journalist cover. For example, if they publish in-depth pieces around marketing technology, I can’t be sending them a press release about renewable energy to publish.
In addition to understanding the channels, the way I structure my content is also key. One guide to be very useful would be using the inverted pyramid format in my writing. Since journalists are very busy people with many emails to go through, I have to catch their interest early on by sharing all the important details at the top.
4.Personalising and the right way to do it
My initial understanding of personalisation was wrong. It is actually more than just writing the person’s name in my greeting, i.e., Dear Ahmad. It is about knowing who they actually are. A method that I learned to use was to show that I know what they have written and how it is similar to what I’m pitching.
5.Templates are time-savers
Templates became my best friend, ever since working in a field where the written word is highly scrutinized. This was extremely helpful for my routine tasks as I saved time on re-writing sections that are repeated and also time spent on proofreading and recalling formats. I always had a template ready for the routine reports and emails.
6.The delivery mindset
The greatest learning that I got from my time at PRecious. This mindset requires me to ensure that I not only complete my part but also ensure that the other parts are completed too until the whole process is done and the final product has reached the client. Just like a food delivery provider, they not only ensure that the order is placed but also ensure that the food is prepared, picked up by the delivery rider, and reaches the correct customer on time.
My time with PRecious was a very fruitful experience and I could say that it was the best internship experience I’ve had. It endowed me with valuable and transferable knowledge and skills that I feel would come in handy in any work I do in the future.
This post was written by Azrin Hamdan, former Junior Client Executive.
Are you interested in understanding the exciting world of public relations, marketing and integrated communications? Get in touch to discover internship opportunities at PRecious Communications.
