When working at a public relations agency, there’s really no such thing as a typical work day. On any given day, your daily tasks can vary depending on what your accounts need that week. Given that, here’s what a day in my life as a public relations assistant would look like involving all the most common duties I’m tasked with.
I usually start my day around 7:30 a.m. to give myself enough time to get dressed and ready. Since clients and media can drop by the office at the drop of a hat, or my assistance may be needed on a last-minute trip to a client’s site or broadcast segment, I always like to look my best, even if I’m not expecting to see anyone outside of the office that day. It’s extremely important to dress professionally in this industry because it relays to your client that you care and take yourself, your work, and them seriously.
After grabbing an iced oat milk latte on my commute to the office, I spend the first 30 minutes of my day scouring the internet for media hits. After finding each hit, I collect information such as the outlet, title, author, date, and the publication’s unique visitors per month to organize into designated excel sheets. These sheets track all the exposure a client has earned, so we can send them a report at the end of the month to prove the agency’s ROI for the client. Because my agency works for restaurants, bars, and hotels in the Philadelphia area, I also like to dedicate time in the morning for industry research by checking out local and national publications such as Eater, Food and Wine, Philly Mag, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. This helps me keep tabs on what is trending in the restaurant and hospitality industry so I can write relevant media pitches about our clients.
After that, my tasks throughout the day can vary. From writing pitches and media alerts, editing press materials, writing copy for various social media calendars, creating content such as Instagram reels, editing photography, and more. Typically when I send out a pitch, I brainstorm themes in which I can feature various accounts. For instance, “Barbiecore” was a massive trend amongst journalists this summer, so I rounded up about ten different clients who feature vivid pink, Barbie-Esque cocktails on their drink menus. I wrote short blurbs detailing the cocktails the different clients offered, peppering in Barbie puns and relevant language, and sent the draft to my team for review. Once my pitch was edited and ready to fly, I created a media list of about 40-50 journalists who I thought would find my Barbiecore cocktail idea interesting. About five journalists picked it up and featured it in the publication they wrote for, including Fine Dining Lovers. Because of the relationship I created with various journalists, one of them reached out again to see if I had any contributions for another article she was writing, which ended up getting two of our clients listed in Food and Wine, a major national publication in the industry.
After these various tasks, I will often attend media and influencer events hosted by the agency at our clients’ businesses to promote a new menu, happy hour, or any other service they want to gain publicity. On days of these events, I leave straight from the office to help set up and check influencers and journalists in at the front. From there, it is my job to keep tabs on the fine details of the event, such as who showed up, if there’s enough food, and if guests are enjoying themselves, to make sure the event is going seamlessly. I also take photos and videos to share on the client’s, the agency’s, and my personal social media accounts to promote the event and client. The day following the event, I put together a social media recap presentation showcasing screenshots of all the stories and feed posts taken by influencers and media at the event, along with relevant data, like reach and engagement.
After the event, I will head home and tie up any loose ends throughout the day before going to bed to make sure I’m rested and energized for yet another eventful day in my life as a public relations assistant.
Samantha Schultz, Account Associate
prowlpr.com 