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As the media landscape continues to change, it’s important for PR pros to keep in touch with reporters and editors beyond pitching stories. Since the start of your PR career, you have likely heard about the importance of building relationships with journalists, and it is true. Your relationships with journalists are important —and should be treated as such.

Diane Harrington, Editor at Smartbrief, is a veteran communications pro and has seen it all—including the good, the bad, and the ugly. Our team had the chance to catch up with Diane to ask her the questions that keep PR pros up at night. We’re excited to have her share her knowledge and insights!

Can you share examples of successful collaborations or interactions you’ve had with PR reps?

I love PR reps who have a client list and ideas connected to each that they can share with me.

I’m also especially grateful when PR folks have “regular people” I can talk to—not just an edtech vendor or a random customer who happens to use your client’s product. More often than not, journalists want inputs on issues, solutions, and stories.

Writing about a new product on its own isn’t enough. Give me great, fresh story ideas and all the players I need to talk to, and I’ll be your friend for life.

I’ve also had a couple of PR reps be extraordinarily patient with me as I try to find time to work on a couple of articles. They occasionally ping me (no more than quarterly) to see if it’s still on my radar and they let me know if something new has happened in the topic area or with their client that may shape my piece.

Savvy PR reps also will pass along random info: “Hey, I hear you’re planning something on student mental health. I ran across the name of a great school psychologist—just wanted to share it in case they can help with your story.” That keeps your name in my mind. And when I tell people I’ll put something in my ideas and experts folders, I’m telling the truth: I really do have folders with those titles filled with emails that I like but that won’t work right now.

What are some common misconceptions reporters might have about working with PR folks?

I’ve been in the journalism/PR/marketing field for 40+ years. While I’m so grateful to run across savvy PR reps, too often I get a spam-style press release on a subject that’s far too general. It’s clear that it’s gone to 1,000 other journalists and that no thought has been put into how it will work for my publication.

Not all publications are alike, and many PR reps think, “Oh, let’s send this to all the education publications.” Read the reporters’ work for a while and figure out what makes them different, and tailor a pitch accordingly. If you know I don’t run press releases or articles on a product, take the time to create another formulaic press release that at least addresses that fact.

How can PR professionals best tailor their communications to meet the needs of reporters?

Give specific examples of how a product or solution can be used. Broaden your mind to narrow the story. Provide examples that haven’t been used everywhere else. That may be the secret to your success.

Are there any specific elements or information that you consider essential in a press release or pitch?

Like a good newspaper story: Who, what, when, where, why and how. But focus on which one of those is the most important to a given publication. Most PR reps know that my publication doesn’t print “new product” stories, new CEO stories, or events that are happening tomorrow in another state. If it’s in my city, or very nearby, that’s helpful. Otherwise, I need to be sent the information in a way that works for my publication. Or sent “In case you weren’t aware” for my files. Regardless, 99% of PR people send me the stuff I don’t need and can’t use.

What are some best practices for PR professionals to build positive relationships with reporters of any beat?

Don’t email incessantly. 95% of editors won’t respond to every email. If you don’t hear back, 99% of the time they’re not interested. Please do not email the reporter every day or two to follow up.

Try to convince your clients that it’s better to have sustained interest in them throughout the year—a story in this publication now, a story in another publication 3 months later, and so on. Rather than to have them all crammed into one or two months and then forgotten. The debut of a product doesn’t equate to a story. Think about the stories that you’d want to read about that product six months from now. Set up those circumstances: Ask the client if they can do a trial of it at a school so you can gather anecdotal information. Find out if they have already done one or have studies, etc.