Media outreach is an integral part of digital PR; but is often overlooked by small businesses. Reaching out to local and national press can dramatically increase levels of brand awareness, organic SEO, inbound traffic and overall perceived authority in your industry, and as such should be a major part of any ongoing marketing campaign.
Once you are ready to start planning for your media relations outreach campaign, the first thing you should do is make sure that what you have to say is relevant not only to your audience, but also to the media. You have to make sure that the story you are telling is the right mix of brand and human interest to make the media want to talk about it – and ideally to link to your brand.
Here are 5 ways to make sure that the story you are telling is media-worthy:
#1: Brainstorm
Start with a brainstorm with your team and try to come up with as many ideas as possible. Then, when you’re ready, review all the ideas and edit them to at least three that you think are newsworthy.
#2: Play Devil’s Advocate
Ask yourself tough questions and be hard on the ideas you’ve come up with. If you can answer all of the questions and criticisms, then you know you have a great idea on your hands.
#3: Compare to competitors’ stories
Create a spreadsheet of your competitors, and then list all of the stories you can find them listed for. What kind of topics regularly get them press? Are they producing unique data, or simply being quoted as an industry authority in their industry? Analysing your competitor’s coverage will not only help you come up with ideas, but will give you a handy list of journalists likely to feature you in the future. Be sure to double check all email addresses and URL’s when you’re finished, as it’s easy to make mistakes in spreadsheets and catching them early can save you a lot of time and effort.
#4: Talk about it
Once you have either narrowed down your options or you have landed on that great story, talk about it to family and friends and gauge their reaction. You can generally tell whether someone finds your idea interesting or not, and, on occasion you might find that friend who will be totally honest with you. Take the reactions and constructive criticism and apply it to your idea where appropriate.
#5: Develop consistent messaging
After your idea has been tweaked and criticized, you should have a great story idea to pitch. Now you have to build the foundation for your outreach by creating messaging that will be used throughout your pitches, media releases, media kits, etc. Your messaging document should contain short points that outline your brand story. Consistency is key, and repetition will get you remembered.