How To Make Your Business Newsworthy
Love to get your brand in the media, but dont know how
? Julia Nekich, principal of public relations agency The Ideas Suite, shows how to find or create newsworthy angles that will have the media sit up and take notice.
Is your business is like hundreds of others out there? Are you keen to get some media coverage around your brand, but find it find it challenging enough to create a point of difference, let alone a newsworthy angle?
PR consultants are faced with these challenges all the time. And let's be realistic, many businesses haven't worked out their point of difference and don't have anything of interest to tell the media. If this is your business, it's an opportunity for you to think outside the square and create news.
The first steps are to gain an understanding of how the media works, who you want to target, and what your message needs to be.
Understand what doesn't make news
Too many businesses make the mistake of pitching news to media that's self-promotional, and without any take-out for the audience they're speaking to. The media is unlikely to be interested in a press release announcing that you've won a little-known industry award, are under new management, have relocated, or updated your branding or packaging - especially if you're an SME.
Understand what the media is really interested in.
The media will consider story angles that are of interest to their audience. It's as simple as that. If you're targeting a business publication, your news needs to be relevant and of interest to its business readers. If it's a consumer magazine, it needs to be of interest to its consumer readers. You can find out who the audience within each media outlet by getting a hold of their media kit, which outlines its audience demographic.
Once you understand who each media outlets is really 'speaking' to, it's much easier to tailor your story to them.
Three ingredients of a newsworthy hook
For any type of media, any newsworthy hook requires the following ingredients:
Relevant to the media outlet's readers. There's no point pitching a press release about the opening of a start-up babywear store to a magazine that targets multinational organisations. A parenting magazine, however, might be interested.
Timely. Is your business a home-loan service, and are interest rates about to drop tomorrow? Now's the time to pitch a story about how your customers are saving tens of thousands of dollars on their mortgages, either through the uniqueness of your service or the drop in rates.
Steer clear of anything too promotional. Unless it's a 'product placement' to a glossy magazine, most journalists won't take a second look at self-promotional press releases. They regard it as too commercial.
Proximity. Is your service or product accessible to readers in the media outlet's distribution or broadcast area? There's no point pitching a story to a Melbourne radio program when you and your customers are based in Perth.
Where to look for newsworthy angles
There are four strong areas you can begin to look for news angles:
1.The economy
What's happening in the economy right now, or about to occur, that will have an impact on your customers - and is also linked to your product or service? This might cover interest rates, an economic downturn or a property boom. The media might already be reporting on this and might be looking for comment from 'experts' in the industry (you) or case studies (your customers).
2.Your industry
Will any changes in your industry - such as new industry legislation - affect your customers? Are you well informed? It could be a good opportunity for you to leverage your knowledge and pitch your opinion through a press release, which could be backed by a case study story (one of your customers) driving home the point.
3.Your customers and prospects
Do you foresee a trend emerging, such as changes in your customers' spending habits? Do you have an extensive customer database? Why not create a survey that asks questions about customer buying habits, then pitch any newsworthy results to media.
4.Your business's service/product or people
When avoiding self-promotional pitches, there are a couple of exceptions to the rule - and that's when you're business has achieved success in unusual circumstances or is carving a unique niche in the market. In this case, you become your own case study or human-interest story, inspiring a media outlet's audience. If the story delves into how you achieved that success, it provides readers with lots of take out, and would likely be accepted by a journalist.
If 'product placement' is the way for you (such as a interior dcor product to be pitched to an interiors magazine), you could also try pitching a giveaway or a promotion for readers. If it's the right type of product, this increases the magazine's value to its readers, making it a win-win situation for the magazine and your business.
Of course, there are always exceptions to the rules above. Some businesses have secured media coverage without any of the above conditions applying, possibly because it was a slow news day, or the story landed on the journalist's desk at the right time. Taking note of the above factors however, will increase your chances of successful media coverage.
by: Julia Nekich
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