Getting regular coverage in the media (the right kind of coverage) plays a powerful role in raising the profile of your brand. So how do you go about it?
There are two options:
· Hire a public relations expert or firm to do it for you
· Do your own PR.
If you’re in a position to hire a consultant
that’s great, but if not, here are some tips on how you engage with the media.
But first…..
Before you start the process of dealing with
the media, this article presumes that you have already worked out the
following:
· What your objectives are in engaging with the media i.e. what does
success look like for you?
· Who your customer is i.e. that you have defined what Islandbridge calls
your ‘Bullseye Customer’;
· What your target messages are – what you want to say to the media – and
through them to your customers?
Who are your Target Media?
How do you establish who your target media
are? In a nutshell, it’s the media that your customers – current and
potential - are consuming.
So ask yourself and ask them:
· Where and how do they get their news? Print, broadcast or online – one,
some or all of these?
· What newspapers, consumer and/or magazines do your customers read?
· Which radio shows and radio stations do they listen to?
· Which TV shows do they enjoy?
· Which websites do they regularly visit?
· With which social media do they engage?
· Whose blogs are they reading?
· Who do they follow on LinkedIn?
Once you’ve answered these questions, draw up
your own media contacts list – here’s how you do that:
· Buy the newspapers, consumer and trade magazines that your customers read
and look at them in a different way – note who is writing on the topics that
are relevant to your customers and to your business;
· Listen to the relevant radio shows – you don’t have to listen live, you
can listen back via podcasts etc and note how they structure their shows e.g.
the radio business shows cover business news, what it says in the papers, do
interviews with entrepreneurs etc – listening to these shows helps you see
where the opportunities are.
· It’s the same advice for TV magazine shows such as ireland am, Morning
Edition, Late Lunch Live and Today – watch them back on the Player and note the
different segments in each show;
· If your customers are active on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter – engage
with them there;
· Once you have your list of key journalists drawn up, follow them on
Twitter and comment on their posts. Some journalists look for
contributors to a story they are doing via Twitter so make sure you’re in the
mix!
What do I say?
The most important thing to remember is that
journalists are only interested in something that is newsworthy – for example,
while you may be investing in building a huge, state-of-the-art warehouse,
don’t go on about the construction details, focus instead on the number of jobs
the company’s expansion will create, the new markets it will open up for you
and so on.
Email or Phone?
It’s up to you. Personally, I prefer email
first, then a follow-up phone call. For the phone call, prepare your
‘elevator pitch’ in advance – focus on the news part of your story - and keep
it short!
Watch what time you phone – don’t call the news
desk of radio stations at five minutes to the hour when they’re finalising
their hourly news bulletin – wait til ten or fifteen minutes past!
Useful Sites for Media Information:
If you want to know which newspapers and radio
stations cover your county or the counties where your customers are based, if
you need to find out the circulation and readership of national and regional
media and information on radio, TV, print, outdoor, cinema and online
advertising – it’s all available on www.medialive.ie.
It’s a really helpful website that’s free to use – just register your name
and email address and you’re in!
Another very useful site is www.mediacontact.ie – which has
fantastic, up-to-the-minute databases of national and regional media including
specialist media. Whereas medialive.ie is geared towards advertisers,
this one give you the editorial contacts i.e. the names and contact details for
journalists nationwide. It’s a paid-for service but well worth it if you
are going to be in regular contact with the media. You can distribute your
press releases via the site and/or post them as social media releases.
If
you have any queries on anything in this piece, please email Hello@DIYPR.ie
Nostaglia, defined as 'a sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period in the past', is a subtly powerful emotion that can transport us back to a time or era we thought lost forever. And we don't
