Having your own PR person or an agency is a luxury that many startups or new brands cannot afford. Unless you’re independently wealthy (in which case, hi! I am single) handling your own PR is likely a necessity to promote yourself or your business.
The biggest hurdle to overcome when you handle your own PR is for the media to take you seriously. One of the many benefits of working with a well-recognized agency is that they have already established strong relationships and credibility.
Below are a few tricks of the trade to help in building your own media relationships and gain respect within your industry.
- Do you research.
Before you begin blindly firing off emails, wait a beat. Take the time to properly research the outlet/publication you’re targeting. Some key questions to ask yourself: Would my ideal client or customer be reading this? Have they covered similar topics in the past? If so, how recently?
Look for the appropriate writer or journalist to send your pitch or press release to. You don’t want to be embarrassed sending off a pitch related to a beauty brand and receive a response scolding you because that editor covers wine and spirits.
- Know your audience.
This is a life lesson that comes into play anytime you write a pitch, press release, brand strategy, email or even a text message. Understand who you’re talking to and write for that audience in order to craft an effective message. Key questions to ask when getting to know your audience: What’s my audience’s biggest struggle? What’s the problem they most want solved? What are their aspirations or what inspires them?
One of the best ways to get to know your audience is to engage with them on social media. Create a simple survey if necessary or use prompts on your website to answer key questions about who your audience is. The results may surprise you and lead you to modify your brand DNA and your approach when writing press materials.
- Build genuine relationships.
By genuine I mean not just transactional. People know when someone is being fake and trying to use them for a story – don’t be that person, it’s not cute. Face-to-face relationships always elicit the best results but during these unprecedented times when social distancing is a must, we rely on email.
Email is the most respectful form of communicating and certainly the first place to start when introducing yourself to someone new. Once you begin to build a rapport, phone calls or even a Zoom, Skype or FaceTime meeting can help build your relationship. In-person meetings – or for our current time, video meetings – are a truly necessary investment that you should carve out time to make. Scheduling one can be as simple as requesting a meeting over lunch, instead of a conference call. Or, suggesting via email that you connect quickly on the phone to explain in greater detail and asking when they may be available.
Keep it respectful but also a little casual. Yes, it is important to be professional, but your goal is to create a relationship and let them get to know you. The more they get to see you as a human being and not just another email in their inbox, the more they will recognize your name and think of you when an opportunity arises.
Follow them on social media and get to know their interests outside of work. However, please remember that Instagram and texts are for friendly messages. Most editors and reporters will be annoyed if you are following-up on a pitch or talking business while sliding into their DMs.
- Stay in contact and follow-up on leads.
Consistent follow-up is just as important as crafting a pitch, knowing your audience and targeting the correct contact. It is an integral piece of building relationships and getting your message out there.
Your goal may be to get an article placed or a spokesperson interviewed. My preferred approach is to withhold the interview for my follow-up. The initial pitch contains all the newsworthy information and a strong, attention-grabbing angle. Knowing how busy editors and reporters are, I may not get a response no matter how dope my subject line was. After a few days, follow-up to see if they’ve had the opportunity to review your email and if they might be interested in exclusive quotes or an interview with your spokesperson.
Note that consistent follow-up does not mean an email a day. Journalists receive hundreds of emails daily from PR professionals and are often working against tight deadlines, so be respectful of their time. You may also want to switch up the times you reach out. If you follow-up every afternoon, wait a few days and try first thing in the morning. It’s often about catching them at the right time.
If you don’t hear back by the third attempt, don’t become a nuisance and prepare to move on from this particular editor or reporter. It is completely appropriate and worth it to directly asking if you should stop following up – just be sure to do it in the most humble and polite way possible. Most people respect honesty and don’t want to waste someone’s time, and they’ll let you know one way or another.
- Leverage the press secured.
Once you get featured in the press (congratulations!), it’s important to capitalize on it and leverage your media coverage. Not only is it important for you to broadcast your coverage to your customer base, it is also important for relationship building.
Being featured in a reputable media outlet creates instant credibility for your brand and the person you worked with will be grateful for the shares as it increases traffic to their website and story.
If possible, tag the publication and editor/reporter who worked on the story with you in your social media posts. If it’s a digital story share the link on all your social media channels, adding it to your website and sending it out to your email list.
