Tips for Building Strong Media Relationships

PR folks: Invest in a local media strategy. Here’s why: - Most Americans trust local news more than national. Take a “grassroots" approach to building your reputation. - Local pubs often have smaller budgets/fewer journalists. They’re hungry for content. Serve it up. - National stories don’t always translate locally. Make your content “sweat harder” by baking in local story angles. 5 ways I’ve done it: 1. Conduct a survey or leverage proprietary data. Make sure the sample size satisfies national survey requirements *and* is large enough for target markets. 2. Arrange a satellite media/radio tour. Leverage relevant news/announcements with tailored pitching. One spokesperson can power through back-to-back interviews. 3. Enlist your partners. Identify trusted suppliers, customers and employees in local markets. Train as spokespeople. Find compelling story angles. 4. Create your own news.  Design local, but scalable community programs. CSR/giveback programs are excellent human interest stories for local media/broadcast. (PS: Dogs and kids get coverage.) 5. Involve elected and community leaders.  Allow them to share in your success. Provide a photo or secure quotes to strengthen coverage and relationships.  A local media strategy adds richness and depth to your media program. Do fewer things better. Work smarter, not harder. #PublicRelations #MediaStrategy #CorporateCommunications

Here's a "secret" to supercharge your media relations success: Pitch freelancers. Everyone seems to want to pitch the staff reporters and editors at whatever outlet they're targeting. That's a fine approach. It still works and you can find plenty of success doing that, but don't forget about the freelance contributors who have tons of skin in the game. Here are three reasons why you should ramp up pitching efforts focused on freelancers: 1️⃣ They only get paid when they submit a story. They don't earn a salary, so their income is directly tied to the stories they can develop and successfully place. 2️⃣ They're generally far more receptive to brainstorming conversations. It's in their best interest to figure out how to turn the story you're pitching into a story that works. It's a win-win. 3️⃣ They often have multiple outlets. Many freelancers contribute to a wide range of outlets, which opens the door for more opportunity down the road. That applies to the PR person and the reporter. Even the biggest tier-one outlets routinely publish work from freelance reporters. Of course proper vetting still applies. Research whose bylines are in a publication you want to target; ensure that the topics they cover are appropriate for your story; and make sure you do your due diligence to learn their preferences. (Hint: lots of freelance reporters have websites where they share a lot of this information). And most importantly, forge a relationship! That relationship can pay dividends for everyone involved for years to come.

If you're inviting a TV news station to cover an event, ~sometimes~ a simple phone call could work. More often, it's like 6 steps. 1️⃣ Look up programming schedule to learn newscast times 2️⃣ Send media advisory up to a week in advance (or more for something major like a significant building opening, etc.) 3️⃣ Call news desk to confirm receipt and chat about opportunity 4️⃣ Call back a few days in advance to confirm it's in their daybook, what time their morning meetings are, and who will be working the news desk 5️⃣ If the morning meeting is well before the event, call that AM before morning meeting and reiterate that the event is that day and ask if they plan to come. (They will rarely commit due to possibility of breaking news) ➡️ If the morning meeting is very close to the event time, call the day before to reiterate the event is that day and ask if they plan to come. (They will rarely commit due to possibility of breaking news) ➡️ TIP: Acknowledge the person working the desk by name. You got their name from your pre-call prep, after all. 6️⃣ Keep an eye out for someone wandering around with a camera 🙂 🎥 (I like to be sure to include a request for RSVP on the media advisory to ensure I can have their name on an approved list with security. And, give clear instructions for parking/entering building/check in, on-site contact, etc.) #pr #publicrelations #media #mediarelations #journalism

A post for PR Newbies that I wrote several weeks ago was just translated into Spanish for a women’s PR networking group in Chile. How about that? I’m re-posting it today, along with some new, excellent additions that were provided in the comments when it went out before. …………………………………………………………………… NEW TO PR? An incomplete list of tips for working with the media: 🎯1. A compelling, useful email subject line is everything. Media get more pitches each day than you can imagine. 🎯2. Taking the time to build media relationships makes the job easier and more fun. (Hint: don’t hesitate to provide a tip when it’s truly relevant to their beat and isn’t part of a pitch to show your full value as a resource) 🎯3. Make your pitch brief and get right to the point. 🎯 4. Relevance is key. Find/Create the timely hook that answers "why now?" 🎯 5. There is an art to following up, and it’s not merely forwarding your previous email and saying “just making sure you saw this—thanks!” Add more info or detail, if there is any. Try a new approach or better subject line. Send it during a different time of day. 🎯 6. Research the writer + media outlet + its audience before you send your customized pitch. (Yes, this will take a lot of time). 🎯 7. A strong media media list is essential. And much more effective than one just pulled from a media database. It's ok to start with a list generated from a database, but cull through it before you deploy it. It needs a human touch, and lots of time. 🎯 8. Pitch a story, not a news announcement. Your job is to FIND the story in the news announcement. 🎯 9. Media ask tons of questions, be prepared to handle them. 🎯 10. Sometimes the questions are frustrating. And make you feel like they are asking you to do their job. They might be. Do it 🎯11. They are always on deadline. Respond promptly. 🎯12. They will ignore you till they need you. Don't take it personally. 🎯 13. They might want visuals or other assets. So send them along with your pitch--but not as an attachment, send a link. 🎯 14. There is no guaranteed coverage or control of the message in PR. 🎯 15. Give writers an appropriate amount of lead time. 🎯 16. Asking for a correction after a story goes live is an amateur move. Don't do it unless what was written was problematically, factually incorrect. #pr #prtips #comms #mediarelations