The best way to make your PR effective is to find out what journalists want and to provide it. What makes a good news story depends very much on the publication. In the trade press, a sales story, a product launch or a new appointment will often get coverage.
However, this kind of straight business news may not fit the remit of every publication. You may need to give your story an angle or a hook. Does your new product solve a particular problem that everyone can relate to? Or is your announcement part of a wider story about how trends are changing in your sector?
Be as helpful as you can. Provide everything they need, including quotes, pictures, facts and figures and case studies. You may be asked for customer contacts, so make sure you have one or two loyal clients you can depend upon to sing your praises.
Many trade publications plan ahead. To avoid missing an opportunity, you should ask about special features such as event previews or sector reports where the journalist will be actively looking for contributions from companies like yours.
It is also worth cultivating the freelance journalists that write for the publications that you are targeting. They are often looking for quotes, information and ideas. If you help them, they will come back to you for your input. You may even be able to pitch an idea to them for a feature that they can take to the magazine.
If you are doing your own PR then you may well be having a hard time figuring out why you are not getting a huge amount of coverage.
It’s tough getting journalists excited enough to write about you; unfortunately that wonderfully crafted product announcement or client case study you just sent out to your contacts in the media won’t immediately hit the front page, no matter how market changing you believe it to be.
Why? Firstly, it’s because understanding what a journalist wants is difficult. Secondly, there’s a chance that you aren’t communicating with the media using the right language.
Speaking to them as if they are a prospect is the quickest way to get ignored. Take a moment to imagine just how many marketing or sales people send out stories to journalists in the hope of getting covered; after all, you frequently read stories about your competitors and their life changing products, right? But look again; in the cold light of day, the press release, case study, or opinion article has probably been submitted by a PR.
Understanding editorial sensibilities
The reality is that any decent journalist is not going to publish anything promotional. Ever. That’s the place for advertising and never the twain shall meet – oh, and don’t go suggesting to an editor that you will place an advert if they place your promotional copy; that’s the quickest way to offend editorial sensibilities.
It takes an in-depth understanding of the world in which the journalists operate to get the relationship right. They take delight in turning the dull and mundane into entertaining prose that will engage their readership so that they keep coming back for more. Give them a hint of sales and marketing and they’ll run for the hills, but give them an engaging piece of insight that tackles a thorny issue that their readership is struggling with and you’ll have them eating out of your hand.
Language matters
You PR agency can strike that (almost) impossible balance between what you would love to see written about you and what the journalist could be convinced to write about you. It’s still “promotional”. It still features you or one of your clients. And it still talks to your market about the market, positioning you as an expert. The difference is the language used, as the copy will be written in a specific way to engage an audience on neutral ground, outlining the issue and a potential solution examining as many of the scenarios as possible to give a balanced view.
Of course there is still a place for breaking news – that announcement that will have the market in shock and awe. However, the fact that one of your clients has just placed an order is not necessarily news. The truth is that any journalist may consider a news story if it has a great brand associated with it, but they are going to be far more interested if there is an angle that dares to challenge the status quo.
In reality, even PR 101 needs a sprinkling of magic, but the good news is that the magic can be found amongst the skilled and experienced PR professionals out there. It’s not that you aren’t trying, it’s just that you might need a little help to speak the right language.
Five classic mistakes to avoid when dealing with the media
Getting PR coverage is a great way to raise the profile of your business but convincing journalists to write about your business is not easy. Tom Maddocks of Media Training Associates reveals five common mistakes that people make when dealing with the media and explains how to get it right
Making smart use of the media can be a highly effective (and cheap!) marketing tool for small firms, but it is always surprising how many small business owners don’t make the effort, or fail to grab the opportunity. They are either scared of talking to the media for fear of being misquoted or respresented in a negative way. Or they think no-one would be interested in them. Here are five mistakes people make that are easy to avoid.
Not understanding the ‘media mindset’. The more you understand how the journalist thinks, the more likely you are to be able to deliver something he or she is looking for. All they want is something that will catch the attention of their readers (or viewers, or listeners). So your business on its own may not stand out, but maybe your personal story will be of interest — did you overcome adversity in some way to get going, or did you make a radical career change that people might find fascinating (city trader to sheep farmer, perhaps?). Or do you have some strong views about local or industry issues that other people in your area or sector would find interesting and relevant? Think as creatively as possible to give them an ‘angle’.
Not responding quickly enough. Reporters and editors are busy people, so if they call up looking for comment or opinion, get back to them as soon as possible. Reporters know people are sometimes hard to get hold of, so they will often put out a couple of calls and the company that responds most quickly most often gets the quote.
Not preparing for the interview. Problems most often occur when people just respond to the journalist’s questions, rather than thinking clearly about what they want to get across. Then, all too often, they put down the phone afterwards and think, “That went OK, but what a shame he never asked me about our new product/battle with the planning authorities/industry award – I could have told him some really interesting stuff!” Or they think up a pithy quote in the bath that night, instead of having it all ready-prepared for the reporter. So if you are approached by a journalist, always find out what they are looking for, and say you’re busy at the moment but will call back shortly. Use the time to really think about what you want to get across and what would be of interest to their particular readership or audience.
Not getting to the point. This is particularly important if you get the chance to go on radio or TV! Journalists are under pressure to deliver a lot of material quickly. They get frustrated by people who go into endless irrelevant detail rather than getting on with it. So give them the bottom line point as soon as possible — you can always back it up with the evidence afterwards. Otherwise they may just lose interest and go elsewhere.
Talking in jargon. Don’t make the mistake of assuming everyone knows as much about your industry as you do. Even if you are talking to a trade publication, the reporter is unlikely to be as much of an expert as you are. If you talk in gobbledegook, you are likely to be misunderstood, misquoted or just ignored. Use the vernacular not technical language — in other words think you how you would explain it to a friend or family member, who is not in the same line of business.