As traditional forms of media struggle to stay afloat, the media landscape is growing and evolving every year. This reality requires PR professionals to adapt and stay nimble in navigating the emergence of new media. In order to be successful it often comes down to the right media relations strategy.
The role of media relations
Put simply, media relations is the act of strategically sharing your brand’s message with relevant print, web and broadcast media outlets to gain press coverage. Media relations are integral to reaching new customers and developing advocates for your brand.
When done correctly, media relations communicates an organization’s story in a newsworthy way via the appropriate media outlets. Strong media relations does more than just get your name out there, it boosts awareness of your brand, reinforces professional credibility and even provides an invaluable resource for successful crisis management.
Media relations, like most elements of public relations, is not a one-size-fits-all strategy. Media outreach for your brand should be targeted specifically to its unique goals and objectives. It’s up to you as a PR professional to determine what your goals and objectives are, and target your media relations strategy accordingly.
Although this may look different across industries, here are some approaches to help build a successful media relations strategy.
Craft a compelling story
Your overarching strategy is to present a story about your organization that a reporter will want to cover. Craft stories that have the right mixes of narrative and imagery. To increase your media coverage, incorporate SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound) goals into your storytelling process, says PRSA.
To make stories more relevant for audiences, find the people or groups your brand is helping and give them voices. It is also vital to identify target audiences you want to reach with your messaging. Keeping in mind desired business outcomes to advance your business, write content that will move customers, stakeholders, investors, shareholders and potential donors to take action.
Focus on the right people
Pitching a story to the media is more than throwing together an email and sending it off to every single reporter you can think of. It’s about finding common interests, building relationships and getting your message across in a way that peaks interest.
Identify reporters and staff who are most likely to pay attention to your pitch. Do your homework and research publication websites, staff profiles or professional blogs. “Reporters are individuals, so find out what they are interested in and writing about, and feed them stories that are not related to you,” says David Meerman Scott in his international bestseller, The New Rules of Marketing PR.
Make a list, check it twice
Based on your criteria for your brand, create a spreadsheet to help stay organized as you begin to build a media list. Your newly constructed media list should be fluid, not static. As reporters come and go, always be on the lookout for new contacts and be sure to add them to your database.
One lesson I have learned over the last few years in a PR profession is to try and review your list on a monthly basis to keep your contacts current. Each quarter my team schedules maintenance meetings to review at least a portion of our media contacts because we know it will save us time and headache in the long run.
Tailor your pitch for different media
Before you start a pitch, make sure you know which media outlets you’re targeting and why. Format your pitch to comply with the platform you are using as a channel. If the media outlet has submission instructions, be sure to follow what they say. Journalists do not have a lot of time to review story entries so make it interesting, engaging and to the point.
Another good tactic is to personalize your pitch with references that let an editor or reporter know you’ve read or watched their content. A personal touch can go a long way and help increase your chance to get your story heard.
Its a two-way street
It’s no secret that PR professionals can’t do their jobs effectively without journalists, but journalists rely on PR pros too. Although the relationship between communicators and journalists has a rocky history, journalists want to know what brands have to say because ultimately they are looking for new content to make their job easier.
Both PR pros and journalists can rally around the need to find interesting stories or angles and write well about them.
For as long as you want your organization’s or client’s story to be told, media relations will always have a place in an effective strategic communication strategy. Crafting your narrative, understanding the new media landscape and cultivating those crucial relationships will ensure your story and brand have a far-reaching impact.
Emily Senski-Taylor 