Although Rishita studied engineering in college, she soon realized it wasn’t going to be her life’s calling. Soon, she started exploring internship opportunities in marketing. During one such internship in PR, she realized that this was something she really loved doing. Today she is helping Klub craft their brand story-telling.

1. How did you land in PR and Comms?

My journey in the PR and Communications industry started when I was pursuing engineering. I soon realized that this was not something that I would enjoy doing for a living. That’s when I pivoted to student internships and explored the field of marketing. Over the course of 15 internships, I did everything, from content writing to events marketing, digital marketing, product marketing, and then finally landed an internship for PR and Communications and instantly felt a connection. It was new and challenging but I knew I wanted to pursue it further as a career. During my 8th semester of college, Innovaccer, a health tech unicorn, hired me as a PR intern. Within three months, I was able to take charge of the vertical. I single-handedly managed their PR vertical for more than three years across geographies (US and India) and then moved to Klub to explore the fintech industry.

2.     What was your first experience with data? 

Quite early on in my career, I realized that pitching traditional stories to journalists is mundane and something that will not be picked up instantaneously. We need to provide something to the media that is unique for their audience. Having realized that, I explored verticals and saw that there is a plethora of data that lies with every company with respect to their industry. That motivated our team to curate in-house research on various industry trends. That’s how I started using data as a key metric for PR. In fact, in my first stint, our first-ever research report was covered by The Wall Street Journal, which was a thrilling experience. 

3.     How did you start using data in delivering your campaigns? 

In my opinion, data and PR should go hand in hand. From my experience, what has worked best is survey-led research reports, where we talk about real-time problems within the target audience and reflect on industry experts’ opinions on providing a solution for the same. These researches not only help you gain the right set of media stories but also help in problem-solving for your target audience. 

 

4.     Did you come across any challenges in communications where data helped you solve them?

Of course. To create a story in the media that is long-lasting and acts as a backbone for defining conversations, data plays an extremely heavy role. It is the reality of today that no one is interested in knowing what your product is, but they are interested in knowing the impact that it has created, and the one-stop solution for it is, a product backed by strong data points.

5.     What is the most important metric for you as a comms person?

There are quite a few. On top of the list is the brand and leadership share of voice that helps me understand where our brand is standing with respect to our competitors. Another one would be the brand narrative which is essential in understanding how well our key messages are resonating in our PR efforts. Apart from this, understanding metrics such as viewership, impressions, and engagement rate of the stories also helps in understanding what is working for the brand and what is not. 

 

6.     What are your favorite tools for data insights?

I have mostly worked with in-house tools that have helped us in understanding PR trends and evaluating metrics. I also use tools like SimilarWeb to gauge a website’s DR and readership. Recently, I have started using Wizikey for understanding the industry trends and it has helped me quite a lot in formulating an effective PR strategy.  Apart from that, I also create my own dashboard that helps me curate a repository of editor conversations, story tonality in the market, and audience feedback. This comes in handy more often than one would think. 

7.     How do you see data in comms and marketing evolve in the coming days?

I firmly believe that communications is an ever-evolving industry. Today, there is an audience with an appetite for all forms of content, be it short-form videos, blogs, long-form educational videos, print, digital articles, or short-form news. Everything is working and we have to heavily rely on data to see what works best for the brand. More often than not, PR professionals only rely on one form of content because that worked for them in the past, but with the changing industry, we need to constantly keep ourselves updated and that is only possible if we can access insightful data. 

8.     Which is the favourite campaign that you were part of?

One of the most challenging and rewarding campaigns was when I organized a press conference for my first company. The company was launching a new product and venturing into a new market altogether and this was a huge news opportunity for us. Ahead of one of the most important and talked about conferences of the year, we organized a press conference which was attended by more than 25 journalists, both from trade and national media, and resulted in more than 15 media stories. What was most rewarding about this entire campaign was that I got only two weeks to execute this from scratch. I was working on the project single-handedly. That campaign taught me a lot about the communications industry that I am forever going to practice in my future as well. 

9.     Is there any metric you wished you had access to?

I have noticed that many companies, big or small, are reluctant to small tier media channels and that is mostly because they do not have visibility into the difference that it creates for their brand. A tool that could help in understanding the reach of such channels alongside the category A channels would be a game-changer. 

 

10.  Would you like to share your two cents for the budding comms professionals?

I am a firm believer in the fact that you can mold your career into any shape or form if you put in the right amount of hard work and patience. I am an engineer by education, but today I am working as a PR professional and that was only because I was able to gauge my interest at the right time and take in the extra effort to flesh out a career for myself. Another most important aspect that PR professionals should abide by is research. Research, research, and more research. The more you dig deeper into a topic the more you can extract stories out of it. Dedicate one to two hours from your calendar to this and it would improve your storytelling skill by a huge margin.