How to Build Media Relations in Government Marketing

www.boscobel.com 1
How to Build Media Relations in
Government Marketing

www.boscobel.com 2
Table of Contents
I. All About Media Relations
II. Industry Best Practices
III. Thought Leadership Programs
IV. High-impact PR Ideas
www.boscobel.com

www.boscobel.com 3
All About Media Relations
www.boscobel.com

www.boscobel.com 4
Benefits of Good Media Relations
www.boscobel.com
• Introduces, builds, manages and sustains an
image.
• Creates consistent messaging.
• Strengthens you as a thought leader.
• Increases visibility, awareness and brand equity.
• Opens the door to long-term, valuable press
relationships.
• Demonstrates value as a trusted resource.

www.boscobel.com 5www.boscobel.com
Benefits of Good Media Relations
• Educates reporters on the breadth and scope of
your services.
• Makes it easier to cover your company.
• Minimizes potential bad press.
• Supports employee recruitment.

www.boscobel.com 6
Know the Publication
www.boscobel.com
• Who is the audience? What are the
demographics? What do the reporters like to
cover? What do they avoid?
• Do they accept submitted articles? Is online
content different from print content? Can you
submit content via their website?

www.boscobel.com 7
Know the Reporters
www.boscobel.com
• What topics do they cover? Do they have a social
media presence? Do they speak publicly? What kind
of stories do they write: informative or “gotcha”?
• Find common ground, whether it’s hometowns, alma
maters, or activities and hobbies. Look on Facebook,
read their blogs, and follow them on Twitter.
• Track editorial calendars.
• Introduce yourself via email and LinkedIn.
• Use social media to engage them.

www.boscobel.com 8
Nurture Your Relationships
www.boscobel.com
• Attend panel discussions where reporters are
speaking.
• Post their stories on LinkedIn Groups or on
Twitter.
• Schedule face-to-face meetings.
• Offer yourself as a resource.
• Understand their definition of news.

www.boscobel.com 9
Protect Your Relationships
www.boscobel.com
• Understand their communication preferences.
• Ensure pitches are in their wheelhouse at all
times.
• Mirror their emails. If they’re short, keep yours
short. If they show personality, show your
personality.
• Choose follow-ups wisely; they do read your
emails.

www.boscobel.com 10
Protect Your Relationships
www.boscobel.com
• Do what you say you’re going to do; deliver what
you say you’re going to deliver.
• Don’t guess: if you don’t know the answer, find
someone who does.
• Have a balanced conversation. It can’t be all
about you and your organization.
• Be thick skinned. Don’t take things personally.

What Do Reporters Need?
• Story ideas, not company pitches
• Information of interest to their readers
• Historical approaches to topics, milestones
• Honest opinions
• Facts and figures, trends, research
• Open lines of communication and fast response
• Organization background
• Customer case studies

www.boscobel.com 12
How Do Reporters Get Story Ideas?
www.boscobel.com
• Wire services
• News releases and pitches from PR relationships
• Websites (government, industry, media)
• Social media outlets (Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs)
• Conversations with industry thought leaders or analysts
• Market research
• Industry events, trade shows and conferences
• Other press and e-newsletter

www.boscobel.com 13
Industry Best Practices
www.boscobel.com

Effective writing
• Write to your audience.
• Tone and level of technicality must be
appropriate to them.
• Lead with benefits; don’t bury them.
• Keep your writing succinct.
• Subject lines and leads should be easy to
scan.
• Avoid big blocks of texts.

Effective writing, continued
• Include statistics to illustrate facts.
• Organize salient points; use number/bullets.
• Avoid acronyms and industry jargon.

News Releases
• News releases should announce hard news.
• Tuesday is usually the best day
• Post softer announcements on website.
• News releases should be web optimized for SEO.
• Place main keyword in headline, first sentence and
copy
• Place secondary keyword once or twice
• Determine which news releases require follow up.
• Post news releases and other materials internally so
others in your organization can share with their
communities.

News Releases, continued
• Five ways to give your release more legs for hard
news:
1. Post on appropriate LinkedIn Groups.
Tweet about it.
2. Publish on website.
3. Invest in Google AdWords, or Sponsorship
campaigns.
4. Blog about it.
5. Ask social allies to promote it.

Pitches
• Make them relevant to the audience
• Push the “first and only” angles when possible
• Introduce new thought leaders and execs
• Be sure the topic hasn’t been covered recently
• Reference a prior, published article re: the same
topic if the pitch brings something new to the
conversation

Pitches, continued
• Use preferred medium e.g, e-mail, Twitter, etc.
• Scan expert source services (HARO, ProfNet,
etc)
• Follow up appropriately
• Inject your ideas into breaking news stories
(e.g., Newsjacking)
• Scan the headlines. Where can your
story become their story?

Media advisories
• Be judicious on issuing media advisories.
• Events, news conferences
• Follow up with additional, complementary information
(e.g. parking instructions, new speakers, etc.).

Bylined Articles/ Contributed Content
• What makes a good topic?
• Trends, issues, best practices, how-to, opinions,
non-promotional
• Make sure to follow writer’s guidelines; give editor a
heads up immediately if you’d like to deviate.
• Let editor know if you need extra time; it’s usually
okay.

Social Media Relations
• Pitch reporters using Twitter (a twitter pitch is called a
“twitch”), LinkedIn, etc.
• Tweet/retweet reporters’ articles.
• Promote content or news via social media. Post
relevant news or articles on Facebook or on
appropriate LinkedIn Groups, e.g. US Military
Veterans Network.
• Comment on their articles and blogs – but only with
substantive comments

Website Newsroom
• Make your newsroom accessible from your
homepage.
• Organize news releases by year.
• List PR contacts by name on every page.
• Provide executive bios, history, product and services
information for download.
• Offer RSS feed subscription or other method to
subscribe to updates.
• Refresh it often.
• Include press coverage.

Best Practices

Best Practices
Website Newsroom
• Make newsroom accessible from homepage.
• Organize news releases by year.
• List PR contacts by name.
• Provide executive bios, history, product and services
information for download.
• Offer RSS feed subscription or other method to
subscribe to updates.
• Refresh often.
• Include press coverage.

Thought Leadership Programs

What Is Thought Leadership?
• One element of a successful PR program that
differentiates your organization.
• A thought leader is:
• A recognized leader in the field.
• A credible third-party expert that can address issues and trends.
• A person reporters trust.
• Thought leadership tools include:
• White papers and eBooks
• Customer case studies
• Speaking engagements
• Press interviews, quotes
• Bylined articles and contributed content
• Awards

www.boscobel.com 29
Benefits
www.boscobel.com
A thought leadership program is beneficial
internally:
• Helps PR teams learn more about your experts.
• Develops a process to help capture information for PR
and marketing activities.
• Encourages reluctant thought leaders to participate.
• Boosts morale and organization pride by sharing content
for internal communications.

Planning
• Determine which topics, issues or trends
your organization wants to own in the
press.
• Find the appropriate public-facing subject
matter experts.
• Distribute an introductory email that
outlines the program and thought leader’s
role.

Discovery
• Review editorial calendars for targeted publications
and determine which publications accept bylined
articles or op-ed pieces.
• Develop questions for your subject matter experts.
• Share questions with the subject matter expert prior
to interview and practice.

www.boscobel.com 32
The Interview
www.boscobel.com
• Get subject matter expert excited and confortable
about the interview.
• Share goals, media targets and background on the
publication.
• Record the interview to allow for a more fluid
conversation.
• Present bylined article abstract to subject matter
experts for approval.

Celebrate! Continue Momentum
• Publicize successes internally with other thought
leaders and executives.
• Promote successes externally via website and
social media.
• Create thought leader matrix to share with
management.

Article Placement
• Pitch article abstract to media and get placement
agreement.
• Obtain specifications for article or blog.
• Develop content for team approval.
• Submit to media, on time.

High Impact PR Ideas

1. Launch “Research for Ink” Program
• Conduct surveys and polls on issues or trends.
• Issue news release on results.
• Share results via social media and emails.
• Include results in relevant bylined articles.
• Hold an event to announce results.
2. Industry Awards
• Create industry award calendar, select nominations for your
company and your clients and submit copy.
• Invent your own awards program.
High Impact PR Ideas

(W) 301-588-2900
(C) 301-717-9529
jbosc@boscobel.com
@boscobuzz
FedBizBeat
Thank You!
Joyce Bosc

How to Build Media Relations in Government Marketing

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (8)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

How to Build Media Relations in Government Marketing

Editor's Notes