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How to Use Your Writing Skills to
Create the Best PR Campaign

By Jessica Freeman

PR has a lot to do with writing. You can be the best marketer in your own head, but if you lack the writing skills to convey your message to the audience, your PR campaigns will be… less than perfect. When you improve your writing skills, you’ll also enhance your ability to send convincing messages to clients.

Moreover, the writing practice will help you develop better analytical thinking skills, which are very important when you act as the intermediary between your company and the public.

Examples of Successful PR campaigns

“The Game of Homes” Campaign
Settled.co.uk launched one of the most interesting PR campaigns of the year: the Game of Homes, inspired by the TV show we all watch and love. The timing of the launch was perfect: right when the fans of the show were expecting the first episode of season 6.
The campaign was realized through an infographic, which presents the estimated value of the most magnificent properties featured in the series. In comparison, the infographic shows the value of real-life location equivalents. It was a great idea that made the agency more popular among the online audience.
Krispy Kreme’s ‘leaked’ internal memo
The idea for this PR campaign was spot on: everyone on the company’s email list got a message addressed to the ‘Store Manager’. All information in the memo was supposed to be highly confidential and the recipient was warned not to be shared on social media or discuss it with guests in the store. The message predicted massive euphoria for the new, tasty doughnut.
Everyone went crazy over the email, and people started tweeting about the “confidential internal memo” straight away.

What do these two campaigns have in common? Writing. Brilliant writing. Every idea, whether it’s about a video, email thread, PR text, or on-site attraction, has to be provided in written. That’s where great PR people excel.

Writing – Why It Matters

First of all, you need an advanced level of writing skills to get a job in PR. Most agencies will require sample articles you wrote, and you’ll get bonus points if you got them published.
Journalistic writing is an essential skill for PR professionals. They have to understand the message they are about to share, and they need to communicate it in the clearest way possible.
PR campaigns are heavily based on copywriting, which is necessary for hooking the audience and motivating people to do what you want them to do.
You’re writing email messages on a daily basis. Even if your current campaign is exclusively creative and it’s not related to any kind of writing, you’ll still need to explain it in written.

Bottom line: yes, you do need to work on your writing skills if you want to succeed in this career.

What if You Don’t Have the Perfect Writing Skills? Here Are Some Tips for You

This is the best thing about writing: you get better in it through practice. No one was born a great writer. Yes, talented writers have advanced creative thinking skills, but you have those, too. Here is how you can take your writing skill to the next level:

Take an online writing course
Some of the most reputable universities offer online courses that will teach you how writing works. Make the commitment; you’ll have great benefits from it.

Follow Grammar Girl’s tips
Grammar is a crucial element of great writing. You may know how to present your idea in the best way, but if the audience notices flaws in grammar, spelling and punctuation, your cool message will fall in the shade. Grammar Girl has awesome tips that will improve your use of English language.

Use the right writing tools
There are great online tools that will inspire you to write more and write better. Here are only few of them:

Penzu – an online diary that you can use to practice writing every single day. Write whatever you want and keep it private. When you check your older entries and make a comparison, you’ll witness your progress.
Google Docs – it’s a great writing tool that stores your work in the cloud. Your documents won’t consume any space on your computer, and you can access them from any device. It’s a collaborative tool, so you can share a document with a client or colleague and work on it together.
Hemingway App – editing software that encourages you to simplify your writing and make the message clearer.

How to Use Writing for Creating the Perfect PR Campaign

Now, you have the tools and tips that can make you a better writer. The only question is: how do you use your improved writing skills to develop better PR campaigns?

Write attention-grabbing press releases. The journalistic style is more rigid than the creative approach you’re used to, but it can be mastered.
Craft infographics; they are awesome! The audience loves sharing them, so a great idea presented through an infographic will definitely bring loads of traffic to the main site.
Focus everything around the audience. Make them feel important, regardless of the type of content you write. Show how the products or services you promote will improve their lifestyle, and show your understanding for their problems through everything you create.
Create a key message, which the target audience will recognize and remember.

Writing is a complex skill that requires tons of practice. Approach that practice with a positive attitude. You’re lucky; you have a creative profession and you’re allowed to discover new dimensions of writing through everything you create. Take your time to grow as a writer, and you’ll definitely notice a difference in your work in PR.