Even as traditional media outlets have lost consumers in recent years, they remain a powerful, trusted news source for large audiences. For that reason, among others, media relations continues to play a crucial part in executing most successful PR strategic plans.
When your organization receives coverage in a traditional media source, it helps to build credibility for your brand in a way unique to other forms of public relations and marketing. Audiences recognize that advertisements or social media posts, for instance, represent the voice of a brand, while media coverage reflects the work of a third party charged with telling stories without the same vested interest. Positive media coverage helps to create both exposure and status for your brand. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, 65% of Americans trust traditional media as a reliable source of news.
At Fryed Egg, we work with you to secure invaluable coverage in a variety of media outlets, pitching your stories to reporters and others to help strengthen and broaden your image in the public eye.
Target audience and reach
When choosing where to pitch your story, you should determine the audience you hope to reach and the outlets best suited to connect with that audience. For some stories, that could mean reaching the largest possible number of people. For others, that may mean identifying an outlet popular with a particular demographic. Ultimately, your goal is to find the outlet that can provide that ideal audience for your story. Depending on the story and your goals, you may favor a targeted pitch to a single outlet for an exclusive story or it may make more sense to broaden your efforts to multiple outlets, either through a pitch or a press release.
Understand the outlet
You should never pitch a media outlet that you have not already consumed yourself. You should understand how they cover stories. What types of stories do they cover? In what style and with what tone? That way you can clearly understand how your story can fit into their needs and preferences -- and how they are likely to cover your story. Sometimes, the ideal outlet for the audience you hope to reach is a poor fit for your particular story, and you simply need to look elsewhere to find a better fit. Fryed Egg can work with you to pick the best possible outlet for your particular story, as well as the contact who should be the target for a pitch.
Be helpful
Media organizations are running leaner than ever before. Making it straightforward for them to cover your story has never been more important. When you pitch your story to them, you want to make it clear how it fits into their coverage needs and how you can help them cover it. That means providing any assets and resources they need, including availability for interviews, facts and figures, images, videos, and other suggested sources, among other possibilities. If you don’t make it as turnkey as possible for an outlet, their response may be that they don’t have the capacity to provide coverage to you, no matter how good a fit your story is for them. Make it easy for them to say yes. At Fryed Egg, we can prepare a full media package with video B-roll, interviews, ready-to-use quotes, a press release and more to make sure your story is fully prepared for prime time.
Make sure the time is right
Timing can be everything to the success of your story pitch. Media outlets take pride in delivering news at the appropriate time for their audiences. If you are pitching a story whose ideal time for coverage has passed, then outlets often will choose to pass on it. Outlets also look for broader news hooks to tie to your story, so timing a pitch to take advantage of current events, trends, seasonal interests, holidays, or pop culture can help make your story more compelling. Good timing also means giving an outlet the time they need to properly cover a story. If your pitch comes too late for them to put together appropriate coverage, then it will simply end up as a missed opportunity.
Our Fryed Egg team has developed strong relationships built on trust with an array of media outlets and contacts, and we are experienced at identifying the best paths to getting your story heard in the media. If you need help getting your story into the world, contact us today at (813) 478-0494 or [email protected].