When it comes to putting out crypto PR, timing is everything. As we’ve said in a previous blog post, knowing the best time to put out a crypto PR can increase the chances of success. At the same time, you also need to know when to enforce a crypto PR Embargo.
A crypto PR embargo is essentially a time restriction on the release of the PR. If a crypto PR is submitted or written at a certain time but isn’t to be released to the public until a specific date, it is embargoed until that time. Naturally, a crypto PR embargo needs to be properly enforced, lest companies be put in awkward situations. In this article, we will touch on some of the ways to enforce an embargo.
1. State The Crypto PR Embargo Immediately
Because crypto PR embargoes are so sensitive, they have to be communicated clearly and immediately. The crypto PR space is constantly on the go and a crypto PR can be published before the embargo dates if this communication does not go as planned. If you are emailing your crypto PR to an editor or any publication, make sure the world embargo and the date it should be lifted are the first things to be seen. Make this the title of the email, have it written in capital letters and printed in red if possible. This means that it is less likely to be overlooked and the embargo is more likely to be respected.
2. Inquire Before Submission
To be on the safe side, you might want to make sure that an embargo will be respected before you even submit the PR. If you’re submitting it to a specific site, reach out to the editorial team and ask if they accept PRs with embargos and if so, what the process entails. By making this inquiry, you can decide whether or not to send the PR to a publication and this gives you a level of control.
You can also inquire within the industry about which publications have handled embargoed PRs before and how professionally they behaved. After all, once the crypto PR is out of your hands, you can only hope the embargo is respected. But if you vet publications beforehand, there are less likely to be issues.
3. Choose a Close Submission Date
One way to handle crypto PR embargoes is to think of them as a secret of sorts, which they are. The shorter the time between when the PR is being submitted and when the embargo is lifted, the better for you. After all, there is less chance of a secret leaking within 24 hours compared to a week.
If you want your embargo to be lifted on a Monday morning, you should ideally submit the pr on the Friday as this puts it in the publication cycle already. If you opt for a service like BTCWire, you can choose the embargo and submission date, making sure that they are as close together as possible.
4. Follow a Schedule
To keep things organised on both your end and with the publications, make sure all crypto PRs with embargos follow a schedule. This includes the day the news is to reach the public, the day the PR is to be submitted, and even the day that it should be written. If you are doing a large-scale PR outreach, you should be in communication with the publications well ahead of time and both parties should follow a schedule.
Possibly, you could ask the publications what date would be ideal to submit a PR if the embargo is to be lifted on a specific date. With both sides following a schedule, the chances of mistakes and miscommunication are significantly lowered.
5. Leverage Tools
Just like with any other aspect of PR, a crypto PR embargo can be better enforced with the use of specific tools. If you use a service like BTCWire, you have better control over when the crypto publication will receive the document. Within the document, you can redact certain information until the embargo lifts or even put a timed lock on the document.
This means that no one can access it until a certain date and this narrows the chance of information being leaked. While this might seem like a lot, extremely sensitive information being protected benefits both you and the publications that you work with.
6. Have a Contingency Plan
Despite our best efforts and intentions, sometimes embargoes are not honoured. This could be due to internal errors, technical faults, and so on. That is why, when putting out crypto PRs, you need to have a contingency plan. If an announcement isn’t to be made until the 5th and an embargoed PR is submitted on the 1st, have a plan in place in the event that it is leaked.
This could include pushing out marketing efforts a few days earlier, putting out a follow-up statement on social media, not acknowledging the news, and so on. A template could be created that applies to most PRs at your company will put out and having this at your disposal will save you a lot of anxiety. If a crypto PR is leaked prior to its embargo date by a publication, there should also be a plan in place to communicate your disappointment and seek some sort of redress from them.
Conclusion
A crypto PR embargo Is a very necessary part of keeping PR operations effective and organized. At the same time, they represent a lack of control over your projects and the need to communicate and liaise with the publications you collaborate with. As we’ve noted in this article, enforcing a crypto PR embargo is all about making your needs known well ahead of time, using all the tools that your disposal and erring on the side of caution at all times. If all these can be applied, your crypto PRs should be put out at the appropriate time, embargo in place or not.