BetterPR was launched in late 2019 as a response to requests from young practitioners on the cusp of eligibility (5 years + experience in public relations) to become accredited in public relations. At the time, nothing like it existed. The PRSA national website for becoming Accredited in Public Relations was dated and confusing, with broken links and obviously dated materials, including downloadable flyers and webcasts.

IPSM partnered with the Sierra Nevada Chapter of PRSA to launch a podcast FOR public relations practitioners BY public relations practitioners, with emphasis on accreditation. Our Chief Marketing Officer, Kathie Taylor, APR, was in her first year of serving as the VP of Professional Development of the chapter. She collaborated with students from the University of Nevada, Reno, to develop the podcast and hired a producer.

When COVID hit, membership and APR interest declined and our producer moved on. We learned how to record remotely. As we got better at producing episodes, we got better at marketing them, and we elevated our guest list.

We decided to try to monetize the podcast to bring in a sponsor to help with offsetting the costs of accreditation and to help with recruiting APR candidates.

Situation:

During the COVID pandemic, both membership and Accreditation in Public Relations candidates dropped significantly across the country. Priorities changed as people worked from home and protected their families.

The Sierra Nevada Chapter boasts a 29% APR population among our members, higher than the national average of around 20% (for context, PRSA has 30,000 members across 100 chapters. The Sierra Nevada Chapter has about 100 members). But with stagnant growth in both membership and candidates, we wanted to use BetterPR as more of a recruiting tool as well as secure a sponsor to provide a cash influx to use for scholarships to offset the costs of earning Accreditation in Public Relations.

Research and planning

Primary research: (Some of this research was done prior to this award period)

  1. Chapter member survey: We sent a short survey out to members of the Sierra Nevada PRSA chapter to learn more about barriers to entry for accreditation
  2. Interview podcast producers: We spoke with four podcast studios and producers to help us identify the equipment, programs and platforms we need to do it ourselves

Secondary research:

  1. Local non-profit sponsorship packages: We spoke with chapter members who worked with non-profits to help us understand the kinds of sponsorship communications and what the market will bear
  2. Podcast recording platforms, equipment and hosting: We reviewed several websites and videos
  3. Sponsorship research: We reviewed sponsorship packages from other podcasts online
  4. Podcast planning research: We reviewed multiple websites to learn how to plan and produce podcasts

Goal: Turn BetterPR into a monetized asset to provide scholarships to APR candidates.

Objectives –

  1. Obtain $5,000 in sponsorship dollars by 12/31/22
  2. Increase podcast listenership year over year by 50% by 12/31/22
  3. Start three APR candidates by 12/31/22

Timeline: 1/1/2022 through 12/31/22

Key publics: Chapter members and their employers; potential APR candidates; potential podcast guests

 Budget: Producing a podcast is expensive and time consuming. Each episode requires time to secure talent, research and plan, record, produce, upload, and market. IPSM has absorbed all of those costs (approximately 8 hours per episode). Staff costs range from $22 to $45 per hour per episode. $40 per month for the hosting platform, plus $40 per month for the recording platform.

Execution

Strategies/Tactics:

  1. Record new episodes as frequently as possible
  2. Elevate podcast guest list to draw in larger listenership.
  3. Use the podcast to market upcoming chapter events
  4. Reach out to nationally known speakers
  5. Diversify topics to cover a wide range of topics related to the practice of public relations

Evaluation:

Obj. 1: Secured a $7,000 sponsorship from the largest healthcare system in Northern Nevada

Obj. 2: Listenership increased 59% in 2022 compared to 2019-2021 totals.

Obj. 3: Three APR candidates began a course of study as of 1/15/23 (a little late, but we did it!)

Fun, brazen asks:

Twice on LinkedIn, we responded to requests from some of the icons in the industries we follow about podcasts to appear on – and they said yes! We will definitely continue to do that!

What we would do differently if we had the budget and the time:

Record monthly instead of whenever we have time

Subscribe to a podcast guest service

Find more sponsors! (We’re still looking!)

Special Gratitude to our Sponsor, Renown Health and our 2022 Past President Caroline Ackerman for continuing to follow up until we received the sponsorship check!

Listeners

As of 11/1/24, BetterPR has been downloaded more than 3,300 times.