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To many, media relations is as perplexing as complex algorithms. Some are so skeptical, they view practitioners as snake oil salespeople. To demystify the practice, let’s walk through some common misperceptions. To first ground us, let’s start with a definition. Per Wikipedia, “Media relations involves working with media for the purpose of informing the public of an organization’s mission, policies and practices in a positive, consistent and credible manner.” Now on to what media relations does not equal …
Media Relations ≠Public Relations
The Public Relations Society of America describes public relations as “… a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” Public relations is comprised of several areas, such as the following: community relations, employee relations, event promotion, investor relations and public affairs. Content creation, sponsorships and speaking engagements can also fall in the realm of public relations. The bottom line: public relations is not just media relations. It’s much more.
Media Relations ≠ Advertising
By pitching a story idea to the media, practitioners are able to secure earned media. The earned media could be a print or online article, TV or radio interview/segment or a blog post. This earned media is not an advertisement. An advertisement is paid for by the company or brand and guaranteed. The beauty of media relations is the third party credibility conveyed to your company. Ask yourself: do you put more stock in flashy advertisements or an article you read from a credible news source? However, coverage secured via media relations is not guaranteed as it is at the discretion of the reporter and/or editor regarding if, when and how the news is covered.
Media Relations ≠Free
This is where folks get confused. Per my section above, earned media isn’t paid media. In fact, don’t ever offer journalists money. But, the myriad tactics required to secure earned media aren’t free. Sound media relations requires strategic thinking, creative ideas, outreach and follow-up – all of this takes time. Lots of time. And time in media relations is how practitioners earn a living. Also, there are many tactics such as media tours, mailings, spokesperson out-of-pocket costs, media events, etc. that may be costly. In short, you don’t pay for the placement itself but the work that goes into securing the placement. With the exorbitant cost of advertising, you almost always come out ahead with media relations (and the credibility factor is honestly priceless).
Media Relations ≠ Press Release
A press release is one vehicle to inform the media of company news (e.g., a new product, an event, an opening, etc.). However, a well-crafted media relations strategy should include a pitch angle to accompany the press release that gives the journalist you are pitching context and/or the “so what” to the news and/or information that places your company’s news within a larger story. Some of my best media placements have been secured without a press release at all, but rather a crafty [email] pitch letter. Side note: Creating a press release when there isn’t news or simply posting a press release on a wire site (unless you’re just doing it for web reasons) will not earn your company quality news placements.
Now that you understand the “equation” of media relations (media relations = awareness and credibility for your brand or company), I hope you reach out to the team here at Pivot PR when you need some strategic media relations support!
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A recent survey by the Consumer Executive Board (CEB) of 1,900 corporate decision makers found that buyers are, at a minimum, 57 percent of the way through the buying process before they contact a potential supplier. Some respondents reported being as much as 70 percent complete with the decision-making process before reaching out to a vendor.[1] What does this mean for you? If your company is one that continues to solely pump out case studies and product literature, you’re missing your opportunity to actually influence and/or connect with your buyer. Yes – we live in a culture of “selfie” photos and can even subconsciously become focused on ourselves, our products and our business. To survive, you must be buyer-centric versus company-centric. (To really make my point, let me ask you this — do you unfollow the person that exclusively posts selfies?)
There are multiple guides, books and webinars out there that detail how to map the buyer journey and then align content and communications channels with that journey. There isn’t enough room in this blog to detail the full process. But, I hope this post can serve as a catalyst for you to explore your content strategy. Here’s your gut check. I’ve included below a couple of examples of the type of content that would be appropriate for each phase of the buyer journey. Keep in mind that the vehicles can cross over between phases; this is just a loose guide. Do you have any content listed in the awareness and consideration phases below? If your answer is “no” or “sort of,” please take action ASAP. If you’re already well on your way but are struggling with content ideas, check out Buzzsumo to see what content is trending for a topic or domain.
Awareness
- Ebook
- White paper
- Editorial article
- Email newsletter
Consideration
- Webinar
- White paper (solution comparison)
- Podcast
- Video
Preference/Decision
- Vendor/product comparison
- Case study
- Trial/software download
- Product literature
It’s okay to have some “selfies”; just be sure to insert some group, community or lifestyle photos too. The good news is that there are plenty of resources out there to guide you through this process. And, even better news, your friends at Pivot PR do somersaults of excitement over this entire process – from buyer persona creation and buyer journey mapping all the way down to creating the content. Always feel free to reach out for our help.
[1] http://www.salesandmarketing.com/content/mapping-buyer%E2%80%99s-journey
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Based on our experiences in the corporate world, we’ve found that the fire drills and hustle and bustle that keep you crazed during the year tend to slow down in the summer. After you take a vacation or two, be sure to use the time to clean house and get things in order so that you’re ready to go full force again in the fall.
1. Message Strategy: If someone asked you for your elevator pitch in an actual elevator, would you have the perfect 15-second answer? Would your co-worker have the same response? What about your website copy, marketing collateral or sales presentations? Are those pieces littered with industry jargon? Can you explain why you are really different or do you sound just like all of your competitors? One of the first things we do with our clients is to conduct deep-dive interactive sessions to develop buyer personas and the corresponding message strategy. This exercise forces an organization to rethink its positioning, key messages, supporting points and the right answers for those tough questions.
2. Editorial & Content Calendars: Have you pulled the latest editorial calendars of your most targeted media outlets? Whether it’s a long-lead trade or consumer publication, be sure to plan ahead or you’ll miss out! Also, don’t forget about that list of awards you’ve been meaning to expand (or the award to which you’ve been wanting to apply). Once completed with this work, create your annual content calendar to align with your media opportunities.
3. Media List Refresh: Is your media list all-inclusive and up-to-date? Doubt it. If you aren’t subscribing to a media database, you’ll need to roll up your sleeves and take the time to research online and/or pick up the phone and cross-check your contacts. Keep in mind: news rooms have a revolving door. If you updated a list a month ago even, it’s probably already outdated.
4. Monitoring: We at Pivot recommend regularly monitoring industry news so you can stay up-to-date on topics that matter the most. You can use Muck Rack to see previous articles written by journalists for free.
5. Crisis Planning: Although some organizations are more susceptible to crisis than others, every business has the potential for a crisis situation. Be sure to think through the most common scenarios and plan your communications thoroughly both internally and externally. Crisis communications is absolutely the last place you want to wing.
Of course you know you should be doing all of the above, but the question is are you really going to? If you need experts who can take all of this work off of your hands, Pivot PR is here to help!
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As most of you have probably noticed, we at Pivot PR have turned the tables on journalists and interviewed several highly influential media figures in Charlotte over the past year. We’ve spoken to folks in television, print, radio and online (including bloggers). Heck, we even interviewed the mayor! Why? Because relationships matter. And, the media landscape is changing so quickly, media list services like Cision can’t stay up-to-date.
So my question to you is, do you have a media list? Meaning, even if you crafted the perfect press release or pitch letter, or had an amazing story to tell, would you know who to send it to? It’s more difficult than one would think. Quick, who’s the leading beat reporter for your industry at The Charlotte Observer? Do you know the producer for WBTV’s 6 a.m. weekday show? How about the editor-in-chief for the hottest daily newsletter or blog in town?
If you’re not sure, don’t fret. We can help you target the right people to gain positive media coverage, ultimately driving awareness and new customers to your business. Keep in mind: creating media materials that don’t get coverage is a waste of your time, and bombarding the wrong journalists with your news will just get you blacklisted.
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ShopTalk is The Charlotte Observer’s weekly small business section designed to educate and connect the Charlotte community. The print version is published every Wednesday, and in conjunction with its blog, can be found online here. To learn more here’s a Q&A we did with reporter Jonathan McFadden…
Thanks for meeting with us, Jonathan! Tell us more about your role with The Obsever, specfically ShopTalk. I am the reporter, I do a lot of writing, video and help to maintain the blog. I also help out by contributing to daily business stories. I’ve been at The Charlotte Observer for eight months now and I’m really enjoying it.
To you, what’s the main purpose of ShopTalk? I would say the purpose is to provide tools, give advice, and show what others are doing – either to replicate or to avoid.
I noticed you do conferences and after hours events. Can you elaborate? Yes. We’re responsible for all the planning of those, which keep us busy. We’re in charge of finding the venue, conducting rehearsals, moderating, and interviewing panelists beforehand to provide takeaways to attendees.
What should folks keep in mind while pitching you? I get a crazy amount of pitches a day. It’s hard to give specific criteria to use because I usually find something good in each pitch. Definitely make sure each pitch is personable and compelling. We get a ton of stuff outside of Charlotte, which we don’t want, so it doesn’t hurt to put Charlotte in the subject line. Also, don’t get frustrated if we don’t run with your story right away. You could very well be on my radar and we might do something down the line when it makes more sense or I could tie it to a bigger story.
What kind of stories to you personally enjoy doing? I love the rags to riches or struggle stories — ones that are born out of frustration are particularly interesting to me.
Define small business. SBA says 500 employees or less, but sometimes we make exceptions. Be ready to disclose revenue and, yes, we usually share that information because it’s relevant. It’s an indicator of your success and provides a metric to our readers.
What about the ShopTalk Blog? It’s great because print is once a week, so a daily blog allows us to cover many more stories than we could otherwise.
What issues would you like to write more about? I’m Interested in getting more into public policy issues for small business. There’s a lot happening in the state house regarding taxes. Hopefully we can tap into that a bit more in the future. The state of entrepreneurship is also of interest to me as there are behind the scenes things to consider. For example, getting capital is difficult here. I know people are working to change that.
Is there collaboration between ShopTalk and business beat reporters? I have a meeting every Monday morning with my editor, but everyone has their own sub-beats under the “business” umbrella. All-in-all there is a lot of communication with each other and we help each other out. It could be as simple as passing something along you know is appropriate for your colleague. With a really big story, there are times where everybody pitches in and helps out with it.
How do you conduct your research? My main sources are trade association reports, industry experts and online research; we also have a researcher on staff. Sometimes I use social media and the Better Business Bureau is helpful. I cast a wide net. It’s important to substantiate legitimacy of our sources.
What else should our readers know or do? Tell your story. I’ll get it out of you, but it’s helpful that when you know you’ve got something compelling, tell it! Don’t bury it. I understand there can be things you don’t want out there, a tragedy or something horrible that has happened to you, but others can learn from it! I want the story behind the story. If you’re working with a public relations agency, make sure they drive it home too. Don’t use industry jargon. Also don’t forget to follow me on Twitter! @JmcfaddenObsBiz
To many, media relations is as perplexing as complex algorithms. Some are so skeptical, they view practitioners as snake oil salespeople. To demystify the practice, let’s walk through some common misperceptions. To first ground us, let’s start with a definition. Per Wikipedia, “Media relations involves working with media for the purpose of informing the public of an organization’s mission, policies and practices in a positive, consistent and credible manner.” Now on to what media relations does not equal …
