Three tools to improve PR Productivity
PR tools can help communication experts to work smarter, not harder. Working in PR can be glamorous and exciting, but we all need a little help along the way to get through the more challenging aspects of the job. That’s where these nifty tools come in.
Three tools for improving your PR productivity
On a day-to-day basis, PR pros have a lot on their plates. This ranges from writing press releases, networking, planning events and liaising with journalists — to name a few. In the midst of all these tasks, one can easily get overwhelmed, leading to feelings of demotivation or anxiety.
To avoid this, communicators should use all of the tools at their disposal to make their jobs that little bit easier.
Here, media update’s Taylor Goodman unpacks three of the best tools to help PR professionals to boost their productivity.
1. Week Plan
In their day-to-day lives, PR pros have multiple tasks that they need to keep track of. This can easily become overwhelming and time-consuming — enter Week Plan.
Are you tired of your regular ol’ to-do list? Does looking at a long list of tasks that you need to complete by week’s end overwhelm you? Well, this organisational tool will help you to prioritise your tasks and maximise your productivity.
Week Plan helps you to:
identify High Impact Tasks (HITs): According to the Eisenhower Urgent / Important Principle, HITs are the tasks you need to accomplish throughout the week.
allocate tasks according to roles or objectives: This allows you to prioritise the most important tasks for each role in your team, as well as to meet specific objectives.
have a clear overview of your weekly tasks: Week Plan gives you an overview of your weekly tasks, allows you to easily move tasks around and add subtasks and attachments. Talk about being productive!
track your time: Week Plan has a Pomodoro Timer, which times users to work in periods of 25 minutes, with five minutes rest. Hey, PR pro, remember that breaks are important!
So what are you waiting for? Give this platform a go and let “Week Plan make you more effective”.
2. Hiri
As a PR professional, you likely have to sieve through countless emails on a daily basis — and we know just how time-consuming it can be to manage one’s inbox.
With the help of Hiri, an email client, you can stay on top of your email correspondence. This tool allows the user to filter emails either into action or ‘FYI’ folders.
The actionable filter will sort emails that require, well, action — such as a meeting request. The FYI filter will return more informative emails, like newsletters.
Knowing which emails need an immediate response will save you time. Why? You can prioritise certain emails and get back to others later — giving you the time to focus on more important tasks instead. Talk about a ‘high priority tool!
What’s more, with a few clicks and drags, users can organise emails into to-do lists, delegate tasks to colleagues and utilise useful features like a contacts list.
So, go ahead and filter through the noise and win back your time; it’s precious after all.
3. RedBook
So, have you ever wished that you could have all your client’s media coverage collected into one neat package? Well, Redbook makes that possible.
Redbook is a customisable ebook that helps you to keep track of all your press coverage and display it in a readable, professional format. In addition to having all your coverage in one place, it would be easier for your clients to consume.
Instead of them having to sieve through multiple clips at once, they have it all collected in one place. Moreover, you can combine your Redbooks into one at the end of a year to give clients a complete overview of their brand’s performance annually.
Keeping track of your media coverage can help PR pros to be more productive, as it will help them to streamline their efforts. As you have all your client’s coverage in front of you, you’ll be able to tell which of your efforts are working and which aren’t — helping you save time and money.
Read more at Mediaupdate
