Ask anyone in the PR industry about their greatest asset and more often than not, you’ll hear media contacts in the response. Ask any journalist about their greatest source of annoyance and you’re guaranteed to hear tales of irritating phone calls, irrelevant news releases and blanket emails. Websites have been devoted to PR gaffes, with journalists naming and shaming the industry’s worst offenders, yet bad practice still continues.
After three years at university and various placements in the PR world, I’ve now carried out my fair share of media sell-ins and have found that careful research and accurate targeting are the secrets to success.
National campaigns often seem to discount regional media outlets, when in fact these can be the most effective way of reaching your target audiences. Knowledge of the local area and more importantly the publication’s requirements, are essential in pitching effectively to journalists, making regional PR roles even more important.
As a PR student (and soon to be graduate), hearing the words ‘media sell-in’ used to make my heart sink. The prospect of phoning an endless list of journalists who didn’t care what I had to say was far from appealing. These fears were dispelled once I learned the art of accurate media targeting: reading the publication and finding where the story would fit before picking up the phone.
Not everyone has access to an extensive media library and it’s not always easy to find time to research each publication first. However, it can make a huge difference to the quality of coverage. The internet has made research easier and enables PRs to send out generic news releases to a mass of contacts with the click of a button. While this may save time in the short term, a more tailored approach helps to build lasting relationships with journalists that can be called upon again in the future.
The surge in bloggers and online publications presents a greater choice of media than ever before – and with more opportunities comes the need for more careful targeting. The conversational nature of blogging means that PRs must adapt their approach to be personal, stepping away from the traditional press release.  It’s crucial to ensure information and products are relevant to a blogger’s interests. For example, a blog about cheap urban eats won’t care about the opening of a Michelin starred restaurant.
I’m not pretending to know it all and I’ve still got a lot to learn about PR, but for now I’m happy building up my media contacts. If you want to find out more just type ‘Bad PR’ into Google, but I can guarantee you won’t find the Turn Key PR team there!
