by Kyle Potvin
Principal,
Splash Communications, LLC
The
Today show? The New
York Times? Vanity
Fair? What's your dream
hit? While nothing inspires
more fear and trepidation in
public relations professionals
than media relations, it doesn't
have to be complicated. Remember
these 10 tips and soon you'll land
your ultimate story.
1. Have a Good Story.
Whether writing a movie, a sitcom,
an opera, a book or a news
article, a good story must have
certain elements such as a theme,
a hero, and a beginning, middle
and end, to make it compelling.
Journalists recognize a strong
story within seconds, so learn how
to tell yours quickly and
succinctly. That's good
storytelling.
2. Know Your Audience.
You wouldn't call potential
clients without knowing something
about their business, so don't
call the media blindly. Before
you pitch any media outlet, study
it. Read the publication. Watch
the show. Who covers similar
topics? Are there contributors to
stories where you have interests
such as food, technology or
health? What format do they
prefer? The answers will be
very different depending on
whether you are pitching The
New York Times, Glamour or
"Live with Regis and Kelly."
3. It's All About
Relationships. Whose
call are you more likely to take? A
vendor you've never spoken to
before or one who has taken the
time to develop a relationship and
truly understands your needs? It
is no different with the media. Building
relationships NOW means that
reporters will take your call when
you've got an important story to
tell. Best of all, even if they
can't help you on this particular
one, they are likely to refer you
to another reporter who can. As
with any relationship, building
trust is critical. Do what you say
you will, within the timeframe you
give. You may not be able to
provide all the information
requested, but if you are upfront
about what you can and can't do,
reporters will appreciate it and
remember. One reminder:
everything is on the record, no
matter how close you are.
4. Create the Unexpected.
Look for out-of-the ordinary
partnerships for spurring media
interest. For instance, at
Vorhaus, we wanted to position one
of our clients, Buick, as a
contemporary car company for
younger consumers and more
relevant than ever. To do that, we
decided that we needed to generate
publicity for Buick beyond
traditional automotive press. We
leveraged Buick's relationship
with American fashion designer,
Joseph Abboud, to create a joint
fashion show/car unveiling. Attending
media was far from ordinary: GQ,
Men's Health, Vanity
Fair and more.
5. Pitching is Fun. When
you are just starting out, you
can't believe this could ever be
true. You imagine the worst: crabby
journalists hanging up on you or
worse, cursing you. Then you land
your first big story, and suddenly
you've got pitching fever. Here
are some quick tips to make those
calls easier:
a.
Use this effective introduction: "We
haven't spoken before." Forget
the days of pretending to be a
reporter's best friend. Journalists
don't fall for it and they
actually miss the first valuable
minutes of your pitch trying to
figure out who you are. Be
upfront.
b. Hone your pitch to a 15
second elevator speech.
c. Always ask if a reporter is
on deadline. If so, find
out a good time to call back,
and do.
d. Know your story inside and
out. This allows you to
revise your pitch as you hear
objections instead of folding
instantly. Know enough to
pitch other clients, too.
Even if your client doesn't fit
this time, another may.
e. Try different approaches. All
journalists have personal
preferences about how they like
to be contacted so try a variety
of techniques. Often a
brief, compelling paragraph sent
via e-mail is an effective yet
unobtrusive introduction.
f. Follow-up. Many potential
leads are lost simply because PR
people don't follow through on
them. If a reporter tells you to
call back another time, make
sure you do. Also, just because
a reporter doesn't answer your
e-mail immediately, doesn't mean
she isn't interested. It could
just mean that she hasn't gotten
to any of the 150 e-mails
received that day.
g. Persistence, persistence,
persistence. There is a
fine line between being
persistent and annoying, but if
you truly know your story and
your audience, there is no shame
in steadfastly making contact
attempts until you get the
reporter on the phone. (Just
don't keep leaving messages.)
6. Be Creative. While
it's easy to recycle the same old
press releases and fact sheets,
infusing your media plans with
some innovative thinking will
produce stronger, more effective
results. For instance, when
introducing Peanut Butter &
Jelly Cups from Russell Stover
Candies, we positioned the product
as part of the growing retro trend
and tied into adult nostalgia for
childhood. We sent out
"Wouldn't You Like to Be a
Kid Again?" personalized
purple lunch boxes filled with
jacks, jump ropes and product to
media nationwide along with
compelling video footage. We
reached more than 15 million
consumers with the message that
our new candy is fun for all ages. Media
as diverse as The Rosie
O'Donnell Show, Today, Seventeen
and Time all covered the
product.
7.
Good Writing Counts.
Adopt a journalistic approach. Look
carefully at how reputable
publications such as The New
York Times or The Wall
Street Journal write a story. What
is the lead? What type of
quotes do they use? Study
different types of stories --
features, executive changes, news
articles. For the most part,
you'll see the inverted pyramid
style where the most important
information is in the lead and the
rest of the story flows from
there. Despite recent e-word
mania, it's time to eliminate
jargon and buzz words. Say
what you want, but say it simply
and plainly. Another sign of weak
writing is the use of clichés. Finally,
ever feel like you just can't
write that press release? This
blockage often indicates you don't
have enough information. Do
outside research. Interview a
customer. Get another
perspective. Then you're sure to
end up with a solid product that
would appeal to any journalist.
8. Have a Strategy.
Don't use the same media strategy
for every story. Think about
whom you want to reach and how to
create excitement. One
effective technique is to offer a
"first" (as in first
chance to break the story) to a
major media outlet. For the
launch of Minute Maid's new
not-from-concentrate orange juice,
Simply Orange, The Wall Street
Journal got the first
opportunity. We expected that
other media would chase the story,
and as early as 6 a.m. the morning
the story hit, we made calls to
arrange interviews with other
media. Quickly media such as AP,
Reuters, The New York Times,
CNN and more than 100 other
broadcast outlets covered the
story as well.
9. Clients Love Hits.
Despite all the counseling,
strategy, partnerships, writing
and more, clients want media
coverage. Until the industry
creates better measurement
systems, a full page Business
Week story becomes a tangible
"product" that your
clients can hold in their hands
and show to their boss.
10. If You Get Results, You'll
Go Far. There are two
measures of how high you rank on
the value chain: knowledge
and relationships. Success with
media relations is a sure way to
show that you are at the top.
Kyle
Potvin is principal at Splash Communications, LLC, a consultancy of
communications specialists with experience serving some of the world’s
most visible brands. She
can be reached at kpotvin@splashllc.com
or visit www.splashllc.com.
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