​Executives and subject matter experts in IT companies can expect to be called upon occasionally to give press interviews.  Prepare yourself beforehand and all should go well.
 
I’ve arranged hundreds of media interviews for clients and have often provided guidance. Here are 9 ‘top tips’ to improve the outcomes of your press interviews:-

1. Read the brief. If the interview has been arranged on your behalf (such as by a marketing colleague or your PR consultant), then ask for a short written brief.
2. Be prepared. Read the brief! Who will you be talking to? From which publication? What’s their background? What sort of audience? What’s the interview topic? What makes you right for the interview? How long should it last? What are the key points you want to make?
3. Ask how you can help. In the time since the interview was arranged, the journalist will likely have better researched the topic and know what they seek from you. Ask how you can help.
4. Offer a quick background.  If the journalist hasn’t spoken with your company recently, ask if they’d like a quick overview. What challenges does your company help customers solve? Why does it matter? But keep it brief. This is interview preamble. Not the substance.
5. Think ‘Why’ first, ‘How’ second.  Journalists are usually more interested in business challenges and concepts before considering technology solutions. Why firms must do something, needs to be communicated before proposing how they should do it.
6. Get to the point. Some people can’t help rambling on. Don’t be one of them! Get to the point! Try to give the journalist some solid soundbites to quote you on.
7. Use facts, figures and real examples.  Facts, figures and real-life examples add power to your points.  Try to tell a story using a customer example (anonymous if necessary). Talk of your personal experiences. Try to have numerical evidence ready to quote, such as research findings, analyst figures, project costs and return on investment numbers.
8. Pause occasionally, check understanding and recap. The journalist is probably not an expert in the topic they’re about to write on. Pause occasionally. Ask whether what you’ve said makes sense. Give them time to think and to ask questions. At the end, sum up your key points and hammer home your main message.
9. Stay ‘on the record.’ Only reveal in the interview what you’re prepared to see published. Journalists cannot be expected to remember or respect what you do and don’t want to see in print.

 
These are just a few of the many interview tips and techniques that I offer clients of my PR services. I also offer media training where required. A day with me and the services of a respected journalist and we’ll soon have you on top form!

​Clients for my PR services are often US-owned software firms seeking press coverage in the UK and across Europe. If they already work with a PR agency in the US, they’ll probably seek that same agency’s support or advice to extend them into Europe. Often, those US PR agencies have a European partner network and I’m pleased to support US agencies in this way.

Over the last decade, I’ve partnered with several US agencies, working as an extension of their teams to deliver media coverage in the UK and across Europe for their clients. These agencies include PAN Communications, FAMA, Emerge and others.  Each partnership has been successful for the US agency as well as for me and most especially for the client.
 
So far, the partnerships have operated according to one of three models, but I’m open to being approached with other suggestions:-
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1. Occasional projects. Sometimes, a US agency partner seeks occasional support for clients with a one-off need for a PR project in Europe. Perhaps they’ve a local news story, a UK customer willing to speak with local media or their CEO is speaking on a hot topic in London. As the client becomes more committed to growth in Europe, progressing to a retained arrangement might then make sense, delivering regular coverage momentum.
2. Locally retained. Where PR is a regional, rather than a global responsibility, then while a US agency partner might have recommended me, I’m usually then engaged directly by the client’s marketing lead in Europe, rather than the US agency. Most likely, I’ll be expected to work with the client’s US agency on an informal basis. Each of us works as part of an extended team, sharing ideas and content, but we’re focused on our own markets, reporting to and billing the client locally. 
3. Centrally retained. Where a US software firm sees PR as a function to be managed globally, a chief marketing officer might appoint a US-based lead agency asking them to build a ‘hub and spoke’ network. The lead agency (as the ‘hub’), will recruit regional agencies (‘spokes’). A strategic global PR plan will then be agreed between the lead agency and the client. The hub disseminates the plans to the spokes, along with campaign ideas, which are then localised. The client sees the whole ‘hub-spoke’ network as a single team, led by a single account director supported by regional partners.

 
Of course it’s a two-way business street for the agencies. Sometimes I have European clients seeking PR services in the United States. On those occasions I’ll tap into my partner network for support.
  
If you work for a PR agency or software firm in the US, I’d be interested to know what sort of arrangements with UK agencies you’ve experienced. What worked? What didn’t?

​When I pitch for new business, presenting myself as a freelance IT PR, sometimes I’ll find myself up against a mid-sized, maybe large tech PR agency. The client has likely done their homework, gained recommendations for each of us and now seeks to judge for themselves.
 
Once, the marketing chief of a tech company would automatically invite only agencies to pitch. Indeed ten years ago, skilled freelance PRs were few. But times have changed. Many skilled PR people have chosen to launch themselves as freelance PR consultants. Some do it for the freedom, others perhaps to escape arduous city commutes into work.
 
Me? Back in 2002 as IT PR practice director of a 36 person agency, I just knew I’d be happier getting back to working with clients and journalists again – planning a PR campaign, writing content, pitching to the press and scooping coverage! It’s what I’ve always been good at.
 
I’m not alone in choosing freelance life over an agency career. According to the UK Office for National Statistics (ONS), the number of self-employed marketing professionals in the UK has more than doubled since 2011 and the number of public relations professionals now sits at around 9,000 (having previously been too low a figure to report on). That’s around 18 per cent of the PR workforce; a skilled resource that organisations can call upon instead of automatically engaging an agency.
 
I’m not saying you should always hire a freelancer over an agency. But most smaller and medium-sized IT firms could do well to include an experienced freelance IT PR consultant in their short list. Here are six reasons why:-

1. Budget. An agency will usually cost you more than a freelance consultant.  Freelancers often work from home or rent a small office, so their fees don’t have to cover the overheads of a swanky HQ or layers of administration.
2. Experience. Choose an experienced freelance individual who knows your market sector, and that’s exactly who’ll work on your account. Check out their background on LinkedIn. Whilst most agencies will try to offer consistency in the team supporting you, watch out for the ‘bait and switch’ manoeuvre where some agencies present an impressive pitch team, only to then delegate your account to junior staff who may be eager, but lack experience. 
3. Client references. A freelancer’s good client references are an endorsement for them as an individual. When looking at an agency reference, ask whether you’ll be offered the same highly regarded team. And phone an existing or recent client too. Happy clients are almost always willing to talk openly about their experiences.
4. Media relationships.  While contact databases are part of every PR’s toolbox, a close and trusted working relationship between the PR folk on your account and your target journalists is essential to substantive coverage. A freelancer’s relationships are often at a more personal level, built one-to-one over the years. Check that the individuals who’ll work on your account have a reasonable knowledge of the publications they’ll be targeting and of the individual journalists they’ll be approaching.  
5. Motivation. Freelance PRs tend to be highly motivated at a personal level. Not only have they had the confidence to set up on their own, but their future (and whether they can afford to feed the kids!) is very much down to them.
6. Part of the team. Clients have told me over and again, that I put in the time and effort to understand their business, build relationships with their staff and their clients. A good freelance consultant becomes a trusted extension of the marketing team. And that’s good for collaboration, a good working relationship and results!

If you’re looking for more press coverage, hiring a PR agency isn't your only way ahead. Do consider hiring the services of a skilled consultant. The best PR folk are often freelance!