Here are the key steps to take in establishing effective media relations:1. Understand your target audience and business goals. Define who you want to reach and why you want to engage the media. 2. Research which media platforms your competitors and industry leaders use to connect with your target audience. Identify the most relevant and impactful media outlets.3. Create a media contact list of outlets that provide access to your target audience. The list can include a variety of platforms from print, online, radio, TV etc. Focus on quality over quantity. 4. Develop one-sheet profiles for each media contact. Include their name, title, area of coverage, and how they may be of interest to your business
1) The author outlines steps for developing an effective media relations strategy, including researching target markets and media platforms, creating a contact list of suitable media, and defining objectives for each media relationship.
2) Key aspects of the contact list include the media name, type, size, distribution, contact details, and relationship objectives. Objectives should focus on communicating with the target market.
3) Internal company media can provide opportunities to reach target audiences and should be considered. The strategy should differentiate target markets and assign codes to optimize media selection and relations.
Similar to Here are the key steps to take in establishing effective media relations:1. Understand your target audience and business goals. Define who you want to reach and why you want to engage the media. 2. Research which media platforms your competitors and industry leaders use to connect with your target audience. Identify the most relevant and impactful media outlets.3. Create a media contact list of outlets that provide access to your target audience. The list can include a variety of platforms from print, online, radio, TV etc. Focus on quality over quantity. 4. Develop one-sheet profiles for each media contact. Include their name, title, area of coverage, and how they may be of interest to your business
Similar to Here are the key steps to take in establishing effective media relations:1. Understand your target audience and business goals. Define who you want to reach and why you want to engage the media. 2. Research which media platforms your competitors and industry leaders use to connect with your target audience. Identify the most relevant and impactful media outlets.3. Create a media contact list of outlets that provide access to your target audience. The list can include a variety of platforms from print, online, radio, TV etc. Focus on quality over quantity. 4. Develop one-sheet profiles for each media contact. Include their name, title, area of coverage, and how they may be of interest to your business (20)
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Here are the key steps to take in establishing effective media relations:1. Understand your target audience and business goals. Define who you want to reach and why you want to engage the media. 2. Research which media platforms your competitors and industry leaders use to connect with your target audience. Identify the most relevant and impactful media outlets.3. Create a media contact list of outlets that provide access to your target audience. The list can include a variety of platforms from print, online, radio, TV etc. Focus on quality over quantity. 4. Develop one-sheet profiles for each media contact. Include their name, title, area of coverage, and how they may be of interest to your business
3. Smart Media Relations (Smart Business Book
Series)
Title
Master Steve
Author
Somayeh Amiri, Tara Kamangar
Colleagues
Keyvan
Layout
Designer
Silk Road Publishing (Toronto, Canada)
Publisher
Printed Book: 978-1-990236-11-2
EBook: 978-1-990236-12-9
ISBN
www.MasterSteve.com
Website
Attributions:
Images Credits: Pch.Vector / Freepik
Note: The author of this book gives the right to use
the present content, provided that the source is cited,
to professors, educators, teachers, lecturers, and aca-
demic and non-academic educational centers, for an
indefinite period.
The copyright of this bookis internationallyregistered
for the author.
4. Contents
Introduction ........................................................................................................5
Chapter 1: Learning about Types of Media...............................6
a) Types of Media Based on Method of Communicating
with Audience..........................................................................................8
b) Types of Media Based on Size................................................... 9
c) Types of media based on distribution range...................... 9
d) Types of Media Based on Content ....................................... 10
Chapter 2: Media Relations..................................................................11
a) Media Relations Department .................................................12
b) Media Relations Action Steps .................................................13
Chapter 3: Media Relations Strategies.......................................24
1. Ad Strategy.........................................................................................26
2. Advertorial .......................................................................................29
3. Press Release....................................................................................30
Principles of Formulating Press Release...........................43
4. Newsletter .........................................................................................46
5. Press Conference.............................................................................47
a) Topic of Press Conference....................................................47
b) Time of Holding a Press Conference .......................... 48
c) Place of Holding a Press Conference ..........................49
d) Cost of Holding a Press Conference .............................49
e) Inviting Media...........................................................................50
f) Refreshments ............................................................................51
g) Invitation Card.......................................................................... 52
5. h) Rehearsal Before Presentation.......................................... 52
i) Providing Resources Required for the Day the Press
Conference is Held....................................................................... 53
j) Registering Attendees’ Information ............................... 54
k) Respecting the Schedule in Presentation ................... 55
l) Action Tips....................................................................................57
6) Holding Events .............................................................................. 58
7) Social Media ................................................................................... 60
8) Media Cooperation.......................................................................62
9) Interview ...........................................................................................63
Chapter 4: Important Tips in Media Relations ..................65
Using Media Brokers..........................................................................74
Chapter 5: Performance Evaluation............................................ 76
List of Tables and Figures
Table 1: an example of list and information of suitable media
platforms to establish relations ........................................................................18
Table 2: guideline of media content providing .....................................71
Figure 1: types of media in terms of communicating method ......8
Figure 2: types of media in terms of size ...................................................9
Figure 3: types of media in terms of the distribution range ...........9
Figure 4: types of media in terms of content ........................................10
Smart Media Relations
4
6. Introduction
Today's world is the world of media, and media has affect-
ed everything since it has crawled into our lives.
Media is a means of notification and communication
between businesses and their target market. Therefore,
business activists have always been thinking about using
media to establish relationships with customers and audi-
ences.
Such as the case with other books in the "Smart Busi-
ness" series, in this book, the topic is considered using a
smart view from various perspectives. This book teaches
you to adopt the same view and apply the best method
according to your peculiar circumstances.
Hence, you first get to know various types of media.
Then, you learn about media relations action steps, and
eventually, types of media relations strategies are present-
ed to you in details.
5
8. To establish media relations, and before selecting any
type of it, you must understand various types of media
based on different factors and evaluate their rate. For ex-
ample, you need to consider size and coverage the corre-
sponding medium has and how much technical or gen-
eral it is.
When you know the type of a medium, you can identify
its audience spectrum (target market) much easier and se-
lect your considered media to establish relations.
Learning about Types of Media 7
9. a) Types of Media Based on Method of
Communicating with Audience
Media platforms are divided into several types:
z
Audio media; This includes radio which has ever been
around from the past and podcast which has been in-
vented in recent years.
z
Visual media: This includes television which came af-
ter radio and still attracts many audiences.
z
Print media: This includes magazines, newspapers,
weeklies, monthlies, periodicals, etc.
z
Online media: This came out in the modern world
and it includes social media and online communica-
tion apps.
Nowadays, online media has overshadowed other media
by its vast diversity and it has even taken some hyperme-
dia out of the picture or forced these platforms to change
their business model.
Some conventional media platforms, which still rely on
their record, get by by selling the copyright of the con-
tents at their disposal. This is because their media activity
is not sufficient on its own. Some of these media even got
merged so they can continue their media life.
Visual (television)
Audio (radio, podcast)
Print (newspaper, magazine,...)
Online (social media)
Figure 1: types of media in terms of communicating method
Smart Media Relations
8
10. b) Types of Media Based on Size
In every country, there are different types of media in
various sizes;
z
Small media such as weeklies and local newspapers
z
Average media such as national newspapers
z
Hypermedia such as CNN, Fox News, …
Hypermedia usually have various titles and publications
and that's why they have become ubiquitous.
Small
Hypermedia Average
Figure 2: types of media in terms of size
c) Types of media based on distribution range
According to this basis, media have the following distri-
bution ranges:
Local or Municipal
Provincial
National or Federal
International
Figure 3: types of media in terms of the distribution range
If a medium has an international distribution range, it's
not necessarily better than a national medium. This cate-
gorization is solely based on distribution range.
Learning about Types of Media 9
11. d) Types of Media Based on Content
In terms of content and technical nature of topics, a
medium has two types:
z
General media: it includes any kind of topics such as
culture or economics.
z
Technical media: it has a selection of topics in a cer-
tain field.
Media
General
Technical
Figure 4: types of media in terms of content
Smart Media Relations
10
13. a) Media Relations Department
¾
The public relations department is the department
which is usually in charge of media relations in a
company.
¾
If your company is not large enough to dedicate a
separate department to public relations, assign one
of the capable employees in charge of this responsi-
bility to handle public relations tasks and, at the same
time, handle his/her main tasks in the company.
¾
You can define media relations as a subset of mar-
keting department.
Smart Media Relations
12
14. b) Media Relations Action Steps
In the first step, get to know the target
market of your business.
In the second step, conduct thought-
ful research and gain information about
the following matters:
ƒ
Which media do your competitors
use?
ƒ
What are the media moguls in your
market?
ƒ
What are your required media?
ƒ
Why does your group need media to
communicate with the current audi-
ences?
The objective of media rela-
tions is to communicate with
the target market and to reach
out to customers.
Media Relations 13
15. In the third step, make a list of re-
quired media for your business based on
the target market and audiences.
It doesn’t matter how large or small
your business is. What matters is that
you make a contact list of media plat-
forms that make it possible for you to
communicate with the target market.
You may need a visual medium such as
TV, but you may lack the necessary fi-
nancial resources to use this medium. In
fact, make a contact list of media which
audiences are your target market. The
media relations director is in charge of
preparing this contact list.
Smart Media Relations
14
16. In the fourth step, formulate the me-
dia contact list based on certain infor-
mation such as name and title, distribu-
tion range, size of the medium, and all
the other aforementioned items. If you
have information regarding print run
or number of subscribers of a medium,
write down that information, as well.
Specify whether a medium is a print
or an online medium, and identify the
field in which they work. Add to the list
the address, phone number, and email
address of the medium and the names
of journalists you know from that medi-
um. Make it clear what you expect from
each medium.
Media Relations 15
17. Gather the above information in form of a table.
1 .
1 . In the first column, write down the name of the media
you intend to cooperate with.
2 .
2 . In the second column, write down the type of the me-
dia (audio, visual, print, online).
3 .
3 . In the third column, write down the size of the media
(small, average, hypermedia).
4 .
4 . In the fourth column, write down the distribution
range of the media (local, federal, national, interna-
tional).
5 .
5 . In the fifth column, write down the work area of the
media (general or technical).
6 .
6 . In the sixth column, write down the name of promi-
nent individuals in the media that you know (reporter,
journalist, host, influencer…).
7 .
7 . In the seventh column, write down contact informa-
tion of the media (address, phone number, email ad-
dress).
8 .
8 . In the last column, write down the objective of con-
tacting the corresponding media.
Smart Media Relations
16
18. ¾
While preparing the table of media contact guide-
lines, notice that some media have several distri-
bution models. For example, they may have an
online version in addition to their print model.
You may be able to accomplish several goals by a
medium that has various methods of distribution.
You can even allocate two different objectives to
such medium (one objective for the online ver-
sion and another objective for the print version)
because these two models have different distribu-
tion ranges.
¾
If your strategy is to use diverse distributions of a
single medium, you can define this strategy in two
or several independent media.
¾
By preparing the table of media contact list and de-
tails, you have at your disposal all the information
you need to cooperate with them in an outlined and
useful format. In fact, this table becomes your media
guideline.
Table 1 has been filled with hypothetical informa-
tion and it can inspire you with ideas about how to
complete the contact table of your own business. This
table differs according to the selected media and the
objectives of media cooperation, and you need to pre-
pare this table based on your peculiar circumstances
and demands.
Media Relations 17
19. Name
Of
medium
Type
Size
Distribution
Range
Work
area
Prominent
Individuals
Contact
Method
Objective
of
Relations
A Online
Hyper-
media
Interna-
tional
Busi-
ness
Influencer
Email:
…
Increas-
ing Sales
B Visual
Hyper-
media
Local General Director Tel: …
Intro-
ducing
Products
C Print Average National
Educa-
tional
Journalist
Ad-
dress:
…
Notifi-
cation
about
Services
D Audio Small National
Enter-
tain-
ment
Announcer
Ad-
dress:
…
Expand-
ing the
Target
Market
Table 1: an example of list and information of suitable media plat-
forms to establish relations
¾
In your media contact list, in front of each medi-
um write down one of your objectives they cover. If
your table can't indicate this point, your job is not
conducted smartly. Preparing a smart media con-
tact list distinguishes your media relations and
makes it smart and it eventually becomes your me-
dia roadmap.
¾
Assign an exclusive code to each of your media rela-
tions objectives. Use these codes in the media guide-
line that you have prepared.
Smart Media Relations
18
20. Define at least one media relations objective
for each medium.
Write down in one single page all your busi-
ness objectives regarding media relations so
you can see in one look with what objectives
you intend to establish relations with them.
As a business, define a set of objectives for
media relations by taking a smart perspective,
and put in the head of those goals the objective
of communicating with the target market.
¾
An institution's internal media can be an intermedi-
ary target market for you because these publications
usually have to cover their expenses by attracting
ads. This is a winning ticket for you. By paying at-
tention to the following example, you realize how to
benefit better from such opportunities.
Let's assume you intend to establish a relationship
with a bank and use this relationship for another ob-
jective. This bank has a publication and its audienc-
es are the bank managers. You put this publication in
your contact list hoping thatyou are targeting the bank
itself through that medium; that is your objective.
Notice 1
Notice 2
Notice 3
Media Relations 19
21. If, as a business, you have your own unique
medium, but your business is not a medium
itself, apply that medium for your domestic
use and don’t go beyond this practice because
media is a type of business and it's not smart
to mess with the boundaries of your own
business.
As the media relations department, make a
contact list of the media which cover your
objectives. Ensure reaching your target mar-
ket and customer is the most important
objective in your business.
¾
To improve your media guideline table, define your
target market thoroughly and in a more detailed
manner. Your business may have various target
markets. If you have a categorized target market in
your business plan, differentiate and break down
this target market even more, and instead of assign-
ing a code to each target market, divide that target
market into five markets and assign them five sep-
arate codes.
Notice 4
Notice 5
Smart Media Relations
20
22. ¾
The more differentiated your media target mar-
ket, the more organized your job for media re-
lations. For example, your customers are three
categories of food companies, food factories, and
poultry farms.
When you prepare the contact list of media,
you know based on the code of your target market
that what weekly helps you to achieve hypothetical
objectives of 4, 6, and 8. Using this method, you
will be ahead of the curve in establishing relation-
ship both financially and temporally. More impor-
tantly, your chances for success will substantially
increase.
¾
Size of the target market is influential on your
perspective towards media. Regarding media rela-
tions, the objectives of someone who owns a shop or
a supermarket differ from the objectives of some-
one who owns a car manufacturing factory. The tar-
get market of a shop owner is, first, the immediate
neighborhood, and, eventually, several neighbor-
hoods in the vicinity.
¾
Don’t ignore this particular matter! Don’t assume
that advertisement in costly media such as TV is not
suitable for you because you have a small business.
What matters is what media can get you to your tar-
get market.
Media Relations 21
23. ¾
Enter in your media table any media contact
method you got. For example, you may know two
reporters in an economic newspaper. Enter in
this table the information of anyone with whom
you have contact. Write down such individual’s
name and information along with their personal
email addresses and phone numbers in front of
the medium related to them. In addition, write
down these individuals' job titles. For example,
write down if they are reporters, photographers,
etc.
¾
Complete your media guideline booklet using var-
ious methods. As you proceed, you make contact
with various people and get to know more indi-
viduals who will be gradually added to this table.
New media must be updated in your page. As you
review and inspect, some media may be taken out
of the picture and consequently, they will be out
of the main page of your list, as well. However, you
need to keep the relations you have established
with them. For example, you know several people
from a medium that is now out of your list; put
their names in prominent individuals as people
you know in media. These individuals will eventu-
ally find new media; keep them in the list of media
activists, and as you go on, update your list any-
time you want.
Smart Media Relations
22
24. No one should be removed from your media
contact list. Remove the information of peo-
ple from your contact list only on one condi-
tion: their death.
Now, you have prepared the guideline table which in-
cludes the information of media and your objectives of
contacting them, and you are ready to contact them using
various ways.
Improve the quality of your media relations by apply-
ing the smart method of selecting media according to your
guideline table.
Notice 6
Media Relations 23
26. Now that you have formulated the table of media relations
according to your peculiar circumstances and objectives,
as the department in charge, it's time for you to learn the
techniques of media relations:
1 .
1 . Ad strategy
2 .
2 . Advertorial
3 .
3 . Press release
4 .
4 . Newsletter
5 .
5 . Press conference
6 .
6 . Holding events
7 .
7 . Social media
8 .
8 . Media cooperation
9 .
9 . Interview
Design the media relations plan in your marketing plan.This
is necessary to make your business a successful one. A business
without a media relations strategy has distanced itself from
the present resources of today's communicative world.
Media Relations Strategies 25
27. 1. Ad Strategy
The strategy of advertising methods means using what
methods you intend to advertise through media. Here,
strategy means a tool for an action step towards establish-
ing a robust relationship with media.
Before contacting media, you need to think about the
following matters:
ƒ
How much budget do you have?
ƒ
Using the amount of money that you have at your dis-
posal, what tools can you acquire?
ƒ
Using what methods are you going to advertise in a me-
dium?
¾
As a business, you should never order an ad to
a medium unless that medium accomplishes
the side objective of media relations for you.
¾
It is recommended to contact your selected
medium once towards your marketing goals.
Then, order your ads to that medium. Your
path becomes broadened from here on and
you manage to build a freeway towards that
medium.
¾
Conduct your ad using a specific plan. Order-
ing an ad without any objective suggests that
you had no strategy for your action and work-
ing with that medium practically does not es-
tablish any special relationship for you.
Smart Media Relations
26
28. ¾
In practice, follow the same objectives that
you have defined for contacting a medium.
You have already researched the objectives
that can be accomplished in the correspond-
ing medium. Therefore, go straight after the
same departments and never allow them to
refer you to the advertisement department
or avoid being referred to the advertisement
department by the department that you will
need to cooperate with in the future. For ex-
ample, you shouldn’t agree to be referred to
the advertisement department of a medium
by the department of economic news and
analysis, travel, industry or any other depart-
ment of a medium that is suitable for your
business.
¾
Open your path through a medium and your
considered department by ordering a smart
ad through a person inside the medium in-
stead of ordering by contacting their adver-
tisement department.
The more specialized your business, the bet-
ter to find your related department instead
of contacting the whole medium. So you
must streamline your services and ensure
you focus on specific department.
Note
Media Relations Strategies 27
29. ¾
Some people collaborate with media as bro-
kers, find their ways to the management, ad-
vertisement and marketing departments of a
magazine, and result in your contact with that
medium. Using these people benefits you be-
cause they will get you discounts in addition
to the benefits they reap themselves.
Smart Media Relations
28
30. 2. Advertorial
¾
This method is somehow similar to the method of
advertising in media. In this media relations model,
you get into the pages of news and reports of a me-
dium. Therefore, it is more conventional than pub-
lishing your ad in a page.
¾
To do advertorial, after digging into the pertaining
costs, formulate a piece of news and a professional
report and give it to the related department of the
corresponding medium.
¾
For advertorial of a business, it is sometimes better
to put out your business's indirect ad. That is, intro-
duce your company and group on the side of a piece
of news or report.
¾
It is recommended to leave the responsibility of
formulating the advertorial to the same department
you have already targeted in a medium. That is, you
pay them to prepare your report. In this way, a pro
reporter writes down your report.
¾
Advertorial gives you a free hand to involve one or
more individuals. Your ad may need a picture; so,
the photographer of the medium also gets involved
in the job. These are excuses to enhance your media
relations.
Media Relations Strategies 29
31. 3. Press Release
¾
Every once in a while, and in accordance with what is
happening in your business which has gained news
value, prepare a press release.
The objective of a press release
is to inform others about your
business.
¾
Your considered subject for preparing a press re-
lease must have some news values to get noticed in
the media.
Your press release can be related to a new prod-
uct or service, or it can be about the implemented
changes in your business.
A press release can generally be about opening
a new store or a new line of production or introduc-
ing a new product, or it can be about changes in the
management of the company or a variation in the
combination of shareholders.
A press release topic can be information regard-
ing an interesting event or compelling financial is-
sues in the company.
Smart Media Relations
30
32. Holding events or attending events by your
company has news value. You can use it in
preparing a press release.
¾
Send the press release you have prepared for the
contact list of media you have created.
¾
If your press release is technical, send it to the media
which suityourintended objective ordistribution range.
¾
Sometimes, you drag media after you by sending a
press release and they ask you for interviews. Hence,
the contact list of your media-related individuals
becomes updated and more completed.
In your contact list, determine when you
have been interviewed bywhich media about
what topic.
¾
If your press release is supposed to be released
during a certain time span, specify the time when
you want it published. For example, write down on
the top of your press release that it needs to be re-
leased as soon as possible or on a specific day.
Note 1
Notice
Media Relations Strategies 31
33. ¾
Put the logo and information of your company in
the press release and write it in the letterhead of the
company.
The more organized and enticing your press
release is written and the better the harmony
of its design is maintained, the more other
companies recognize your business.
¾
Your intention is to be recognized by media. There-
fore, maintain the harmony. If you send your press
release today using a certain design and a certain
color and change these design and color the next
time you send your press release, that medium will
not recognize you anymore. You must be consistent
with what you are using.
If the letterhead, coloring, and logo are consis-
tent, they will be embedded in the audience's mind,
and they will publish your press release as they re-
member the previous cooperation and trust.
¾
When you send a piece of news to a medium, fol-
low up on the process, but don’t expect something
to happen immediately. By following up, you real-
ize who has received the content you have sent to
the medium, and then, you can follow the right path
based on a plan.
Note 2
Smart Media Relations
32
34. In the follow-up process, use
minimum words in the least
amount of time.
Every press release contains a lead in which
all the keywordsyouwill state are mentioned.
¾
Both the final audience and the reporter must real-
ize your press release topic based on the "lead". Lead
can be a paragraph or a bit more than that.
¾
In the lead, provide a summary of news and a con-
cise explanation about what the audience will read
in addition to keywords.
¾
Your press release's lead must be as brief as possible
and it shouldn’t exceed 150 words.
Your news leads are influential on getting
identified by Google and on the search
engine optimization (SEO).
Note 3
Note 4
Media Relations Strategies 33
35. ¾
While writing the lead, you must consider six vital
points:
9
First, who has formulated the lead?
9
Second, what is the press release about and why
should the reader read it?
9
Third, why is it crucial to provide notifications
regarding the matter? Is an opening ceremony
going to be held? Are you going to update the
company's information? Or do you have some
other reason?
9
Fourth, when did or will the discussed matter
happen?
9
Fifth, where is the location of the event you are
talking about?
9
Sixth, how is it helpful to provide information
regarding the corresponding topic for the final
consumer and audience?
¾
Lead must be compelling. On many occasions, if
your lead is not written carefully and elegantly, the
audiences won't continue to read the rest of the text,
and you will be the loser.
Smart Media Relations
34
36. Considering standards in pre-
paring a press release means
you are acting smartly.
¾
Never use the pronouns "I" and "we" in written lan-
guage of the press release. You must use third-per-
son pronouns.
¾
After writing your press release, reread it and check
it for writing errors and editing issues.
During the review, put yourself in the audience's
shoes and see how much your writing is compre-
hensible for them.
A common error in writing a text is repeating
various sentences and concepts. While rereading,
remove the repetitious points.
¾
Put a headline for the lead. An example would be,
"New iPhone launch". In the following section, put
the content of your press release and then add a
short conclusion. Insert an image related to the
press release under the conclusion. At the end, write
down your company's information (Media Con-
tact). In the contact information, put email address
and phone number of the person who is supposed
to be your media liaison on behalf of the company
Media Relations Strategies 35
37. so anybody can contact the corresponding director
in the shortest amount of time. For the companies
which are at the beginning of their work and aren’t
known and recognized among the media, it is better
to provide a brief explanation about the company's
work before writing the contact info. This can be ti-
tled, “About the Company”. You can then go on to
write the Media Contact.
¾
The whole press release shouldn’t be more than 500
words and mustn’t be longer than a page.
¾
Use simple font and diction in your press release.
Avoid applying unfamiliar and high-level expres-
sions because the audience will experience diffi-
culty in communicating with it. Your objective of
writing a press release is to convey a message to
the audience, using difficulty words or too much
technical jargons will get the audience confused.
Your press release is not for you but your audi-
ence. Your audiences are sometimes, say, physi-
cians and you have to use technical terms, but in
other cases, writing a prosaic text will stop you
from achieving your goal, and if you state ordi-
nary matters using a difficult language, you will
lose the audience.
¾
Use techniques of story writing in composing your
text to receive better feedbacks on your writing.
Smart Media Relations
36
38. ¾
Consult with SEO experts so by making the neces-
sary changes, you can prepare a text that suits search
engine optimization. These changes must be ap-
plied on the version sent to the online media, and
the version for the print media can be formulated
differently.
¾
In the present modern world, many press releases
are formulated as multimedia, i.e. there are images,
videos, and audio files attached to them. It impossi-
ble to share these files through email because they
have large sizes. Therefore, put the download link to
the corresponding file in your website in the section
specified for press releases.
¾
If your press release is about a new product, consid-
er some points in writing it:
The audiences of such press release are two
groups: they either know your product or they
don’t. You don’t know your audiences are from
which group. So, provide a brief explanation about
your product and focus on the product's special
features.
According to the limitation and considering
summarization by the least number of words, you
must get the highest number of feedback. There-
fore, define the most important and special features
of the product in question.
Media Relations Strategies 37
39. As stated before, writing the text as a story makes
it more interesting. In this case, you can depict your
product's feature more elaborately so the audiences
can perceive those concepts using their imagination.
If you intend to talk about, say, four features of the
product, you must focus on those four points and
avoid beating around the bush.
If you have a positive feedback or a compel-
ling quote about your product, use it at the
end of the press release.
For example, you submit a press release about
your movie, and a critic from Washington Post has
commented on the movie. You can use that quote for
concluding the text. At the end of your press release,
you can also use statistics compiled by researchers
about the product as an advertising element.
¾
The target market calls the shots in business. In fact,
you formulate your press release according to your
knowledge of the target market and your audienc-
es. Therefore, both the language and the manner of
stating the contents must be proportional to the au-
diences' circumstances.
Note 5
Smart Media Relations
38
40. The press release is not formu-
lated for the media. The media
is only a means to convey your
message to the right audience.
¾
Avoid using inaccurate, repeated, or outdated infor-
mation in your press release because it diminishes
the quality of your work and dissuades the reader.
Press releases are vital tools in
optimizing brands in search
engines.
¾
In some companies, professionals are hired to for-
mulate press releases, so these professionals can
show more considerations for the rules of search
engine optimization (SEO). A part of SEO is about
observing the writing type and standards of Goo-
gle. Another part is about knowing the target mar-
ket's location and determining the keywords used
by the audiences in that certain location. Presently,
this topic is of great importance. Therefore, when
providing content, many people consider this mat-
ter. When formulating a press release, you must use
people who are expert in this field.
Media Relations Strategies 39
41. One of the search engine optimization methods
is that you design a landing page for the text you
give to online media. That is, there is a link in your
text that directs viewers to the corresponding page
in your website, and people who are interested in
finding out more about the topic in question can
get to the corresponding page without any delay. In
this case, the press release in question turns into a
great means of sales for you. It's true that the press
release is sent through the public relations depart-
ment, but it is a part of marketing process. There-
fore, while the press release is not a direct text for
sales, but marketing strategies are always considered
in formulating it. In this case, you should always
design a landing page about the topic in the press
release. When someone views that page, they may
check other parts of the website, as well.
Press release is not a text for
marketing and sales.
If your goal of preparing the press release is
marketing and sales, you will lose both the
media and the audiences.
Note 6
Smart Media Relations
40
42. There is no medium that would publish your
text about marketing and sales without
charging you a fee.
¾
The audience of a press release expects to read a
news text. Therefore, they shouldn’t face with a
marketing-oriented text. In this case, you will lose
the audience. Hence, you should formulate the
text as a reporter-journalist, not as someone who
intends to sell something. However, you should
have a sales strategy behind the text because after
all, you are formulating a piece of news and noti-
fying the audience about an event which is related
to your job.
¾
The individuals who act smartly always search
various media platforms and observe the type
of press releases in their niche. You should, of
course, consider the fact that not everything
that is released is necessarily professional.
Therefore, conduct multiple searches to find
out what methods are applied in professional
press releases.
Note 7
Media Relations Strategies 41
43. The better your material for the press release
is provided, the higher priority the media
consider for releasing it.
¾
Before designing the press release, it's better to
ask the recipient medium what structure they
recommend and using what format and extension
the file must be sent. Try and follow the standards
of the media especially the popular ones that you
need.
¾
Regardless of the news structure of every medium,
follow the basic standards in formulating the texts
of your press releases. These basic standards in-
clude using capital and small letters at the appro-
priate places, considering the sentences that need
to be highlighted such as main headlines, selecting
subheads and subtitles (sous-titres), writing a direct
quotation (report) from a speaker and determining
the important points in the text.
¾
Upload your press release in various formats on your
website so the audience medium can download it if
necessary.
Note 8
Smart Media Relations
42
44. Principles of Formulating Press Release
¾
In formulating the press release, consider five prin-
ciples:
1) Who:
1) Who: that is, who or what company is formulating
the press release? Here, you should clearly state
the company's name or explicitly introduce a
part of your company. Declare the company's
name in the first section after the headline.
2)
2) What:
What:
that is, on what topic are you writing the news?
3)
3) Why:
Why: that is, why are you releasing such news? Why
should the reader read it? What reasons do
you have to write this press release? Is it for
an opening ceremony? Have a reason about
which you have already thought and intend to
notify others.
4)
4) When:
When:
that is, when did the press release has hap-
pened? Determine the date of the press release
in the first paragraph.
5)
5) Where:
Where:
that is, where is your company, and where is
the location of the event you're talking about?
If your company is located in Chicago, you
must clarify whether you are talking to the en-
tire country or only looking at Chicago? Your
location has nothing to do with this process.
What matters is that where the event you're
talking about is located.
Media Relations Strategies 43
45. ¾
These five issues must be addressed at the begin-
ning of the press release and the whole material on
them shouldn’t exceed 150-160 words. This para-
graph contains the popular keywords of search en-
gine optimization and your main points; based on
this part, people decide whether to keep reading the
rest of your text or not. Most of the time, when you
don’t have this first paragraph, people don’t read the
rest of the text. That is, if you don’t start the first part
appealing enough, no one will practically read the
rest of it and you will be the loser.
¾
Apply the highest level of appeal in preparing any
press release, piece of news or content for media.
For instance, add images or videos to the text so
your audience can easily get the message you are
passing across.
¾
For the content you send, select a format that would
be mobile friendly and compatible with tablet and
computer.
¾
Send the content of your email along with the at-
tachment only if it's needed. Instead of doing that,
you can leave the access link in your email.
¾
When sending content to media, add your contact
info, including email address, phone number and
your name, so they can easily reach you.
¾
Don’t put the email address of media and media-re-
lated individuals among bulk-forwarded emails. If
you do, you will be either blocked or transferred to
spam. In both cases, your important contents won't
be delivered to them.
Smart Media Relations
44
46. ¾
In formulating contents and news topics, try and use
professionals as much as possiblewhetheras freelanc-
ers or permanent employees. In this way, you will be
the high priority of news sources for media because
of observing press rules and being organized.
Another fact is that 70% of reporters trust the
prepared news sent to them by professional public
relations agents. Therefore, if you have a profession-
al department of public relations which sent the press
release to the media, you most possibly will be put in
the list of reliable and practical sources for media.
Check your contents several times before you
send them to media. Don’t exaggerate in materials
and avoid sending a content which contains inaccu-
rate information that is not verifiable.
If you are in the list of reliable sources of
media and send them false materials, you
will be disregarded from the list of reliable
sources of media and you won't be easily
back on the list, either.
Mistrust due to mishandling
can't be easily compensated for.
Note
Media Relations Strategies 45
47. 4. Newsletter
¾
Once in a while, prepare a newsletter about your
activities based on a special occasion and send it to
your audiences.
¾
Send every newsletter to a medium or a group of
media in your contact list. Sometimes, send the
newsletters to certain individuals and some other
times, send them for all media, depending on the
content of your news.
¾
According to the content of your newsletter, send it
to selective audiences among the media.
Smart Media Relations
46
48. 5. Press Conference
Conferences held for political officials or conferences
held before and after sports matches are examples of a
press conference.
a) Topic of Press Conference
¾
The topic of a press conference must have news val-
ue so the media would embrace it.
¾
Sometimes, a press release has so much news val-
ues that it can be presented in form of a press con-
ference instead of being offered in style of a news-
letter.
Press conference is one of the
effective means in market-
ing, and in other words, it is a
special and live type of press
release.
¾
You can hold a press conference depending on type
and demand of your business.
Media Relations Strategies 47
49. ¾
You can hold a press conference next to holding
events such as an opening ceremony for a com-
pany's branch office or introduction of new prod-
ucts.
Some companies consider press conference
a permanent event on its own and hold a
press conference once in a while.
b) Time of Holding a Press Conference
¾
Determine what day of the week, in which month
and what time of the day you will hold your press
conference.
¾
In holding a conference, consider certain issues such
as national holidays of a country and a geographical
area's public holidays.
¾
If the primary media platforms in your contact list
are busy on certain days of a week, identify these
days and set a date when it would be possible for
the media representatives to attend the confer-
ence.
Note
Smart Media Relations
48
50. c) Place of Holding a Press Conference
¾
Consider a suitable place with required resources
for holding your press conference.
¾
Consider a place which would be suitable for com-
ings and goings of media activists. For example, if
you are holding a press conference in a quite remote
factory, you should consider transportation services
for comings and goings.
¾
Preferably, consider the site of your company for
holding the press conference, unless you lack the re-
quired resources and space at your disposal. In this
case, consider a place where easy access and parking
spaces are available.
d) Cost of Holding a Press Conference
¾
The invitation method, the presentable place to
hold the event, refreshments and items of such all
depend on the budget you consider for this course
of action. Therefore, determine your budget for
holding a press conference and formulate your plan
accordingly.
Media Relations Strategies 49
51. e) Inviting Media
¾
Using professionals, prepare the invitation to your
program for reporters.
¾
Formulate a comprehensible and interesting invita-
tion for invitees.
¾
In the invitation, determine, in an exact manner, the
topic of invitation and the plans to be conducted.
¾
Determine the address and the date of holding the
conference in the invitation.
¾
In the invitation, announce the offered services such
as transportation services for comings and goings.
¾
Use your own media guideline table and invite me-
dia activists to attend your press conference so you
can get to know them better.
Select and invite media activists according to
the demands of your press conference.
¾
First, you should invite primary media and then, go
after other media platforms.
¾
Send the invitation to media activists via email or
Note
Smart Media Relations
50
52. any other communication means. Remind them of
the matter and invite them to attend your press con-
ference via phone call, as well.
¾
Prepare at least one plan for a span of two or three
months for your press conferences so you can send
invitations regularly according to that plan.
¾
As you get closer to the date of holding the confer-
ence, you need to remind others of the event's date
and time once or twice in several ways. You can con-
tact them via email or phone call or use both ways.
¾
Consider a time gap between sending the invitations
and holding the conference. It would be best not to
invite people on short notice. For instance, don’t in-
vite people a week before holding a conference.
f) Refreshments
¾
If you are supposed to have refreshment services,
you should announce a date when people verify
their attendance and you can verify and ensure the
number of individuals who will undoubtedly attend
the conference.
¾
Offer the same refreshments and recourses for both
reporters and your VIP guests.
Media Relations Strategies 51
53. g) Invitation Card
¾
Prepare cards or chest badges foryour invitees. In this
way, you can find out the name and origin medium
of each attendee. You can also realize which invitee
has actually attended the conference. Therefore, you
can update your contact list of media activists.
¾
At the back of media invitees' cards, write the con-
ference's schedule, so people know when and what
will happen at a point in time.
h) Rehearsal Before Presentation
¾
Rehearse for the conference. Prepare yourself and
think about what is going to happen in the press
conference.
¾
Watch various conferences to see what happens in
them and what you need to do. Prepare a list of ac-
tions you need to take in this regard and study it.
¾
To keep the schedule on the talks, the host must
practice them in the rehearsals before presenting
the conference. It makes no sense to say, "I know
my job and you don’t have to worry". The host must
prove to the organizers that he/she can finish the
job according to the schedule.
Smart Media Relations
52
54. i) Providing Resources Required for the Day the Press
Conference is Held
¾
Prepare catalog, biography of speechmakers, and
any kind of information and resources such as com-
puter, stationery, electrical outlet, clipboard and in-
ternet connection for the reporters.
¾
Provide a VIP site for photographers to maintain
the order during the conference and prepare them a
place where they can take photos from a good per-
spective.
¾
If you want to lobby people on side of the confer-
ence so they would interview you, prepare a specific
room or space there and make a plan beforehand so
these individuals can set dates in that room or space,
and if they are going to interview your managers
or do something as such, you should think about it
in advance and prepare the require recourses and
preparations. Put some people in charge of coordi-
nating such affairs.
Media Relations Strategies 53
55. j) Registering Attendees' Information
¾
In any event, there are always some reports from
various press and media who attend the confer-
ence while they may have not been invited. You
must devise some arrangements to register the
contact information of these individuals and add
them to your contact list of media-related indi-
viduals.
¾
Ask for reporters' visiting cards or record their info
and add them to your media guideline table.
¾
Let's say you have sent invitation to many people but
only a few individuals from your contact list have at-
tended the event and most people, sometimes all of
them, are not in your contact list of media activists.
Therefore, someone must be in charge of entering
new people's information in the table.
¾
In every event or press conference, you must check
which individuals are not in your contact list and
then you should add them. If some individuals from
a medium irrelevant for you have attended your
event, you should still keep their names in your list.
However, you should record their names simply as
media activists in another page and avoid putting
them in primary categories.
Smart Media Relations
54
56. k) Respecting the Schedule in Presentation
¾
Proceed with the plan of holding the press confer-
ence according to the schedule using a professional
executive group.
Whenever I have a plan to execute, I personally start
on time, and if an item is not ready, either it will be re-
moved or I try to do it in another time.
¾
The more you respect time, the better feedback you
receive. Consequently, your guest will be more satis-
fied about the way the conference is held.
If you have a VIP guest who will be late for the
event, you should not disarrange the event's sched-
ule; rather, you should keep going as planned and
proceed rest of the event with your VIP guest imme-
diately as he/she arrives.
Important officials are usually engaged in work-
ing and may not be able to attend the event on time.
In such cases, you should avoid overriding your en-
tire event and consider respecting the majority as
your highest priority.
Even if I have a minister or a senator or any other per-
son as my VIP guest, I personally won't wait on them and
will start my plan as scheduled. Albeit, in Canadian versions
of my job, there are always individuals of such levels attend-
ing my events and I have always maintained my schedule.
Media Relations Strategies 55
57. Don’t think about who might be offended by such
action because everybody will eventually be content-
ed about how orderly and organized you have been
and how much you have stuck to the schedule.
Start your task right on time
and finish it up right on time,
as well.
¾
As a skilled manager and seasoned planner, you must
consider the possibility of moving things around in
the schedule. For example, something may go wrong
when a video is playing, or a speechmaker may be a
no-show. In such cases, you must be able to move
things around in the schedule.
Smart Media Relations
56
58. l) Action Tips
¾
Determine the host and the speechmakers of your
event and confine them to the points they need to
bring up.
¾
Speeches must be very brief and relevant to the top-
ic of the session.
¾
Have a list of events scheduled on the day of the
conference, mark them as checked and go through
the job step by step.
In addition to holding press conferences,
you should attend in media-related events
and conferences, as well. In such events, you
can meet many media activists, gather their
contact information and add them to your
media guideline list.
Notice
Media Relations Strategies 57
59. 6) Holding Events
Holding an event is an excel-
lent excuse for your relations
with media.
¾
For reporters, an event has news values and you can
be confident that they will embrace it.
¾
You should invite media in the events that you hold
on your own and consider a seat for them. Have a
place specified for them called "media/press gallery"
or "reporters' gallery". This place is extremely effi-
cient and good for press conference. It is necessary
for media and press which will cover your events
and business to be in that space.
The level of media and press
coverage on you is one of the
items increasing the value of
your business.
¾
In your events, consider as high a capacity as possi-
ble for media attendance. This is important to avoid
embarrassment.
Smart Media Relations
58
60. ¾
Press gallery is not just a special place to sit. You
should also put certain resources such as internet
connection, desk and required instruments such as
pen, paper, microphone, recorder, desk and other
writing pads at your press gallery.
Take media activists as serious as possible so
they would turn into a means for closer and
more continuous relations between you and
media.
¾
If you attend events and fairs and a plus-one option
is given to you to bring a guest because of your at-
tendance, select your guest from people you know
in media and bring that fellow along.
¾
Try and attend local events, especially where your
target market is located, as well. In this case, media
which cover that event will cover you, as well. That
is, there will be reports and news on you about some
topics such as running a booth or sponsoring.
To learn more about holding an event, you can
read my other books regarding holding and han-
dling events.
Note
Media Relations Strategies 59
61. 7) Social Media
Social media is not just your
media tool but a sideline for
media relations.
¾
As long as you update your social media pages
using various contents relevant to your busi-
ness, you, in fact, expose yourself to media ac-
tivists.
¾
You may have provided a great deal of content with-
out sending any of them to media. However, you
need to refer the medium you work with to your so-
cial media pages so your provided content can be a
part of sources they use.
¾
Put notifications about updating your social media
page, so the media get accustomed to using your
pages as an information source. In this way, without
putting much effort, you will manage to establish
a relation with media so they would indirectly use
your assets.
Smart Media Relations
60
62. ¾
Follow the 20-80 strategy in social media. You need
to dedicate 20% of your content to talking about
yourself, and 80% of your content must be interest-
ing and valuable content relevant to your business
which can be used by media.
In this case, whether they intend to do it or not,
they will use that 20% personal content. It's even
possible to hire professionals to provide content for
you. In this way, your content will have 100% news
value.
Therefore, media uses your valuable content,
relates indirectly to your materials, and checking
your social media pages becomes a part of their rou-
tine To-Do list.
¾
Each social media platform is a different tool.
For example, Twitter is different from Facebook;
each one has its own special tools and they al-
low users to communicate differently. The more
knowledge you gather about these tools, the more
options you have. For instance, check which me-
dium is more into which social platform and
attract them through your social pages in those
platforms.
Media Relations Strategies 61
63. 8) Media Cooperation
Media cooperation is a suggestion for media relations.
Depending on the type of the services or products you of-
fer and the resources you have at your disposal, propose
the media to cooperate. These proposals can come in var-
ious forms:
¾
Introduce your products using your media resourc-
es and pay a fee to media in return.
¾
If you are a service provider or you have a product
to offer, you can offer free-of-charge services to me-
dia, and media can prepare a report of your product
or introduce it to wider yet right audience in return.
These terms depend on your business. For example,
a restauranter invites media and offers free food so
the media would write a report (or review) about the
restaurant's food. In this case, both parties will reap
the benefits from this offer.
¾
If you have a common target market, hold an event
together. Look for common goals and common mar-
ket with media and start a cooperation accordingly.
For instance, offer cooperation to a newspaper which
is a form of hypermedia. They may charge you 10 in-
stead of 50 thousand dollars and cooperate with you.
¾
You can have joint investments in form of projects.
Smart Media Relations
62
64. 9) Interview
It is always interesting for media to interview business
owners and managers.
¾
In the process of establishing relations with media,
set the stage for your interview.
¾
Based on types of questions that would probably
be asked in the interview with media, prepare an
answer script and deliver it. You can even ask them
to send you the questions as an audio file so you
can exactly find out about the tone of each ques-
tion.
If you convince a medium and a reporter
that you attribute importance to their
demands and respect them, you can be con-
fident that your presence on media will
increase and you will be in the contact list of
that medium.
¾
Be ready for the interview and try and answer every
unplanned question properly.
¾
If you demand the interviewing medium to send
you a copy of interview for editing before pub-
Note
Media Relations Strategies 63
65. lishing it, you will receive the coup de grace to
your bilateral relation. While trust must be mu-
tual and the material must be coordinated in a
way that it would be publishable from the begin-
ning, it is media which holds the power. So, en-
sure you see the material before it is released by
the media.
Smart Media Relations
64
67. ¾
Not everybody in any medium suits your business
to establish a relation with. In any medium, look for
influential individuals.
¾
Establish a relation with each medium in a way that
their impression of you becomes an impression
based on your professionalism and method of com-
munication.
The way you treat media indi-
cates how professional you are.
¾
Before doing anything, facilitate media's access to
you. For example, have a special phone number and
email address for media so they can find you via them.
When someone has to call a headquarter line
to contact you, it means you have failed to define a
proper method, and it results in losing many media
platforms. Define a special channel for communi-
cating with media.
Smart Media Relations
66
68. For example, give a special email address in
which the word "media" is embedded, or use a phone
line on which a voice on the answering machine
greets the media. By creating an email account or
an exclusive phone line for media, you both define
a convenient method of contact and perform time
management.
As someone who runs multiple businesses, I must tell
you that our response time is less than a minute in our job.
When you respond quickly, the press reporter will be sur-
prised and embrace your move.
¾
Keep the news section of your website up-to-date.
In this case, the media realize they can always re-
fer to this section and check the latest content in
there.
¾
Try and follow social pages of media in various plat-
forms so they somehow become informed of your
different affairs and news and it sinks in for them
that they can be informed of you and your activity
by referring to your social media pages.
¾
Try and allocate a budget for sending information
and news via postal services. That is, take some me-
dia platforms more seriously and post them the
press release. By doing so, you grab more attention
from these certain media.
Important Tips in Media Relations 67
69. ¾
When you need reporters to cover you, you should
speak as clear as possible.
When you have a complicated and hard-to-
present service or product, you shouldn’t expect
any medium to report it. Reporters can only write a
proper report when they have a proper understand-
ing of your service and product.
If you only distribute catalog, you shouldn’t ex-
pect a reporter to figure out what your product is.
Rather, you should have elaborately described your
complicated product.
Give a comprehensible one-minute explana-
tion to the reporter so he/she understands what
you say and what you like him/her to write about
you. You're not going to give a speech on stage!
When you start explaining, be aware that the re-
porter has come to you for inquiry and preparing a
report and you can't take his/her time. Therefore,
avoid explaining too much, but speak precisely and
clearly.
¾
Use local media; that is, don’t just look for hyper-
media. Rather, establish relations with all types
of media according to your objectives of media
relations.
Smart Media Relations
68
70. Your strategy for establishing
a relation with small media
must be different from the one
you have for large media. In
most cases, relation with small
media is much easier.
¾
You can directly contact local media even at
management level or contact these local media
managers and individuals in local events and af-
fairs.
If you provide services for media to use, you
must turn these services into a means for estab-
lishing a positive relation with these media. For
example, you can offer them a space to hold a
conference, to host a specific event or host a char-
ity.
In media relations, you need to seek mutu-
al respect. If there was an argument or a dispute
with a medium, you should announce that you
are ready to clear things up. Media sometimes
mess around so they can evoke a reaction from
you.
Important Tips in Media Relations 69
71. ¾
Prepare the media relations table after contact-
ing the media and conducting the initial negoti-
ations.
ƒ
In a table, enter a list of media which are no lon-
ger cooperating with you.
ƒ
Write down in front of each medium the stan-
dards and specifications it has determined.
Some media have a contact schedule. For ex-
ample, you need to send the press release to
the newspaper before 4 p.m. so it would be
published in the issue of the same day, or for
a weekly magazine, you need to send it up to
Tuesday.
You need to write in front of the name of
each medium in your list such scheduling and
other rules in sending content, stick to the
schedule of the corresponding medium, and
send them the materials way before the last
minute.
If you work with certain individuals or
reporters, ask them to let you know about
the writing style and model. You need to ask
about everything even the font size and type,
word count, and required format and size for
sending images. Enter this information in
front of the entry of each medium in your
table.
Smart Media Relations
70
72. Hence, you need to pay attention to all of
these items so you won't violate the media's
rules and end up in their blacklist. Some media
instruct you not to send them any piece of news
without coordination or not to send the con-
tents to one single service all the time. If they
have certain expectations from you, write these
expectations in the table you prepare for media
relations.
ƒ
Prepare a table such as Table 2, and in front of
each medium, record terms and conditions of
cooperation, and the items that should be con-
sidered in sending contents.
Name of
Medium
Time to
Send
Content
Format
Content Size Special Cases Recipient
A
Before 4
p.m.
Word 3 Pages max
Need to be
written in the
medium's
font
Tech
B
Up to
Tuesday
Jpg
Less than
800 Mb
- Writer
… … … … … …
Table 2: guideline of media content providing
This table becomes a basis for planning and method of
content providing for media.
Important Tips in Media Relations 71
73. ¾
After sending email to media, make a call to them or
meet them.
¾
Don’t make a promise to media that you can't keep.
¾
Give the media a free hand in arranging and editing
your content. Let them know they can modify your
content without facing any trouble.
¾
Inform media that you are always ready to answer
their questions.
¾
Prepare each content based on the corresponding
medium's format and according to the knowl-
edge you have gained about them. Media diversi-
ty may cause you some difficulties. For example,
the content you send for radio and TV is different
from what you send for print media. Also, in on-
line media, what you send for a blog is different
from the content you send for an online newspa-
per.
Becoming more recognized is one of the
ways of reaching media more frequently.
The more recognized you become, the more
attention you receive from media.
Note
Smart Media Relations
72
74. ¾
Attend the events where the media in your con-
tact list are present and gradually start to introduce
yourself. Be clever and find a spot for yourself in
media diversity. You may have a place in a medium
for once a month in a particular medium, while it is
once a year in another medium.
¾
Media relations must be continuous. You shouldn’t
use a medium one time and cut your relations. Be
present persistently and follow up. This persistence
turns into a relation and others believe that you
don’t consider media as an expendable tool.
¾
Do charity work. This action has two appeals:
9
You do good deeds.
9
Media cover you as a part of the charity.
Important Tips in Media Relations 73
75. Using Media Brokers
Press release distribution in the world is conducted in
another way, as well: using broking companies for media
relations instead of direct relation between media and
businesses.
¾
The task of broking or mediator companies is first
press release distribution. In addition to distributing
press releases, they also coordinate press releases and
advertorial and send them to the distribution network.
¾
Companies which coordinate the news give the
news feed to the broking company in charge of
press release distribution. Then, the broking com-
pany transfers the news to the media.
¾
As a professional company, the broking company pro-
vides clients with classified formats and forms of press.
¾
It is possible to introduce types of media in a classi-
fied way by broking companies. You can determine
the media model for your press release distribution
so these companies can use the media.
Some of these companies are more profession-
al; in addition to let you select the media model for
press release distribution, they also allow you to se-
lect media based on names. After agreeing upon the
media type, you will be charged with a fee for press
release distribution.
Smart Media Relations
74
76. ¾
Using broking companies is certainly costly for you.
However, its feedback will be definitely more exten-
sive and certain. Press release distribution through
these companies is better and it is generally carried
out properly and sometimes, it's even more cost-ef-
ficient.
You can ask these companies to have news co-
ordinators based on your demand. That is, they
can provide content for you and distribute it. For
example, ask them to prepare a SEO-friendly ver-
sion, or ask them to send your press release to the
media.
Important Tips in Media Relations 75
78. ¾
After contacting and establishing good relationship
with any medium, analyze and evaluate your rela-
tion; check what positive and negative outcomes have
come to your way in the process of establishing re-
lationship with the medium in question, and update
your media relations guideline table accordingly.
¾
The feedback you receive from various media re-
lations is of great importance. Estimate the benefit
you have reaped from a relation and see what has
been contributed to you by each medium. You may
have fulfilled the medium's demands but haven’t
gained anything in return.
ƒ
In such cases, leave a question mark in your me-
dia guideline table and inspect the problem.
ƒ
Negotiate with that certain medium so you can
find out why your cooperation has been fruitless.
ƒ
Evaluate what you have given and what you have
been given. Maybe, you haven’t given anything,
and that's why you have failed in your media re-
lations.
Performance Evaluation 77
79. Assessing sales after media rela-
tions depends on your advertis-
ing strategy and differs from
your relations with media.
¾
Reaching out to audiences is one of your objec-
tives of media relations. Informing audiences
must have an impact on your sales, but it's diffi-
cult and complicated to make assessment about
how effective it has been. For example, determine
a number of keywords in the content you send to
media. Then, evaluate the reports based on those
words. You realize that two words have been effec-
tive. Therefore, the corresponding medium has
been useful.
Modern tracking tools can be of great help to
you. Find a formula for tracking so you can
see what have you gained.
Note
Smart Media Relations
78
80. In summary, the general scheme of your roadmap in
media relations and cooperation is as follows:
z
In the first step, you prepare a table for media guide-
line (Table 1).
z
To have media relations and provide proper media
content, you apply the methods that have been ex-
plained in details.
z
You strengthen the circle of identifying media.
The more your presence and media relations, the
higher the chance of you being in the interest list
of media.
z
Prepare another table and write the information of
media platforms with which you intend to cooperate.
You need to do it in terms of their relevant services
and standards (Table 2). Here, you determine what
type of press release suits each medium.
For instance, when your press release is suit-
able for the literary service of a newspaper, you
don’t need to send it to all departments as you can
also adjust it to the newspaper's standards.
The audiences of your press release may be
residents of a neighborhood. Therefore, send
your press release to a local medium based on
that medium's acceptable format according to
the table.
Performance Evaluation 79
81. z
Use a permanent email address to send your press re-
leases so that permanent address can be a basis for
recognizing you by media.
z
Eventually, you need to follow up to make sure the
media have received the press release. This follow-up
shouldn’t be so frequent to pester the media. In the
process of follow-up, you must stick to its rules and
principles and avoid calling over and over.
Smart Media Relations
80