marketing
stop the presses it’s time you were heard.
Y
Stephanie
Dale
Managing Partner
DMC Advertising
Group
ou want to gain PR media coverage,
but you're not sure where to begin
or how to get organised? One of the
reasons people shy away from including PR
in their marketing communications is the
mistaken notion that a PR story has to have
a complex structure and has to be subject
to some rigorous rules. This is not the case
at all. At its core, an effective PR story
construct is simple.
Just tell people where you were, what
happened and why you're telling them the
story. End of story.
There are FOUR Ps
associated with gaining
successful media coverage:
PREPARE
PITCH
PERFORM
PERSEVERE
HOW TO PREPARE
Understand what makes news
Personalise. Think about your business and
your clients. Is there a good human-interest
story just waiting to be told? Put yourself in
the role of a reporter and ask yourself if one
or more of those stories would be of interest
to the readers of your local newspaper,
viewers of your TV station, or listeners
of your radio program. Imagine you know
nothing about your business at all. Focus on
the elements of your story that would be of
interest to customers and let that guide the
development of your story.
People assume if they have an event, such
as a launch of a new facility, for example,
journalists will come and coverage is
guaranteed. No matter how much French
champagne there is at the event, nothing will
replace a newsworthy story.
The key values to focus on include
highlighting something that is new.
Emphasise the ‘big deal’ factor from the
media’s point of view by answering questions
such as ‘how is this changing lives?’ or ‘how
much money will this save?’
Always offer a local angle or local case
studies. This might take longer to sort out,
however, it will give your campaign a greater
impact.
12 Australian Window Association Summer 2015
Tailor your story to the
particular media audience or
outlet
Many business owners make the mistake of
simply buying media lists and sending out
generic mass mail-outs about their business
or service.
Sending out a mass email approach that’s
been blind cc’d is lazy. You will fail to engage
the reporter if you haven’t researched their
topic of interest or what they’ve done in the
past.
Business owners also need to be aware that
the story they want to share may be suitable
for only certain media outlets.
Some people say, ‘I really want to be on
Sunrise’, however, potentially their particular
story is not a TV story, there’s no imagery,
there is nothing to engage the breakfast
audience. It may be better off on ABC Radio.
Always be conscious of WHERE your story
is best told.
Evangelize Your Storytelling
There’s a saying: “It takes a thousand voices
to tell a single story.” Similarly, it takes all F