The media landscape is constantly changing and same goes for PR. No matter whether you choose to work with a PR agency or not, there are some key nuances in interacting with the media that all marketing professionals and/or executives with an eye on PR should understand.
- Not all media outlets are the same. Some publications are news driven and likely focus much of their content on changes in the industry and the impacts on end users. While some are more open to vendor news than others, news-driven outlets are prime targets to promote an announcement or press release.
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- Advances and pre-pitching matters. While embargoes should be reserved for significant news, advances and pre-pitching press releases before they are made public is a PR best practice most industry news outlets appreciate. There are always exceptions to the rule, but giving reporters time to research, interview and report on the news before it is made public enables them to produce more robust stories the same day the news is released.
- Some outlets are more insight or opinion driven. These outlets may not cover news at all and instead rely on contributed content from industry players. For publications that focus on insights – it is important to note that thought leadership must go beyond your own value proposition and it must be unique and not a veiled marketing or product pitch. While getting to these unique, value-added insights can be a challenge once those articles are produced, there are often numerous ways to slice and dice them to get maximum mileage.
If you are working with a PR agency, these are 101 best practices they should understand about your priority media targets and be able to discuss.