How to maximize media coverage
By Tina L. Pugliese, APR, Pugliese Public Relations
Here are some quick tips for maximizing your opportunities for media coverage.
Have a Strategy: Tailor your strategy for each public relations opportunity. Think about the audience you want to reach and how to create excitement. An effective part of your strategy should be to re-enforce your organization's core messages in all news releases.
Have a Good Story: A news story must have a compelling beginning, middle, and end. Journalists recognize a strong story within seconds, so tell your story quickly and succinctly.
Be Creative: Infusing your media relations plans with innovative thinking produces stronger, more effective results, so avoid recycling the same old news releases and fact sheets.
Find Information: Do you sometimes feel like you just can't write the news release? This blockage often indicates you do not have enough information. Do outside research. Interview an industry analyst. Get another perspective. This investigation can lead to the information for a great story.
Know Your Audience: You wouldn't follow up on a potential business opportunity without knowing something about their business, so do not call the news media blindly. Before you pitch to any media outlet, study their work. Read the publication, watch the show, and listen to the radio broadcast. Get familiar with the characteristics of the media outlet you are targeting. Find out about their main audience and their likes and dislikes.
Think Before You Speak: A word of caution: everything you say to a reporter is on the record, regardless of disclaimers. You are representing your organization at all times. The impression that you give has a definite impact on how the media view your organization.
Be Persistent: There is a fine line between being persistent and being annoying, but if you have a good story and know your audience, it is fine to make contact attempts until you get feedback from a reporter.
Follow Up: Many potential leads are lost because people fail to follow through. If a reporter tells you to call back another time, make sure you do. Also, if a reporter does not answer your e-mail immediately, do not assume they are not interested. They might not have had time to respond to the large volume of e-mails they receive.
Study and Adopt Good Writing Skills: Use a journalistic approach. Look carefully at how reputable publications like The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal structure a story. What is the lead? What kind of quotes do they use? Study different types of stories. Features, appointment announcements, news articles, and opinion pieces can all be useful in your public relations campaign. Often, you will see the most important information is in the lead and that the rest of the story follows. This inverted pyramid style is the best way to organize an article.
Eliminate Jargon: Write with clear language, and avoid clichés, which are another sign of weak writing.
Monitor Your Media Coverage: Media coverage shows your success. The end goal is always positive media coverage for your organization. When your organization is spotlighted in major media outlets, you bring attention and respect to your business.
Expect Results: Media coverage means increased visibility, which exposes your organization to more prospective customers. The more people you can reach, the better the impact will be on your organization.
Tina L. Pugliese, APR is an executive coach and counselor for Pugliese Public Relations, a communications firm in Boynton Beach, Florida. Pugliese is an accredited member of the Public Relations Society of America, and is the author of the book, Public Relations for Pharmacists, and e-books, Marketing Your Business for Success, How To Work With The Media, and Public Relations Manual — A Guide for Entrepreneurs. She can be reached at (561) 889-3575 and by email at Tina@PugliesePR.com. Her web site is www.PugliesePR.com.
Article excerpted from e-book, Public Relations Manual — A Guide for Entrepreneurs, by Tina L. Pugliese, APR.
