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Top 10 Tips to Improve Your Media Relations Skills
By Peter Granat
You can have all the facts, know what you what you want to say, and believe that your message is important to your market, yet never get a single media placement. Could it be the way you are communicating?
Listed below are 10 highly effective tips to improving your communication with the media and efficiently increasing media exposure for your company or client.
| 1. |
Know the reporter and the publication before picking up the phone. First, build a targeted media list of the publications that may have an interest in what you’re pitching, and then determine which journalists you should be talking to at those publications. If you are pitching a portal story to a technology magazine, for instance, don’t begin e-mailing and calling all of the reporters you can find at the magazine. You will be wasting time and reducing your chances of coverage by aggravating the staff. Once you know who to target, you should also find out what he/she has recently written to understand the subtleties of their coverage area. This will help you create targeted pitches and story ideas that are both compelling and relevant. |
| 2. |
Always know how and when a reporter wants to be contacted. Some reporters want phone calls, others prefer e-mail, and still others want news the old-fashioned way – by snail mail. In the case of breaking news, some reporters even recommend that you call them on their mobile phone if they can’t be reached at their desk. Contacting reporters inappropriately or at the wrong time – such as on deadline – can lead to damaged relationships. |
| 3. |
Clarify your message before delivering your pitch. There is nothing worse for a reporter than receiving an e-mail that is a carbon copy of a press release, or getting a call from someone that is not familiar with the company they are pitching or the news they are announcing. Develop a bulleted "fast facts" sheet, especially for phone pitches, that outlines your key message points. Most reporters are extremely busy and will give you only 30 seconds to make your case. They will not bite on your idea if you don’t offer a convincing argument.Clarify your message before delivering your pitch. |
| 4. |
When sending ideas via e-mail, always include a short, pithy pitch along with your contact information. It is important to make the reporter’s job as easy as possible so make sure to provide the most important news in the first paragraph. You should also include the company’s URL, as a reporter will often times visit the company’s Web site before calling back. Editors and reporters get hundreds of e-mails a day, so entice them into calling you for more information or, even better, to set up an interview. |
| 5. |
Be careful what you send via e-mail. Never send unsolicited e-mail attachments, as some reporters will be wary of opening them due to virus concerns, and others simply won’t take the time. In addition, always craft a catchy subject line but avoid using all caps or excessive punctuation as both tactics produce a red flag that your pitch might be a virus. Finally, never send out a group e-mail with your entire distribution list in the header. It’s impersonal and shows a lack of effort on your part. |
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