Engaging with IT journalists has more benefits than just press coverage

I noticed a sudden spike in web traffic after Tristan’s recent blog about asking for copy approval. Most of this traffic came via Twitter from other PR agencies, largely because they follow Jess Twentyman, and she had retweeted the link to the blog. 

PRs follow journalists because we want to k...

And the winner is…? Top tips for a successful award entry

Last week I attended the PRmoment Awards, as Spark was shortlisted in the category for best B2B PR Campaign for the work we carried out for iPass around its Wi-Fi Growth Map. Unfortunately we didn’t win, but it did get me thinking about awards more generally and the role they play in PR and mark...

Can I have copy approval? 5 ways to prevent this (coverage) killer question from cropping up

It’s simple: don’t. Asking for copy approval is the easiest and most sure-fire way to kill an interview stone-dead and blow any rapport you’ve established with the journalist out of the water.

Asking for copy approval at the end of an interview creates a problem for a number of reasons. These have...

Three key skills for account execs in tech PR

It seems hard to believe that it has already been three months since I started working here at Spark. Two years working in analytics recruitment had given me a good technical grounding, but I had to bolster my skills quickly to deliver the coverage my clients are looking for.  The biggest shock wa...

Crouch, touch, pause, engage: Why PR agencies should follow the rules of rugby

How many meaningless emails have you received today?  We have 1,728 of them to wade through each year, according to a recent Sennheiser Communications study.

Unless you’re Apple, relying too heavily on emails as a PR tactic is a sure-fire recipe for wasted time and effort. I’ve always found it’s...