Securing Media Coverage

In working for a PR agency, securing media coverage was most often the top priority for our clients. For the most part, you need a compelling (news) story. In addition, you need to know who the right targets are for this story - Which publication and what specific journalist would be interested in this story? Most importantly, why would their audience be interested?

From my experience, the best media coverage came from those journalists who had the opportunity to build a relationship with me and my client. It's when you take the time to really understand what type of stories a journalist writes about, pitching them the right angle, and providing the journalist with relevant information on a consistent basis. It also means that you provide them with opportunities to develop that relationship, such as offering them pre-briefs (an interview before the news is issued), meeting them in person at tradeshows or inviting them to special events.

I've had the opportunity to secure a top tier media tour for a large technology company, which included interviews with The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Financial Times. It was considered a huge "win" from the client and agency perspective. However, we didn't have real news and it was our client's first time meeting with these top tier journalists. As a result, there was little if any media coverage, despite the impressive tour.

In order to secure media coverage with those key journalists in the future, we would need to feed them interesting stories, relevant news related to current trends, or any information to keep our client top of mind. The key is to find ways to build that relationship with the journalist so you can count on them to write about you when the timing is right.