Earlier this week, I sat in on a set of focus groups for one of the agency’s clients, and I left with an insight into my own work.
When you spend day in and day out working for your clients, whether your goal is to get someone quoted in a top-tier media pub (or keep them out of it!), plan an event, manage their social media campaign, whatever – there’s one thing that’s easy to forget. Not everyone knows who the heck your client is.
As I was monitoring this particular focus group, the moderate asked, “Now who here has heard of [insert client’s name]?” I waited as one or two hands – out of 10 – were hesitantly raised in the air.
WHAT? You’ve never heard of [insert client’s name]??
So here’s my moment of truth. I’m so immersed in my clients’ worlds that it’s easy for me to forget there are people out there who don’t have a clue who they are or what they do.
So next time you think you don’t need to pitch the big picture – what your client’s products are, what their mission is, what type of services they provide – just remember that someone out there is hearing it for the first time.
Weird.
As a senior vice president at Cookerly, Matt helps organizations protect and advance their reputations and bottom lines through strategic communications programs. Using creativity, planning and flawless execution, he works with a team to deliver compelling public relations campaigns that produce results and support clients’ business objectives.
As senior vice president at Cookerly, Mike Rieman specializes in building and maintaining relationships with the media and has an excellent track record of landing significant placements in print and broadcast media including USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Money Magazine.
As vice president of Cookerly, Sheryl Sellaway uses her extensive corporate communications background to lead consumer PR efforts, deliver strategy for marketing programs and share expertise about community initiatives.
I don't know why I'm just now reading this post, but YES! I thought the exact same thing. What a reality check we all need sometimes!