Does Your Company Need a Media Relations Remake?

by Lisa Cabral

Media relations plays a huge role in the success of businesses, both online and off. Without a great media relations strategy (and team) you may not get the coverage and publicity that you want (and deserve) – which is exactly why your media relations strategy may need a remake. 

But what exactly are you supposed to DO? 

​First, a little clarification, in case you’re thinking public relations and media relations are two names for the same thing. They’re not.

In short, while public relations and media relations often go hand in hand, media relations is about connecting you to journalists and influencers, creating and gathering information to be shared with the public. Public relations then takes that information and shares it across various channels.

Traditional PR firms can be great, but they don’t always know how to elevate your brand or position you as the thought leader you are. You want to always be connected to the top journalists and influencers so that your PR team can take those relationships and extend them beyond the media.

But how do you make those connections? Essentially by reaching out and introducing yourself. But before you can do that, you need to do a little organizing:

1. Establish clear goals for your media relations strategy. You need to know exactly what you want to get out of the connections you make, and how they will help you promote your business. Set both short term and long term goals, and track what works and what doesn’t as you go. 
2. Know your audience and media channels. Knowing your audience allows you to advertise and market to the differing segments comprised therein. Additionally, you need to know how you want to reach varying segments.  It is not enough to say you want to advertise or be published in magazines. Which magazines? Why? You wouldn’t pitch a story on college students maintaining a professional image online to a parenting magazine. Right?
3. Plan for setbacks. You need to know that things WILL go wrong. Crises  will occur, but with a solid media relations plan, you will know how to fix them and bounce back immediately. 

Taking these points into consideration will prepare you to reach out to journalists and influencers and make the most of those relationships. And if you do find you need help, we’re ready to rebuild your media relations strategy today.  

Did we miss an important step in rebuilding your media relations strategy? Share your tips or advice in the comments!


IMAGE CREDIT: NICOLAS RAYMOND