IT’S A PR THING

Stephanie McFarland APR
  • 5.0 (2)
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This is IT’S A PR THING, the show that helps you build relationships that build business. We’re bringing you a better understanding of what public relations is today, and how it can drive your business in ways you never knew it could. FeedSpot (feedspot.com) has named IT’S A PR THING as one of the top PR podcasts AGAIN in 2026 -- two years running. Find out how you can join the movement to change the conversation about public relations, and reclaim the definition of what we do that adds real value. 

  1. 6D AGO

    Episode 49 - Brand Backlash: The Cost of Content Overload

    Brand Backlash: The Cost of Content Overload Consumers are officially hitting the wall. Five recent studies all point to the same thing: people are drowning in brand content, tuning out messages, and walking away from companies that won’t give them a break. In this episode, we break down what that overload is doing to the brain—fatigue, anxiety, decision paralysis—and why it’s eroding brand connection instead of strengthening it. Then we get to the proven and practical solution as we walk through the four stages of relationship development, what actually influences people in each one, and how to shift from pushing content to creating real connections that builds relationships that build business.  And we've posted the links to the five studies we mention in today's episode on our Resource Page. (So check that out.)  Lots to cover today, so . . . let's go!    NEW RESOURCE PAGE (a.k.a FREE STUFF)  Visit our new resource landing page to check out free downloads and tools to help you lead, manage and implement top-notch PR in your organization. Click here GOT TOPIC IDEAS? WE WANT TO HEAR THEM!  Send topic ideas and mailbag questions for a future episode to podcast@prthing.com We would love to hear from you!  HOST BIO (a.k.a. Who is this crazy woman who can't stop talking about PR?)  https://www.audible.com/author/Stephanie-McFarland/B00YNFH16E

    12 min

  2. FEB 12

    Episode 48 - What Customers Are Begging For (and Taco Bell Gets It)

    What Customers Are Begging For (and Taco Bell Gets It) In this episode of IT’S A PR THING, we’re circling back to customer experience — not the buzzword version, but the kind that actually builds relationship capital. Today, we’ll cover a recent customer experience that demonstrates how much it matters when organizations make things easy, give people a way out of technology when they need it, and create moments that become memories. We’ll walk through what happened, why it stood out, and what it says about how we treat the people we work so hard – and invest so much -- to attract. We’ll also touch on what some of the pros — including the C-suite at Taco Bell — are saying about customer experience in a high‑tech world. Spoiler: even the most automated companies know that human touch is still the biggest differentiator. This episode is well worth a listen and a share! ************************************************************************ Struggle no more to tell your leadership what your value is to the organization.  Join the movement to help change the conversation inside our organizations about public relations (a.k.a - communications, corporate comm, marcom, public-information office, etc.). We've heard you, seen your frustration on LinkedIn -- being disregarded, left out, treated like an afterthought. But we sometimes are creating our own headaches by how we talk about our profession. So we've designed some items we think you'll like -- and these "tools" will start the conversation for you. Check them out here!  Bonus Resources Also, check out these bonus free resources to help you manage the PR function inside your organization, and deliver the value that earns you that seat at the table.  10 STRATEGIES TO TRANSFORM YOUR PR FUNCTION  FREE GUIDE - 8 STEPS TO MEASURE CUSTOMER EFFORT  GOT TOPIC IDEAS? WE WANT TO HEAR THEM!  Send topic ideas and mailbag questions for a future episode to podcast@prthing.com We would love to hear from you!  HOST BIO  https://www.audible.com/author/Stephanie-McFarland/B00YNFH16E

    13 min

  3. JAN 30

    Episode 47 - What Is Your PR Return on Time Invested?

    Stewarding our PR Time -- What Is Your ROTI  PR pros are always being pulled in different directions. We are expected, as the nature of the job, to be on-call, to be available to respond to breaking news, to crisis, to bend and flex with urgent deadlines, and to spend much of our day in meetings gathering info and intel – and then finding time to get the work done. That’s all on top of responding to media inquiries and sundry minor fires that happen across a week. And that leaves little time for strategic reflection, planning and the crucial relationship building needed to build business. How in the world can we steward our time, when we often don’t have claim to it?   Meet Lissa Figgins, a time-stewardship coach who counsels CEOs, Christian businesses and solopreneurs. (Notice I did not say “time management”.) Lissa is also the host of REDEEM HER TIME podcast. I heard Lissa as a guest on a different podcast months ago, and I thought about how as PR pros our time is rarely our own – because so many things can change the trajectory of our day. And the concept of time stewardship just seems to fit much better for us. So I reached out and asked Lissa to talk to us about this approach – and I’m delighted she said yes.   Join me today as Lissa walks us through the difference between time management and time stewardship, how to measure our ROTI (she'll explain the acronym), and why it's so important to both our profession, our home life and our personal character.  LEARN MORE, DOWNLOAD THE FREE "IMPACTFUL DAY GUIDE"  Listen to Lissa on her podcast: https://redeemhertime.com/tune-in-redeem-her-time-podcast/ Download the free IMPACTFUL DAY GUIDE: https://redeemhertime.com/day   LISSA'S BACKGROUND https://redeemhertime.com/about-me/   ************************************************************************************************ IT'S A PR THING PODCAST RESOURCES & INFORMATION  DOWNLOAD: FREE GUIDE - 8 STEPS TO MEASURE CUSTOMER EFFORT  BONUS RESOURCE: If you’re new to IT’S A PR THING or if you’re looking for a proven path to make your PR team more effective, check out the free resource: 10 Strategies to Transform Your PR Function. It’s a collection of deeper-dive episodes organized to help you rethink how you implement PR in your job everyday. Click the link above and download the free resource. GOT TOPIC IDEAS? WE WANT TO HEAR THEM!  Send topic ideas and mailbag questions for a future episode to podcast@prthing.com We would love to hear from you!  HOST BIO  https://www.audible.com/author/Stephanie-McFarland/B00YNFH16E

    42 min

  4. JAN 16

    Episode 46 - 8 Steps to Measuring Customer Effort

    Measuring Customer Effort In this episode, we take the next step in the conversation we started last week about boiling customer frustration and what it means in reading the organization’s relationship radar. Today we focus on Customer Effort Scoring — a practical way to see where people are running into friction and operational hurdles long before they turn into a reputational issue. CES helps teams see the incremental operational hurdles that show up in aggregate as overall poor customer satisfaction. When organizations use CES well, they can help reduce customer effort and create a smooth and positive customer experience. And that generates return business, referrals and revenue generation. Listen in today and learn how CES is an excellent tool to add to your relationship radar system. DOWNLOAD: FREE GUIDE - 8 STEPS TO MEASURE CUSTOMER EFFORT  BONUS RESOURCE: If you’re new to IT’S A PR THING or if you’re looking for a proven path to make your PR team more effective, check out the free resource: 10 Strategies to Transform Your PR Function. It’s a collection of deeper-dive episodes organized to help you rethink how you implement PR in your job everyday. Click the link above and download the free resource. GOT TOPIC IDEAS? WE WANT TO HEAR THEM!  Send topic ideas and mailbag questions for a future episode to podcast@prthing.com We would love to hear from you!  HOST BIO  https://www.audible.com/author/Stephanie-McFarland/B00YNFH16E

    14 min

  5. JAN 6

    Episode 45 - CUSTOMERS ARE FED UP: The reputation risk PR must face in 2026

    CUSTOMERS ARE FED UP  The urgent reputation risk PR must face in 2026 In this first episode of 2026, we take a clear look at a growing issue shaping the year ahead for PR professionals: customer frustration has reached a breaking point, and new data from 2025 shows just how widespread the problem has become. Customers are dealing with broken processes, confusing systems, and automated tools that create more work instead of solving problems. Companies are trying to cover these issues with messaging, storytelling and AI, but the numbers show that approach is backfiring. People want ease and peace, and instead they’re getting noise, delays, and unnecessary friction. We walk through the latest national research on customer frustration, including record levels of anger, wasted time, financial loss, and emotional strain. We also look at how customers are responding — from ghosting brands to walking away after one or two bad experiences. At the same time, many executives believe their customer experience is strong, creating a dangerous perception gap. This episode lays out what PR pros need to understand as they guide their organizations through 2026. Join me as we break down the data, the trends, and the real reputational risks shaping the year ahead. EPISODE STUDY SOURCES:  Forbes Technology Council (2024). Breaking the Cycle of “Doom Loops” in Automated Customer Service. https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2024/09/23/human-centered-cx-breaking-the-cycle-of-doom-loops-in-automated-customer-service/ CSG International (2025). 2025 State of the Customer Experience Report. https://www.csgi.com/resources/2025-state-of-customer-experience/ National Customer Rage Survey (2025). CCMC & Arizona State University W.P. Carey School of Business. https://www.morningstar.com/news/pr-newswire/20251202dc36248/new-national-customer-rage-survey-reveals-civility-in-freefall-across-americas-marketplace Emplifi (April 2025). The Social Pulse: State of Consumer‑Brand Engagement on Social Media in 2025. https://emplifi.io/press/emplifi-reveals-70-of-consumers-will-abandon-a-brand-after-just-two-negative-experiences/ PwC (2025). 2025 Customer Experience Survey: The Loyalty Illusion. https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services/consulting/business-transformation/library/2025-customer-experience-survey.html BONUS RESOURCE: If you’re new to IT’S A PR THING or if you’re looking for a proven path to make your PR team more effective, check out the free resource: 10 Strategies to Transform Your PR Function. It’s a collection of deeper-dive episodes organized to help you rethink how you implement PR in your job everyday. Click the link above and download the free resource. GOT TOPIC IDEAS? WE WANT TO HEAR THEM!  Send topic ideas and mailbag questions for a future episode to podcast@prthing.com We would love to hear from you!  HOST BIO  https://www.audible.com/author/Stephanie-McFarland/B00YNFH16E

    13 min

  6. 12/12/2025

    Episode 44 - Measuring PR Momentum

    Today we tackle my favorite part of the PR work -- measuring success while a campaign is still in motion. In today’s show, we’ll talk about a framework to help you read the signals stakeholders give off in real time, and how those behaviors reveal whether your strategy is progressing or stalling. You'll learn clear, actionable ways to measure momentum as it happens, so you can refine your approach and achieve stronger results. And here’s the proof: campaigns that consistently apply this framework outperform those campaigns that fail to use it.  Too often, evaluation happens only at the end of a campaign, when the chance to adjust has already passed. Don't be those guys!  You’ll want to share this with your team, your division leaders and use it as a basis for strategy development and management in the future. BONUS RESOURCE: If you’re new to IT’S A PR THING or if you’re looking for a proven path to make your PR team more effective, check out the free resource: 10 Strategies to Transform Your PR Function. It’s a collection of deeper-dive episodes organized to help you rethink how you implement PR in your job everyday. Click the link above and download the free resource. GOT TOPIC IDEAS? WE WANT TO HEAR THEM!  Send topic ideas and mailbag questions for a future episode to podcast@prthing.com We would love to hear from you!  HOST BIO  https://www.audible.com/author/Stephanie-McFarland/B00YNFH16E

    20 min

  7. 12/03/2025

    Episode 43 -- The PR Pros' Reframe Playbook: Go Beyond the Messenger Role

    It’s Time to Reframe PR — Go Beyond the Messenger Role If you’re a PR professional tired of being seen as just the company’s messenger service or the cleanup crew after a crisis, this episode is for you. PR pros in numbers are crying out to be rightly recognized as strategic-management professionals  — yet too often, we’re left out of the early conversations where our knowledge, experience and insights can make the biggest difference. In this episode, we dive into a pivotal true story and share five crucial strategies from the PR Pro’s Reframe Playbook to change the conversation about what you do. These are real, applicable approaches you can use in your job every day to transform the way your organization views and leverages you, your team and your public-relations expertise. Listen today -- and start changing the conversation about what PR truly brings to the table.   BONUS RESOURCE: If you’re new to IT’S A PR THING or if you’re looking for a proven path to make your PR team more effective, check out the free resource: 10 Strategies to Transform Your PR Function. It’s a collection of deeper-dive episodes organized to help you rethink how you implement PR in your job everyday. Click the link above and download the free resource. GOT TOPIC IDEAS? WE WANT TO HEAR THEM!  Send topic ideas and mailbag questions for a future episode to podcast@prthing.com We would love to hear from you!  HOST BIO  https://www.audible.com/author/Stephanie-McFarland/B00YNFH16E

    13 min

  8. 11/12/2025

    Episode 42 - 10 Strategies to Transform Your PR Function

    Welcome back to IT'S A PR THING, where we help you build relationships that build business. Today’s episode is straight talk for PR pros who want to do the work better. We’ll cover 10 strategies that help retool your thought process, load you up with practical approaches and transform your PR function into a relationship-building machine! This is a mini-course – building from the basics while escalating to the more expert skills that drive you and your team beyond the “stay-on-message” culture. Each strategy hits the highlights with cut-to-the-chase, real-world experience. And we finish off with access to an audio book that takes a deeper dive into each strategy, and we provide recommendations on how to use the chapters to transform your PR function. Whether you’re working as the one-man-band PR pro in your organization, or you’re managing a multi-division PR operation, this episode is for you! BONUS RESOURCE: If you’re new to IT’S A PR THING or if you’re looking for a proven path to make your PR team more effective, check out the free resource: 10 Strategies to Transform Your PR Function. It’s a collection of deeper-dive episodes organized to help you rethink how you implement PR in your job everyday. Click the link above and download the free resource. GOT TOPIC IDEAS? WE WANT TO HEAR THEM!  Send topic ideas and mailbag questions for a future episode to podcast@prthing.com We would love to hear from you!  HOST BIO  https://www.audible.com/author/Stephanie-McFarland/B00YNFH16E

    12 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

This is IT’S A PR THING, the show that helps you build relationships that build business. We’re bringing you a better understanding of what public relations is today, and how it can drive your business in ways you never knew it could. FeedSpot (feedspot.com) has named IT’S A PR THING as one of the top PR podcasts AGAIN in 2026 -- two years running. Find out how you can join the movement to change the conversation about public relations, and reclaim the definition of what we do that adds real value. 

Information

  • Creator
    Stephanie McFarland APR
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    57
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2020 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    IT’S A PR THING