By Melissa A. Vitale When most startups think about Public Relations, they think about press media coverage in magazines, newspapers and similar caliber online platforms. The process to garnering organic—without advertising costs—news coverage in these media outlets with a positive tone, is media relations. The general consensus on definition of media relations is the informing of journalists, editors and producers about a brand, company or entrepreneur in efforts to produce organic media coverage in a positive light. When a company stays on the radar of journalists and editors through email updates [pitches], in person meetings, event activations that bring the meaning of your brand to life, the press will remember your name in a way that they will continue to feature your brand. The name media relations can be misleading, because some press coverage comes with little to no relationships at all. A journalist can write about the brand from research on their website and social media, quoting past newsletters or videos, and even writing a secondary report of an interview a founder did in another publication. That said, media relations, when done right, can produce consistent press coverage over time with minimum effort to maintain. Some publicists and brand founders doing their own PR may reach out to a journalist once, work with them on a story, and then never speak to them again. Now, some journalists won't revisit a certain topic. However, by ignoring the opportunity to foster a relationship with a journalist who was interested enough in a brand to feature it once, you're leaving press coverage getting cold on the table. Now as a sex publicist, you know I have a lewd comparison to drive this point home. Think of going on a first date. If your goal is to have sex, we know from hook up rates that it's very likely that you will succeed. However, focusing on sex, rather than a person themselves, may leave them feeling without a real connection to continue seeing you in any capacity, let alone intimately, leaving the total times you have sex with that person at one. Now think about first dates when your focus is on getting to know someone. You may not have sex on the first or second date. But especially in the case of those first dates that turn into long-term relationships, the frequency of sex is higher when sex isn't the primary goal. The same goes for press relationships. When you're incessant for coverage with a journalist or editor, they may follow through with the interest just to get you off their back. The experience may leave a taste in their mouths that prevents you from having future pitches accepted. Rather, if you're gracious in your timeline, and think about being informative rather than begging for press, there's a greater chance your target media will enjoy working with you instead of dreading it. Patience over pushing is always appreciated in press relationships. I don't really care if a journalist I connect with over a client wants to feature my client or not right away. They may have six other commissions to finish up before they can consider pitching an editor a new story. I'd rather work with their schedule. Keep them updated on my client, and maybe even reduce consistency as to not clog their inbox. When they're ready for my client, I am there with bells on with an available interview time, links to recent pictures from the client, and if it's a product brand, offering samples of recent launches. Think of your friendships. If you've had a moment in your life when you're unavailable to make plans with friends, you appreciate the friends who graciously acknowledge your boundaries rather than the ones begging you to change your mind. When you focus on relationships over one-off media coverage, you build a network of journalists and editors who love a brand or product. Each relationship may have multiple opportunities to cover your company in some capacity. A commerce editor is always looking for affiliate-friendly brands to feature. If you have a plethora of products, you could have sever placements per month from a single journalist. I'd estimate for each month of media relations efforts, you could have one to five new journalists interested in a brand. That interest turns to interviews or product sampling which usually leads to feature coverage. Now after averaging three new relationships per month, after three months, there's almost 10 people who want to feature a brand when they can. Over six months that number is closer to 20. If each journalist can feature a brand one to two times a year, after once year, that could lead to 160 stories a year to follow if the relationships are maintained. Most people spend time with more than one person: Holidays with family, vacations with sweethearts or college friends, happy hours and lunches with colleagues both current and former. Just as you wouldn't expect one friend to be responsible for all your plans throughout a year, having more relationships with journalists will keep your brand busy in the press and maximize individual efforts. How long will you take to see results? I usually anticipate that after six to eight months of dedicated media relations outreach, brands will see consistent placements, ranging from two to eight or even more, per month. This varies based on the brand of course. A brand with a single product may not have as many opportunities as brands with multiple product categories. Medical devices, pharmaceutical products and supplements will have a longer timeline to receive consistence, about three extra months, since these topics can be harder for publications to greenlight often due to legal red tape or content restrictions. You’ll know when your media relations efforts are bearing fruit when journalists and editors want to repeat feature your brand or your insights. My clients are often surprised when they’re speaking to a journalist again, even though I make sure to cover that expectation and explain the goal of our media relations. With strong outreach strategy, media relations will yield opportunities from new and known journalists and editors. There of course will be time where there are lulls, but that is natural for any organic strategy. The biggest mistake publicist and entrepreneurs doing their own PR make is treating a journalist as if their only job is to write about them or their client. Like your personal friends, Media relations is a two-way street. You wouldn’t ask for something over and over again without reciprocation. And you want to make your communications about more than what you want from them. Acknowledge the moments in their life: did they get married? Experience a loss? Buy a house? Write a book? Take time to congratulate and comfort when you can. You wouldn’t ask a friend to help you move if you forgot to send your condolences when their dog recently died. Be respectful of their time; there is a person behind every headline. Some writers cover other industries, and sometimes are covering breaking news while your industry is stable. Think of healthcare and travel writers during the pandemic or political reporters amidst election season. You wouldn’t push for sex from someone who just gave birth, got in a car accident or lost a parent. The same is for a journalist during a busy time. Instead, offer any support. Maybe they need a source that you might know, or a strong drink after work. Once it’s established, show deference to each relationship by personalizing your interactions. Journalists and editors aren’t mean: they understand that for large company news you aren’t going to write 100 separate emails. But if you take time to send someone who wrote a great profile about you a personalized one-off here and there, they’ll see you care about them as more than an email address on an excel spreadsheet. Sometimes a journalist or editor will inform you that they won't be able to cover your company; maybe they just featured. your brand or they plan to visit your industry in a long-form special package in coming months and don't want to dilute the content. If your company has a new launch, partnership, or executive move, you should still keep that person updated, especially if they have published you before. Their once-stated rules may only apply to evergreen stories, which that is not. Even if they can't cover you, they'll usually appreciate the opportunity to celebrate your news. Relationships with press are relationships with all people. When built genuinely, respected, and nurtured, can maximize results of pitching and storytelling efforts. For plant and intimate wellness brands hoping to distinguish themselves in their industry and cement their name in history, become a client:
https://www.melissaavitale.com/become-a-client.html To learn more about Melissa A Vitale PR, view Client Case Studies: www.melissaavitale.com/case-studies.html
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PR Your Self delves into practices for earning media coverage without a Publicist By Melissa A. Vitale Be sure to check out the other posts in this series: PR Your Self: Social Media is your Bestie & PR Your Self: What's in a Media Kit? If you're a new brand that doesn't quite have the budget for PR yet, it doesn't mean you're unable to achieve your own press placements. In fact, it's usually quite easy for a brand to drum up excitement in the press without a publicist. Because a new brand hasn't been written about before, it's very existence is exciting, new and noteworthy. With an active social media presence, and reading a little bit about your industry, you can find journalists to interact with on instagram and X, formerly Twitter. To make your life easier when speaking with press, having a media kit will move the conversation along because it'll provide all the relevant stats that press look for when considering a brand to feature or an executive to cite in their trend piece. Once you've started partnerships, influencer seeding, marketing campaigns, social media strategy, or even got your first press coverage, you may find other journalists and editors visiting your website to feature you themselves. If that happens, you'll want to have a Press Portal or Page set up. A Press Portal is a dedicated page on your website that is linked to your homepage. Most brands put this beneath and separate from "Contact" or "About Us" in the footer of their website. Many journalists will look for these on websites of brands they want to reach out to, because it shows that you are open to the potential coverage they could provide. Believe it or not, some brands don't want coverage, especially in the nascent stages. Without a press page, some journalists and editors may assume that you are not friendly to press and won't even bother to send you a note even if they're dying to feature you. Press Pages range from simple to elaborate. A basic Press Portal should include a contact email dedicated for press and the top-lines of the brand so journalists can easily reference why your brand is worth a feature or consideration. When you're creating a press portal, you'll want a dedicated email for press that is different than your general "Hello@BrandName.com" customer email. If journalists think their request is going to end in a stuffed inbox that is rarely-monitored, they may not take the time to write the email requesting an interview. Press research hundreds and thousands of brands. They've developed a system to figure out if a brand is open to interviews or coverage before even sending an email. Without a press page or a dedicated email, you could be missing out on press opportunities without realizing it. If you'd like to create a full-service press portal, there are a few additional add-ons that you can feature. If you've already have some press-coverage, including past coverage on your press page can be helpful for journalists hoping to profile the brand without double dipping angles that were already covered. Another helpful feature for journalist and editors is having images available to download in addition to featured on the page to help journalists visualize the assets you have available for publication. Features that always attract journaliss include forms for requesting samples. Ask them for their address, email address, phone number and color, style and size preferences if relevant. Journalists love receiving samples, especially if it's from a brand that hasn't been reviewed yet. A press portal on your website shouldn't take more than a couple hours to set up and the benefits are more than worth it. For plant and intimate wellness brands hoping to distinguish themselves in their industry and cement their name in history, become a client:
https://www.melissaavitale.com/become-a-client.html To learn more about Melissa A Vitale PR, view Client Case Studies: www.melissaavitale.com/case-studies.html By Melissa A. Vitale I barely remember hosting my first family party when I was 17 years-old. However, I do vividly remember my racing heart and constant worry of my anxiety throughout the entire affair. Fast forward to this past holiday season where I seemingly-effortlessly hosted family for Christmas Eve and Day without stress. The big difference? The years of hosting press-events in between. Throughout my career as a publicist, I've arrived nearly-on-time to events hosted by my clients with the promise that everything would be ready upon my arrival; all I had to do was show up. So rarely is this the case for any publicist. I've done everything to unboxing sex furniture unexpectedly delivered from Croatia or booking last-minute talent to cleaning toilets or running across town for last-minute pick-ups of replacements for deliveries that never showed. Over the years, I've gotten wiser and show up early to client-run events prepared for the worst yet hoping for the best, with sleeves rolled up to do anything needed to get ready for the arrival of guests and press list. When hosting my own events--whether personal or professional, though often a combination--I rarely feel stress anymore because I've gotten it down to a science. Be Flexible with your Time-Slots Whether renting a space or hosting in your own home, don't expect anything to be on time, it rarely is. Rather, anticipate windows from when you want to start getting the space ready, when to expect guests arrivals, features throughout the evening and when you want certain foods or cocktails served. Create your schedule sequentially rather than based on a certain time. If you want a panel to start or a course to be served within 45 minutes of guest arrivals, don't set your alarm for 7:45 with a 7:00 start time. Rather, wait for enough guests to arrive to signify half, and then plan from there. Plan your Preparation in Advance Don't think about preparation for the first time the day of an event. Typically a week before an event, I make my schedule for the day of and surrounding the event. If there's tasks I can do far in advance like picking up any decorations or branded material, or creating custom pieces like place cards, food labels, gift tags etc, I schedule those into the four or five days before the event. The day of, I plan for things like when I want the venue to be ready, when I want to be ready, and everything I know I need to do for an event. When I'm hosting in my house, I think of things like when I want to light candles, turn on music. For a venue those can be final lighting, placement of branded materials, bar open etc. If you have childcare to consider, meals to be eaten in between preparing, make sure you're scheduling the required time for those activities. You'll have a lot less stress the day of if you know exactly what you need to do to get through the event without issues. Manage Personalities The more people involved in an event, the better chances there are in delays or last-minute changes. If you're working with a lot of talent, plan for a call-time for each that is earlier than it needs to be and make them aware of it when negotiating the event. If someone is notorious for showing up late, tell them an earlier start time. Don't take chances when you're hosting an event where timeliness is required. Articulate Any and ALL Entrance Instructions When family members come to parties at my dad's house, there's no need for entrance instructions: everyone has been coming through the side door for twenty-plus years. When your hosting an event in a city, there's a possibility for bells to rung, doormen and security to be screened by, stairs to climb, elevators to ride, door codes, intercoms, coatchecks and I really don't need to go on but absolutely could with all the obstacles there are to get into an event in the city. Unless you plan of having signage from the street to the event, include entrance instructions or risk your guests turning away before entering. Use What's On Hand We all have that last-minute alarm that asks us do we have enough of XYZ. From drinks, food or even branded content from some of my client events, I always worry if I have enough. Before I go running to the store for purchases I probably don't need, I look around me. If I need props for a client I go into my office and all the materials of projects passed and stuff whatever I can into a tote bag before I head to the venue. When I'm thinking about cocktails when I'm hosting, I go through my fruit drawer in the fridge and my bar cart for open bottles and mix something from there. I often find creative solutions that make for a fun party story over the drinks table. Always Plan for More Especially for after-work or weekend events that don't require a sit-down place-setting, there's a chance a few of your guests may want to bring someone or someones that they're currently with. Always plan enough refreshments for more people, and if there's too much, your guests are usually happy to help make sure there's no waste. My mother was a legendary hostess, and she always advocated that when hosting, the only thing you should have to do by the time your guests is open a bottle of wine. With thoughtful planning and savvy thinking, event planning whether on behalf of a brand or friends and family, can bring more joy and success than hiccups and stress. For plant and intimate wellness brands hoping to distinguish themselves in their industry and cement their name in history, become a client:
https://www.melissaavitale.com/become-a-client.html To learn more about Melissa A Vitale PR, view Client Case Studies: www.melissaavitale.com/case-studies.html |
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