Nurturing Budding Media Relationships
Building and nurturing positive relationships with key media contacts is a cornerstone of public relations and important for businesses. Much like tending a garden, media relationships need some work to sow and grow, but the end result can be a budding opportunity. The below examples are just a few ways media relationships can benefit your business’ PR efforts:
- Provides Background: If you have a working dialogue already established with a key contact, they’ll approach any news you have to share with a basic understanding of who you are and what your business has to offer. This makes your news easier to quickly digest and either turn into a story or save as background.
- Removes the Cold Call: It’s also more likely that your contact will open your email or take your phone call in the first place. As anyone that’s made (or taken) a cold call before knows, it’s much more pleasant to have a conversation when you have a basic understanding of the person on the other end of the call.
- Presents You as a Spokesperson: With your name and contact information in their modern-day Rolodex, your media contact is more likely to think of you when they have relevant questions or potential interview opportunities on areas where you might serve as an expert. For example, if you’re an eye doctor and the local ABC news affiliate is running a story on eye health, they may reach out to you as a known and trusted resource.
The right key media contacts are unique to each business and its marketing goals. They might include local broadcast anchors, trade magazine editors or national daily newspaper reporters. Meeting media at trade shows or local events can be a great way to build a face-to-face relationship. Your PR team will help you identify the contacts important for your business and build and nurture relationships on your behalf.
