What Are Media Relations, and Why Are They Important?
Media relations are a component of public relations, but the two terms ought not to be used interchangeably, as they do not mean the same thing. Instead, media relations is a particular area of focus in PR, and should be given some importance in the PR and marketing mix. While the Internet has definitely made it easier for companies and individuals to get in touch with customers directly, without needing the media to be the middleman, having good relationships with members of the media can greatly help in your PR efforts.
First, let’s define the media. From the Glossary, I defined the media as: “A vehicle (or vehicles) used to communicate information, entertainment, news, and advertising messages to an audience or market. TV, cable, magazines, radio, billboards, and newspapers are all examples of a medium.”
In essence, the middleman, messenger, and method of delivery for any sort of message or information. The recipient of these messages are consumers. As such, having good relations with people in the media can often result in your messages and information being delivered.
Here are a few ways to maintain good relations with the media:
- Specify who you target and contact with stories. Not doing this can do some major damage to your PR efforts. Like spam mail consumers receive in the mail, your press release that you spam blast to a reporter that has no interest in your story or announcement will not pay any attention to your release. If they keep track of companies and individuals who do this, it can deter them from running a story or a news release in the future, even if it interest them and falls into the category of what they often report on. That being, do a little research and read up on reporters to figure out what they enjoy, report on, and seem to take an interest in. Keep track of their interests so that you can address them properly with a press release they may be more likely to find value in.
- Have media kits available. Whether you’re having an event, hosting a press conference, or being interviewed for a story, have a media kit available and ready to send. These can greatly help a reporter or journalist in writing about you or your company, and doing so correctly. It can also help make their jobs a little easier with deadlines and questions that may arise. A press kit should include everything they would ever need to know about your company, the product you just released, or the statements you made and the course of action you’re taking on a product recall. They will appreciate not having to keep getting in touch for little bits of information, and their story will be more complete and accurate. This may encourage them to come to you again for a story in their area of interest.
- Get in touch with the media, and maintain contact. Be prepared to call to learn who is best to contact, and be prepared to call again. Persistence (within reason) is good.
- Respond to reporters. If they call, respond. They have deadlines they need to adhere to, and your lack of a response can burn bridges in the future. Even if you can’t do an interview right away, ask for questions they may ask in an interview (to prepare and ensure the interview goes well), and say that you will get back to them before the end of day. Look over your schedule and keep them informed on what you plan to do. Ask them for a deadline as well so that you can try to plan accordingly.
- Keep the entire company up-to-date. If you (as the PR contact) are not available to answer questions, and another person gets asked about a specific product release or company announcement, make sure whomever answers knows what to say. This means keeping everyone on the same page and not leaving anyone in the dark. Not only does this create a sense of camaraderie (which is good in the long run and helpful internally), but it also means that one person isn’t saying one thing and another person saying something different.
- Be honest, and try to avoid “No Comment” statements. Rather than saying no comment, explain what you can, and if the “no comment” would have replaced an answer that would have been negatively received, try to turn it around and make it positive. Avoid eluding the question, and don’t lie.
Maintaining good media relations can help increase your publicity, reach, and consumer awareness. It can also help increase understanding of what you or your company does. Reporters are also often times trusted more over advertising, as PR is often seem are more valid and trustworthy than advertising.
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