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 Researching Editorial Environments |
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Researching Editorial Environments
One of the best ways to learn what keywords and
terminology should be used in your press releases and on your web pages is to read.
The best PR people in the business today are the ones that read. Reading a news
publication's editorial product will tell you everything you need to know to
get a story published. You just have to know what to look for, which isn't
very hard.
First we build a preliminary media list using
Bacon's or an SRDS, which provides a list of all the right publications.
Next, we search through the online version of media outlets one-by-one
looking for recent news on similar products and services. Through this process you will learn two important things.
First, you'll find the reporters that have written about your category of products
and services. Second, you'll find a blue print of what these reporters like to
include in their stories.
If you really want to get their attention, cut
and paste one of their stories into a word document. Change the name of the
company to yours and switch the product names; change the product's
features and benefits to yours; find an analyst that covers your industry;
provide a snappy quote from your executive; and include some testimonials
from customers that think your products are "revolutionary." What you'll
end up with is a story about your products and services written in the same
style that the reporter likes to use to write their own stories. Speak their
language and they will always listen to you. You may not get a story every time,
but they will listen.
Other important things you'll need to understand
are deadlines. If you are trying to reach a group of weekly trade publications,
it is pointless to put a press release on the wire on a Wednesday or Thursday, which
are deadline days. Instead, put it out first thing on a Monday morning
so that the reporters will have time to work on the story before their deadline hits.
If you really want to work on building a
successful media relations program, employ the process of giving reporters
a scoop. A scoop means that you give reporters the news a week ahead of time
so that their stories are ready to be published the same day your story comes out
on the news wire.
If you really want Front Page stories,
carefully select publications that will benefit the most from your news stories
and give them an exclusive. You may lose several smaller stories in competing
publications, but more than likely, your news will end up being covered more
in the long run because front page stories give companies serious credibility.
And, the next time you call up the competing
publications that missed the story and offer them their own exclusive, they will jump
on it. The secret to offering exclusives is to make sure that you share
good stories with all the reporters in your core group of industry publications,
not just one or two. Hog the good stories and reporters will resent you
forever.
Caution: The SEC frowns on public companies that
employ this strategy. So, remember, fiduciary responsibility is much more
important than front page articles.
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