From Cat and Mice to partners

By Loubna Maghnouj, Account Director at PRLab

[Source: jokideo.com/funny-cat]

The role of public relations practitioners is to engage its multiple audiences in a two-way conversation. This notion has been long accepted as a basic definition of what public relations stands for and is still used today as the building stone for all PR related activities and strategies. And what best way to engage the audience than through the media?

For a long period of time, journalists have acted as gatekeepers, filtering what audiences ultimately receive and read about. And in a world where we, the consumers, are constantly bombarded by information left right and center, we rely on these gatekeepers to provide us only with content that will interest and entertain us. Of course, this rather traditional model has been challenged by the constant rise of social media adoption and usage across all generations, as brands discovered new ways to reach their audiences.

Yet consumers still rely on the media as a reliable and credible source of information about brands. The information they seek usually pertains to brands as a whole and its image, rather than to the marketing details of their products (after all, a story is much more memorable than a fact sheet). Thus the role of media relations is still to this date paramount in the work of any PR practitioner.

Now for the age-old question. How do we do it? Jump head first and call every single name in the list your supervisor provided you in that first internship? Email the journalists, again and again, the same product pitch asking them if they saw the previous emails? Contact as many reporters in the same outlet as possible in the hopes that at least one of them will pick up that story your client is harping about?

Let’s face it, we all did at least one if not all of the above at some point in our careers with abysmal results. And the reason for that is simple: we were not doing media relations. In fact, it isn’t any type of relations at all. The act of reaching out over and over with for no real reason than needing to gain someone’s attention has a name: spamming.

[Source: https://giphy.com/gifs/artists-on-tumblr-foxadhd-xLhloTgdu7i92]

It is called Media Relations, not Media Spamming

The premise is this: if you are trying to convince someone to write a story about something, you better have a solid argumentation as to why. Just telling them they should write about it is not enough. Why should they write it? How is this relevant to their core audience? The best way to prepare for this kind of questions is research. Every PR practitioner compiling a list of reporters to pitch too should first and foremost research what each of them writes about, what style they use, and the tone they adopt on average when writing. In fact, you should be able to reference previous articles when pitching to a journalist.

There are also some other factors to consider. When are you pitching? Journalists have tight deadlines, and Fridays are usually the worst time to pitch them as they are running around trying to close their stories. Research the outlets’ submission deadline, and be mindful of them when you pitch. After all, hell hath no fury like journalists close to his deadline.

We are all humans

While reporters and PR professionals like to pick fun at each other over perceived differences, truth is, we are quite similar. Pr practitioners and reporters both have tight deadlines, a lot of pressure on their shoulders, coffee in bulk and a lot of headaches. But we also share our passion for what we do. And it is through that passion that the best relationships with reporter are born.

While reporters are a great resource for PR practitioners, the later should also bring value to the reporter. Keep them updated on things you think they might enjoy writing about. Reach out from time to time to just chat and catch up like you would a friend. A functional relationship builds over time, with genuine interactions. My advice to you all: don’t let whatever deadline or pressing matter you are dealing with at any specific time take away from building a trusting and sharing relationship with your media counterparts.

Media relations are tricky, and will probably be the cause of many more headaches to PR practitioners and reporters alike all around the globe. But with some common sense and basic thinking, this practice creates an amazing added value for all parties involved, brands and audience included.