There is no exact science to media relations and the development of connections that lead to mutually beneficial relationships and media placements. However, I’ve made some observations and applied techniques that have proved successful along the way. Interestingly enough, I find many of these uncannily similar to the methods of romantic pursuit and interaction I wish I had experienced throughout the years. Here are a few that I believe can help improve your own media relationships:
Patience is a virtue
In a public relations agency, we work on hundreds of client deliverables for our clients at any given time. Sometimes, as we are submerged in this sea of work and hyper-focused on results, it’s easy to grow impatient with media opportunities that seem to take forever to come to fruition.
Yet especially in a business-to-business marketplace, where many of the target media outlets are trade publications that work on feature topics months in advance, patience is the key. If you send a media pitch and a reporter tells you the client or the subject matter isn’t a fit right now but could be in the future, don’t push them to feature your client right away. Instead, hold on to their contact information and reach out to them in a month or so. Just because someone isn’t ready to commit right away doesn’t mean you couldn’t have a wonderful media relationship down the road. It’s all about timing.
Know when to give up
On the flip side of my previous suggestion, it’s important to learn how to walk the tightrope between persistence and annoyance. I would never advise giving up on a media opportunity with a reporter who took genuine interest in your story. But if your follow-up calls (and call-backs), Twitter replies, Facebook messages (and pokes if you’re a bit creepy) have gotten no response, maybe it’s time to call it quits and look to another journalist.
Journalists are busy people with a lot on their plates, so some persistent follow-up is often welcomed if not necessary. But, as I’m sure many of us have seen with any other relationship, when someone tells you they are “just so busy right now,” that usually means they have no interest in spending time with you.
Just as a romantic interest who really likes you will make time to see you no matter how busy he or she might be, a journalist who really wants to work with you on a story will get back to you (even if it’s to say the timing for a story isn’t right). If they have gone quiet or never responded to you to begin with, there is a reason why. To quote the 2009 romantic comedy film, He’s Just Not That In to You, “Cut your losses and don’t waste your time. Why stay in some weird dating limbo when you can move on to what will surely be better territory?” See how similar media relationships can be to romantic relationships?!
Never forget an old flame
Just because a relationship ends does not mean you should necessarily cut that person out of your life. In public relations, the PR pros (and the best journalists), understand that the time you spend working together on a story from inception to the day the article hits newsstands can be relatively short-lived – but only if you let it.
I have often reconnected with journalists I worked with on just one client story months prior to gauge their interest in a completely different client story. If the relationship is solid, their thoughts or suggestions as to how we could work together again will be shared honestly and the feedback will be tremendously valuable. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship. Journalists want good stories. And if you have one, they want to hear about it.
The greatest measure of a true media relationship is the day when a reporter comes to me for story ideas as a trusted resource. Now that’s a relationship!
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Samantha Wannemacher is an assistant account executive for WordWrite Communications. You can find her on Twitter @shw72388.
