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key strategy for our client media relations programs at Full Tilt involves capitalizing on the news of the day—highly relevant, breaking stories that hit the media (web and print) pages. Like anything, the key is preparation. That, and a genuine curiosity of and true fascination with current events.
There are many aspects of marketing and communications that intersect with other disciplines, but high-level media relations is not one of them. It very basically involves identifying the right media targets with the right story at the right time. And the nuances within that process are plentiful.
How does this translate to company leaders who are trying to build a brand? It takes having an opinion and inserting yourself into the national dialogue to become a thought leader. Here are some ideas for creating a plan of action for capitalizing on the “news of the day”:
- Create a template media plan before news hits. For examples, we will respond to “this” kind of news, reach out to “this” number of reporters with key company messages including “this,” “this” and “this” and offer your company spokesperson for immediate comment.
- Follow a few major news outlets each day (keep it manageable) and begin to identify reporters who cover the types of topics similar to your company and industry. Who is well-respected, prominent, connected and influential? Gather their email addresses and organize their names by outlet in a spreadsheet. This will be your media list.
- Using your targeted list of reporter names, set up Google Alert monitoring for the reporters and/or issues of interest to your industry or business. It gives you timely news without having to go out and pull down all their articles. Set up parameters for when an issue becomes enough of national interest to warrant reacting to them.
- Here are some examples relevant to the staffing industry: “Sue Shellenbarger” “Dave Jamieson” “SHRM” “contract workforce” “unemployment rates”
- Write a template for short letters to the editor that can be customized around the issue of the day plus one sentence about your company. To be most effective, these letters need to be sent out immediately after a news articles posts. Your letter could also be posted as a Comment to an online article.
You also want to tie in a hefty social media aspect of the program to get the most out of the initiative.
Realistically, be prepared to drop everything. But it can be an exciting ride! Is your organization already capitalizing on timely news stories as a way to have a voice in the national conversation? If not, it might be time for you to partner with someone who can make this process a reality. I’m just sayin’.
There are many aspects of marketing and communications that intersect with other disciplines, but high-level media relations is not one of them. It very basically involves identifying the right media targets with the right story at the right time. And the nuances within that process are plentiful.