5 Proactive PR Tactics to Maintain Consistent Media Coverage

Public relations is a cost-effective way to bring awareness to a brand and insert key voices into industry-shaping conversations. This can be invaluable, especially for startups or smaller-sized operations that may have less capital. However, success cannot be achieved with a cookie-cutter methodology. Instead, it requires creativity and constant momentum; otherwise, you might find yourself treading water with wasted wire distributions and misplaced news.

To help you tap into your full potential and build momentum, here are some tips to ensure an effective PR strategy:

1. Make the most of your news: If you have ground-breaking news, great! Additionally, it’s also ok to praise newly appointed associates and promote a solid company culture with news releases, but these types of announcements should be augmented by tying them into key messaging, themes and objectives to make the biggest impact. The idea is to create engaging content while tying in your key messages, so they relate to your target audience’s interests.
2. Pitch your news: If you want attention for your brand, it’s not enough to post news solely on your company blog or social media. Make sure you’re distributing news to the proper media channels. Stories such as a new client, a fresh case studies, or even just a product update can be of interest to the right journalist.
3. Find the right journalists: Unless you’re Google, Amazon, Facebook or a similar giant in your industry, posting on the wire alone won’t get you beyond the “press release” feed of local broadcast station landing pages. To ensure your news is seen – and covered – it’s critical that you directly engage with the key journalists covering your industry. Simply reading the news, and knowing who is saying what, will help you find the most appropriate journalists and guide you into the right conversation.
4. Synergize PR & marketing: Marketing content like a white paper, byline or case study can create useful website and social copy and help PR secure coverage at the same time. Therefore, it pays to have your marketing and PR teams operating in sync, so everything comes together, your company news is fresh to reporters and your messaging reaches a broad audience.
5. Leverage original data: Reporters can’t get enough data, and if it’s exclusive, it’s that much more newsworthy. If you don’t have your own in-house generated data, use a platform like Google Survey or SurveyMonkey to generate new data. This could place your company at the epicenter of a developing conversation, and you may see your name quoted a lot in citations.

Developing an innovative product or service is not enough. You must find a way to communicate to the public and maintain momentum. Follow these tips to develop a well-rounded PR program, and if you don’t see the success you think you deserve, reach out to a reputable PR agency, such as BG&A, to leverage industry connections.