Although WordWrite’s headquarters is physically based in Pittsburgh, we do not consider ourselves simply a Pittsburgh agency.
We have clients operating across the country, located in places as far east as New York City and as far west as Houston. Others have headquarters in Pittsburgh but have offices that we service in cities such as Chicago, Cincinnati and Atlanta.
Prospective clients frequently ask us about our ability to reach national media or our relationships with media in other markets.
In some cases, we have yet to develop substantial connections in a city we haven’t worked in before. Is that a challenge? Certainly. Is it an obstacle that can’t be overcome? Absolutely not.
If past performance is an indicator of future success, then our experience has taught us and – more importantly – demonstrated to clients that their profile in any market could be dramatically raised when we collaboratively follow the right strategies.
We are fortunate to have clients who are true thought leaders within their respective fields, including financial services, health care, technology, manufacturing and professional services.
The intellectual substance of our clients has allowed us to get them media attention from reporters, producers and editors at publications such as Money, Fox Business Network, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times and the Philadelphia Inquirer.
In almost all these cases, the expertise of our client base combined with our strategic focus and execution have helped move the needle for businesses and companies within a matter of weeks and months, not years.
What exactly are some keys to establishing trust and earning success for clients in different cities?
Many organizations – law firms and similar business models come to mind first – need results locally on the ground. Their client bases want the security of knowing their attorneys, accountants or consultants are accessible in person. It’s largely psychological, but certainly understandable.
The fact that we aren’t in the same city as a client with hyper-local needs might create psychological barriers. Even though we aren’t likely to see clients in our own city on a weekly basis, an “out of sight, out of mind” mindset sometimes creeps in with clients located farther away. Constant communication diffuses tension and reinforces the value an agency can bring to the relationship.
These interactions help determine what hot issues in each market are worth pursuing in that particular area, as well as help us get a handle on what story ideas are resonating within that client’s office. It’s one thing for us to like an idea, but it’s completely another for a client to feel comfortable and even passionate about discussing the topics with reporters.
Real estate is about location, location, location, and so is news in a particular city – local is the most important aspect of working with media in a particular market. Therefore, when at all possible, it’s critical to set up meet-and-greets between a client’s leadership and the reporters covering their industry as soon as possible. In doing so, we aim to combine your expertise and local market familiarity with our knowledge of your industry and its media targets.
Yet our success with clients results from more than just knowing who to call or email in the press. Many of us are former journalists, so we’re true students of the game. We know reporting and how to both proactively create pitches and appropriately react to stories that deserve follow-up responses from our clients.
In the end, it’s our ability to connect intellectually with reporters and know what makes a good story FOR THEM that bridges the gap between throwing out pitches like so many darts at dartboard and a true understanding of what will resonate with readers in a particular market.
I could delve much deeper into tactical decision-making and the psychology of servicing clients in multiple markets, but in the spirit of two-way communication, we’d love to hear your thoughts from the perspective of an agency working with clients in other cities, or from a business that has hired an agency from another city to handle its public relations.
What has worked? What hasn’t? How effective is the collaborative process? Again, it’s been our experience that working with media and clients in other markets is challenging at times, but no more so than working with those we represent in Pittsburgh. The zip codes change, but the rules remain the same: Communicate priorities, collaborate throughout the process and create valuable content and ideas that interest the media in each market.
To learn more about how we work with our clients to successfully earn national media coverage, download our free whitepaper here.
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Jeremy Church is an account supervisor for WordWrite Communications. He can be reached at jeremy.church@wordwritepr.com and on Twitter @churchjeremy.
