Unless you’re marketing suntan lotion, the latest teen starlet, or back-to-school gear, the summer season is typically less hectic than the others for the PR industry, especially the B2B sector. Magazines often cut back on production, phone calls go unanswered, out-of-office email auto-replies are the norm, and Friday becomes the new Saturday. In speaking with my colleagues about this topic recently, our “against the grain” philosophy relishes this upcoming summer months, but not because we will be heading to the beach. Quite the contrary, we use the time to plan and get our clients ready for the second half of the year.

Here are some ideas on how to make the most of the summer months. To avoid slow-downs and productivity dips, I like to execute what I call my “RPM” strategy...

Reflect: I ask myself, “what worked?” “what didn’t?” and “why?” It’s as if I’m competing in a 500-mile car race and all participants must take a mandatory mid-race pit stop. The adjustments I make will determine how the rest of the year plays out, and how well I, and my clients, will do as a result.

Plan: In early June, I dive head first into Q3 and Q4 campaign planning, including creative and thematic brainstorm sessions, competitive analysis, editorial calendar scans, and event-based schedules. For instance, all those holiday gift guides that we all love…well the editorial deadlines on these close in August and September, so I start creating my gift-guide pitches in July. I make sure I have the right contacts, know the submission requirements, and have products, including artwork, ready to ship.

Mingle: By the Memorial Day break, it’s been a tough haul, and I - like my colleagues and clients - need to be re-energized. I like to get out of the office and meet with my favorite members of the press over lunch, golf, or other non-office environments. I like to do the same with my colleagues, boss, and partners. PR is (and always will be) a people-centric, relationship building business driven by social interaction, and the warm weather offers the ideal excuse to hold conversations in less formal and more comfortable environments. Often, the fruits of these social interactions deliver far greater dividends than the formal meetings I held with the same people only a few months earlier.

Following my personal RPM strategy, I go into the second half of the year more enlightened, with a solid and well thought-out game plan for my clients in place. I also have enhanced relationships to help optimize those plans. So, while some refer to the Memorial Day kick-off as the summer PR doldrums, we have a different take, and go into the warm months excited and motivated to do better in the second half.

Enjoy the Summer!

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