Whether you’re selling a product, pushing for new legislation or simply trying to recruit for a new program, your campaign definitely needs to have a strategy for getting into the news.
And here's why:
Bigger reach: Think about a hilarious commercial that you've seen recently. Did you actually see it on TV or did you see it while reading an article about it? Although not as huge as it once was, news still has a huge reach. In fact, according to one study by the Media Insight Project, 67% of respondents check the news several times per day! Since most news is read online, it's easy for users to quickly navigate to your digital spaces, giving you potential audience growth that would otherwise take exponentially longer to get by yourself.
Third-Party Verification: Even if you know how great your product or organization is, you probably know already that it helps for someone else to say the same. When you're in the news, you're placed in front of that reporter's audience and the news outlet's audience. Because both have probably spent years building trust, many readers will be more likely to give you a chance just because of your feature.
It’s free: Getting in the news is free! No real hard news outlet will ever charge you for an interview and if you hear a reporter ask for a fee, run. There's a major journalistic principle to never take money. This means your press strategy isn't just the biggest opportunity for audience/customer growth, it's also the cheapest.
Free Content: If you’re on the local TV news, they come to you and typically shoot a video interview, capturing b-roll to go with it. As a result, you get a lot of free content. Save the video from their website/YouTube to your camera roll, use clips from it or screenshots and add them to your social media feed. Now you don't have to think about what to post for a bit!
Search Engine Optimization: If you're not thinking about your Google rankings, you should be. With the right keywords, audience and publishing history, links about your business, campaign or product can land right on the front page of Google. Since news outlets, particularly long-standing ones, usually have great SEO, your feature has a great chance of being on the first page– kicking even more people your way.
Too often, business owners and executive directors only think of marketing and/or advertising when planning an event, product or launch. However, if your goal is to get in front a much bigger audience, getting in the news has the best reach with little to no cost.
And if you think getting in the news is hard then be sure to bookmark my site! Over the coming months, I’ll share my advice + introduce you to publicists who can teach you how to pitch, perform better interviews and make sure you get in the news every single time.
About Tianna Mañón: Tianna Mañón is a PR and media relations specialist who focuses on storytelling and message creation. By utilizing social media, traditional media and micromedia, she is able to spark necessary conversation between communities, bolstering discussions for healing & long-term relationship-building.