What are “modern” public relations, and how have they changed the rulebook for communicators? That’s one of the topics that Veracity Marketing founder and president Amy Rosenberg discusses with Doug Simon on the latest “PR’s Top Pros Talk” video interview.

In her book, “A Modern Guide to Public Relations,” Rosenberg points out the differences between modern and traditional PR.

One major difference is the outlets to which communicators pitch their stories. “We're not just going after traditional media,” she says. “We're going after blogs and websites. And sometimes, depending on our clients’ goals, we're going after those harder than traditional media.” That includes such strategies as “using blog posts rather than press releases,” she tells Simon.

However, she says that much about PR will remain the same. “The standards will never change. So, that's ethics, that's customizing, we're not ever doing blast emails.”

The changes that the pandemic has made in how media companies operate are also shaping the practice of modern PR, Rosenberg says.

“Unfortunately, newsrooms are shrinking,” she tells Simon. “And what we have also noticed along with that, is that more and more it's becoming important for media members to get views back to their stories.”

That changes the game plan for PR pros as well. “Because this world is moving so digitally, we think that the PR person's role is to think about who we're pitching so that it helps the journalists build a following.”

She also talks about how small business can make the most effective use of public relations. “My main tip is just to get going. Rather than worrying about the perfect press release, or the perfect story, we just need to put one foot in front of the other.”

When it comes to determining what is newsworthy, Rosenberg offers two pieces of advice. One is to “just ask yourself what is new with you, because that is the news possibly.” Also, “vet your ideas” with media outlets, contacts and audiences. “Start paying attention to those and then your ideas will come.”

She also stresses the importance of search engine marketing, saying that communicators can make the most of it “by grabbing high authority links from newspapers and more credible sites.” To do that, she says that PR pros “must be thinking about how we can either bring some digital tactics into our work or leverage the digital teams that we already have at our disposal.”

View all of the interviews in the “PR's Top Pros Talk” series. Subscribe to get notified when new episodes are available.

Interested in taking part? Contact Doug Simon at [email protected]

D S Simon Media helps clients get their stories on television through satellite media tours and by producing and distributing content to the media. The company also produces live social media events.