Violet PR President, April Mason sat down with ROI-NJ to provide insight into the public relations industry. Read more of their conversation, below.

ROI-NJ: If you’re thinking about hiring a PR firm, maybe for the first time, what questions should you be asking? What should you be looking for?

April Mason of Violet PR: When considering hiring a PR agency, I think it’s super important to understand what experience that PR firm has in working with clients in similar verticals to you. If you’re a retailer, for example, what other retail firms have they worked with recently? I would always ask for case studies and examples of their successes. And, if they can’t come up with any or the case studies don’t relate to what you do, I would definitely press for more relevant information. Oh, and check references as well.

ROI: What are some things you advise clients to generally avoid or be aware of when interacting with journalists and their editors?

AM: When we set up interviews for clients, we explain to them these conversations are on the record. So, they have to come in with an understanding that everything you say is fair game to be used in a story. They also should understand in advance what the interview is about. Write down main points to emphasize in an interview. And, lastly, you don’t always need to talk very long, because a journalist might be looking for just a few sound bites. You might just occupy one quote in a story about your industry.

ROI: How about the upcoming holiday season? As everyone’s attention and availability goes into a sort of hibernation, how do you get a message out as a company during that time of the year?

AM: If you do have a holiday-related message, make sure you prepare news way in advance. We know journalists and their editors need to take time off as well. So, media outlets might be on a skeleton staff for something like the Thanksgiving holiday. That means that if you have a pitch about Black Friday, and send it on Tuesday of that week, we know it’s probably too late to get it in. You need a longer lead time, and if it’s something like a holiday gift guide, sometimes those are prepared months in advance.

ROI: Anything else companies should know about working with PR agents?

AM: Clients often confuse PR with advertising. Clients are paying us to connect with journalists, not paying for ads. When you’re pitching a news story, you don’t have control over the outcome. It’s not paid content, so clients have to know they’re telling a story but it can’t be controlled — and you have to know if that doesn’t work for you. But I think there’s a lot of benefits to it, because people tend to consider news stories more credible than an ad, even if you lose some element of control over the final product.

Want more? Read the entire interview here.