If you are determined to do your own PR, here are Cicero Communications’ top six tips for dealing with the media.
1. Understand the media you are targeting. Learn how a newsroom works, who the right person is to contact and what their deadlines are. Remember that asking for editorial is not the same as paying for an ad—you don’t get control over when or where your story appears.
2. Journalists are looking for newsworthy stories of relevance to their readers—this could be hot issues, current trends, research or statistics, case studies, local happenings or industry-specific news.
3. Have written information but don’t just put out a media release at the drop of a hat. If a journalist receives a few useless media releases from you, in future your missives will go straight in the bin. Often a phone call to the journalist is better than sending a media release out blind. If you do write a media release, make sure there is something in it for the journalist—that is, news that will be of interest to their readers. Avoid jargon, and make sure you make it easy for the journalist you are approaching to contact you.
4. Respond promptly. If a journalist does call you, don’t leave it hours, let alone days or weeks, to get back to them because most likely they will have moved on to another story.
5. Don’t ramble. Work out the key messages for what you are trying to say, and say them in an engaging, quotable way. Put yourself in the readers’ shoes.
6. Assess your risks and opportunities when a journalist calls you—some story opportunities might be good for the journalist but not for your company
