While luck may be in the air with St. Patrick’s Day celebrations this month, it’s never a good idea to count on luck for your media coverage. When you’re competing for placement and coverage you need more than a wee-bit-o luck, you need professionals that have your back and are constantly contacting the media on your behalf. Here’s a guide to getting those golden media results you’re looking for:
You need a plan
While it may look like your competitors have followed a rainbow to a treasure full of media coverage, it’s likely that they have a strategic plan for getting their coverage. You need to telegraph good news stories well in advance. Pitches should line up with new product launches or company initiatives and waiting till the last minute is a sure way to miss out on coverage. You’ll want to feed a steady stream of stories to the media, because after all, they won’t all get picked up. Having a plan will also make sure that you don’t have multiple stories dropping at once, giving each story and opportunity to have its moment in the sun.
Professionals reach out to professionals
Public relations covers more areas of communication than you think! One of these is called media relations. This means that your representative has become an expert on the media, both outlets and journalists, in your industry. Your PR team will likely have a pre-existing relationship with reporters that cover your industry (or can develop them) and will be able to reach out to professionally pitch your story. In fact, reporters expect to have a relationship with those pitching them stories. Additionally, your competition will also be reaching out to the same reporters, so having a team than can tweak the angle to fit each individual publication and journalist is a huge asset. Having a pro on your side will help lead your brand to those golden media results.
What if you’re unlucky?
One thing that might get you media coverage even when you aren’t trying is a crisis, but that’s not really the type of media coverage you want. However, if you have a whip smart PR team they’ll create a crisis communications plan for your brand. It will cover all types of situations from building emergencies (such as fire or flood) to product recalls to employee misconduct. Bad news can travel fast, so you’ll need to have a blueprint just in case. Ideally, you’ll never have to use it, but if something does happen, at least you’ll have a strategy and messaging in place.
Luck runs out
The thing about luck is that it eventually runs out, no matter how many four-leaf clovers you’ve found. For ongoing results you can count on, hire a hard-working and strategic PR team to reach out to the mediato get you the golden media coverage your company deserves!