A part of PR management that is often overlooked is media relations but this shouldn’t be so as crafting a positive relationship with media outlets like news sites and journalists can do wonders for your image and brand reputation.
In this article, I take a look at how these relationships work, why they are beneficial, and simple steps you can take to improve your media relations management.
What do we Mean by Media Relationship Management?
To build a watertight PR strategy you have to build relationships with multiple groups of people within and outside your industry. This includes customers, the general public, suppliers, and even competitors to a degree.
Media relationship simply means creating bonds with people and businesses within the media industry which can include:
- Journalists
- News outlets (online or physical).
- Magazines.
- Radio stations.
- TV.
- Influencers.
- Bloggers.
Any service or individual that broadcasts news and feature articles to the general public. By building and managing your media relationships the hope is to build a positive reputation and benefit from improved exposure and media opportunities.
Why is it Important to Build Strong Media Relationships?
You now have a clear understanding of the term, but why should you care and how can it benefit your business? Surprisingly, media relations offers an incredible array of benefits, many of which you probably haven’t thought of, including:
- Get insider news about upcoming events and trends.
- Improve exposure and website traffic.
- Build your content marketing strategy.
- Improve your brand reputation and authority.
- Respond quickly to crises.
By building relationships with individuals and companies in the media you have incredible flexibility and it allows you to be reactive to different situations such as capitalising on new trends, minimising the negative impact of a crisis, and integrating world news into your strategies.
Your brand reputation and authority should also increase as people see you mingling and interacting with trusted journalists and influencers. They will see that you have friends in high places and are a company that can be trusted.
Build a Positive Media Relations Strategy With These Tips
As you can see, the benefits are real and having the media on your side works wonders for PR and exposure. But how do you achieve this?
The first part is to research the available media sources and look at who you could forge relationships with within your industry. After that, check out these media relations tactics which can give you a further boost.
Make sure the media outlet is relevant to your business
It’s surprising how many people make this mistake but ideally, the media outlets you contact should be relevant to your business or industry! Sure, you can contact generic news websites or journalists, but you will have far more success with industry-specific media outlets.
Tap into current trends and world events
Media professionals can give you insight into popular trends and world events and you can capitalize on these to boost your PR and SEO. Always act sincerely though and have a complete understanding of the trends or world events to not offend anyone or appear shallow.
Don’t be pushy with your communication
The worst thing you can do for your media relations management is be pushy and over-zealous. Don’t continually chase journalists, influencers, or news outlets as this is the quickest way to sour relationships. It may take more time but you have to be accommodating and patient.
Provide as much info as possible to reduce their workload
People in the media are especially busy and they usually have a tough workload. They deal with multiple news stories and businesses daily so you have to make their job easier. When approaching them for exposure or content, make sure that you have everything they need and give as much detail as possible so they can do less work!
Create a media kit to promote your strong points
A media kit is a detailed list of your online particulars and stats that aims to show the media your worth and business potential. Typically, a media kit contains basic contact information but also key metrics such as website traffic, social media followers, and revenue. It can also include a range of press media that journalists could use when creating content relating to your business like high-res photos and video.
Use social media to drive engagements
Today, social media in PR has become one of the primary platforms for journalism and news and your business should aim to utilize this as part of your media relations strategy. Forge relations with popular influencers in your industry and use their built-in customer base to boost your reputation and exposure.
Use plenty of multimedia elements in your content
News outlets love multimedia content as it is far more interesting than walls of text so you should always have a range of different content available to share. This can include video content, podcasts, and blog articles for example. Using multimedia also helps your content marketing strategies and an online PR agency can help with this.
Media Relations Management is Integral to a Successful PR Strategy
Don’t overlook the importance of media relations management as it can be a vital part of your PR strategy. With the media on your side, you can benefit from improved exposure, promotional opportunities, exclusive interviews, and favourable business reviews.
This will organically work towards boosting your website traffic, SEO, and content marketing strategies too so it has the potential to be a multi-faceted marketing tool.
