As companies cut their ad budgets, they've started to rely more
on public relations to help drive sales and build brands. At the
same time, publications have downsized or folded completely due
to lost advertising revenue, resulting in less overall editorial
space. This means that competition for media coverage and product
reviews has intensified. Agencies will be showing their clients
smaller clip books as the number of available significant media
outlets decrease, but each hard-earned clip will carry that much
more weight.
Contrary to the business model of many agencies, inexperienced,
junior PR practitioners are not well suited for media relations.
It takes a seasoned veteran to merge media relations skills with
business and life experience. Next time, we'll look at the subtle
nurturing and teaching needed for setting realistic coverage expectations
by clients. For now, here is a checklist of some "key ingredients"
to media relations success:
Know your client and subject matter: Work without a script!
PR professionals add value to media relations by bridging the gap
between client and reporter. We need to know what our clients do,
what their market is, and be able to speak intelligently enough
to interest a reporter in speaking with our client. Reading from
a script makes a PR practitioner sound like a telemarketer, and
works against winning coverage. A media pitcher needs to think critically
and quickly. Having some business and life experience helps - it's
a shame that most agencies let children work without a net.
Key message points: Make sure your client has developed
a set of key message points that make your client's story relevant
for each of their target audiences. Know these message points, and
make sure they're worked into conversations and media pitches whenever
possible and appropriate. Be prepared to explain them - don't just
read them.
Targeting: Know where to find your audience. This is the
classic Wall Street Journal vs. trade journal dilemma. Clients tend
to think that they're the greatest thing since sliced bread, and
that their story belongs in the Wall Street Journal. Even if they're
right, the Wall Street Journal might not be the best place for them
to be covered. We must educate and counsel our clients to make sure
they understand that the best place for them to be covered is wherever
their target audience is. If your client makes widgets, they would
probably have better results if they were covered in Widgets Weekly.
It's often easier to be featured in a standalone article in a targeted
trade publication than to receive a one-line mention that will go
unnoticed in a daily business monolith. This is Marketing 101 -
it's all about targeting.
Pitch the right reporter: Fewer journalists are being asked
to cover more stories because publications have cut staff. Journalists
are overloaded, and have become less accessible, so it becomes tougher
to quickly identify the right contact for the right pitch. When
you find a related article, it's still time-consuming to find a
way to contact the writer, as e-mail addresses and phone numbers
change often and are not readily accessible. Even media list services
tend to have outdated e-mail information. Part of our job is to
find and reach the right media contact, and part of our job is to
make sure our clients understand and accept that this takes billable
time.
Timeliness: When the press calls for information, good,
senior PR practitioners know that they must return calls or respond
to e-mails in a manner of minutes, not the next day. The reporter's
deadline will be here soon, and you can bet that as soon as the
reporter leaves a message, he/she is calling your competition.
Always include contact information: Any e-mail ever sent
by the agency or client should offer full contact information (name,
title, location, phone number, and e-mail address). Never assume
the media knows you or how to reach you. When you return a phone
call, make sure you leave your phone number, slowly and clearly.
PDA batteries can die. Don't send out a press release or post one
on your Web site without current contact details.
Know editorial lead times: Weekly and daily publications,
along with Internet and broadcast media usually have short lead
times. What you tell a reporter on a call now could be public knowledge
in as little as 15 minutes. On the other hand, monthly magazines
and trade journals often have lead times as long as 6 months. Knowing
the lead time for the media outlet you are contacting will enable
you to properly pitch a story, and position that story within the
timeframes and constraints of a particular journalist. Many reporters
have Thursday deadlines - unless you have urgent, breaking hard
news, never do media pitching on Thursday.
Don't rely on editorial calendars: While Ed Cals are an
essential tool in your media relations mix, they are not the be
all and end all. Many times, Ed Cals are the figment of the advertising
department's imagination, and have no basis in reality. Other times,
the contact listed has left the publication, or has no idea about
the article until a PR flack calls to pitch. Be proactive and create/find
your own opportunities!
Easy access to information: A user-friendly online pressroom
is a must. All press materials should offer full contact information
(name, title, location, phone number, and e-mail address). For details
about the online pressroom, see www.techmarcom.com/pressrooms.html.
News vs. marketing: Do you have something newsworthy to
tell the media? Unless your company or client is large and/or public,
the announcement of a new product or service may not be news to
a reporter. Partnerships are not really news to anyone except the
companies involved. Everyone is a Microsoft or Sun partner - it's
not going to result in coverage. Signing a major (public company)
client is news, especially if you can show that the deal actually
produces revenue, and quantify how much. Avoid pitches and press
releases for trivial things, and don't send one out every few weeks
for the sake of keeping your company's name out there. Many reporters
will treat your company like any spammer and ignore future emails,
including some that may have been newsworthy.
Avoid Hype and buzzwords: Using jargon and buzzwords in
press releases has always been taboo, but tech companies have stooped
to new lows as they scramble to create a "buzz" and attract investors
and customers. While such buzzwords and opinionated superlatives
are appropriate for advertising, sales, and marketing materials,
they are inappropriate for press releases and media pitches. The
media has grown skeptical, cynical, and tired of jargon-crammed
releases. Some have installed filters to screen and trash buzzword
filled e-mailed press releases.
Public vs. private - size matters: Even the "techiest" of
tech reporters shows more interest in a company's stock ticker symbol
than the solutions that company offers. If the story being pitched
isn't about a large, publicly held company, or about signing a large,
quantifiable deal with a publicly held company, some reporters just
aren't interested. Others won't even consider covering a company
they've never heard of (does this mean they take their cues from
better informed competitors?), and it is rare that a reporter will
return a call about a smaller or privately held company. Editorial
decisions seem to resemble radio play lists where each song has
been tested by a focus group before the artist gets played into
the ground. As PR practitioners, we walk a fine line of prodding
reporters to ferret out the smaller, lesser-known companies, take
some risks, and cover something that readers don't already know
about, while having to explain to our clients why reporters will
resist such prodding.
Customer contacts for media: Don't underestimate the value
of customers! While the media is tired of pitches that amount to
nothing more than marketing hype and salesmanship, they're still
interested in results and success stories. Real problems solved
for real (paying) customers is attractive to reporters. Reporters
don't just want to hear a vendor executive pontificate - they want
to speak with someone who had laid down cash and bought into that
vision, and they want to know how well it worked and what problem
it solved. Read more about customer references and case studies
at www.techmarcom.com/studies.html.
Real ISP vs. AOL: AOL may be the world's largest Internet
Service Provider, but many tech journalists seem to have a bias
against AOL users. Right or wrong, a PR contact pitching from an
AOL address may be perceived to be less knowledgeable/credible,
and is taken less seriously than someone with a company or personal
(vanity) domain. Many techies call AOL "America's Training Wheels,"
and display this same snobbery toward free mail services like Yahoo
and Hotmail. A pitch coming from an AOL or freebie account may be
deleted without being opened.
