Shortcuts are dangerous in media relations; they can lead to sloppy communications with important journalists, announcements that lack news value and the inability to generate meaningful coverage for clients.
That's why media relations, when done right, still ends up being a tough job. The best media relations efforts involve careful planning, contact selection and execution. Editorial calendars should be researched, past stories should be reviewed, etc. The bottom line? There are no real short cuts or substitutes for conversations and meaningful interactions with the media. When it comes to outbound media relations, take the time to do it right.
Inbound media relations, though, can be a shortcut, practically by definition, but it was non existent prior to the advent of the modern Internet; at least positive inbound media relations was anyway. So what do I mean by inbound media relations? It's the idea that you can get some of the right media contacts to come to you. Prior to the modern Internet, most inbound media calls went to well known and established companies or were in response to some sort of crisis or negative news. There just weren't many ways to get the media interested in a company without proactively reaching out to them first.
Today, the rules have changed. Spider food and regular reporting are two of the most successful was of creating inbound media opportunities.
Spider food?
Most journalists love the convenience of search engines just like the rest of us, and they often turn to the engines to find research, experts and a wealth of other resources to use in their reporting. Well, for those not familiar with the term, spiders are used by search engines to identify and index information on the Web. Spider food is thick juicy content that gives the spiders lots to index.
So create expansive information repositories for perhaps the most effective way to attract inbound media inquiries. DoubleClick Performics, a leading provider of online performance marketing services, does a tremendous job of this on their Web site. They offer white papers, original research, case studies, formal points of view, industry facts, press materials and more.
The result? Prospects, journalists, analysts and others go out in search of this type of expertise and discover the company while doing so. That's inbound media relations with a side of minimal effort prospecting at its best.
Regular reporting
We always encourage clients to look within their walls. Often, the most valuable data resides within their company's systems, Weblogs or elsewhere. We work with clients to come up with creative ways to mine valuable data, create a format that provides value to the marketplace and capitalize on that data as thought leadership within their industries.
PReturn recently published a case study with examples of marketers that found creative ways to leverage their unique resources to create valuable materials and insights for the media. The case study documents that, inevitably, when the right reporting and materials are put in place, simple outbound efforts can get the right media interested initially. Then, marketers can put those materials on a schedule to be published regularly. As long as each release provides valuable data on the industry, these materials can develop brands in their own right and create inbound requests for information and insights.