Media Relations is one of the most effective ways to build brand awareness and create a strong and positive image. As PR practitioners, it’s our job to ensure that our clients get coverage in leading publications that their target end-users and other stakeholders read. Here are some tips that you can follow for successful media relations:
Know the journalist
Know to whom you are pitching. One way to ensure a positive working relationship with media personnel is to become deeply familiar with their “beats” and areas of interests. Double check if they are still covering your sector — this is easy to do by monitoring what they have written over the last month.
Reach out by email
Write an enticing introductory email to the reporter about your company clearly indicating why they should be interested. Success often depends on timing. For example, a good way to make this initial introduction is when a big event in your industry happens.
Follow-up
Follow-ups are very important during the pitching process. Remember, journalists are extremely busy and it can be easy for them to miss an email. One needs to give them enough time to respond but not too long so that the story becomes stale. Nothing is older than yesterday’s news.
Be prepared
Reporters may come to you just before they are about to finish an article requesting items like a biography or pictures. Having these types of documents on hand at all times will ensure that you don’t delay the reporter or their article. Always be on stand-by, ready to help.
Companies must build and manage relationships with the media regularly to get the publicity that they want. If you are looking to build connections with the media, our consultants can help you. Visit our website www.midas-pr.com today for more information or get in touch with us by email.