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Newsrooms around the world are shrinking, and unfortunately, that means reporters have less time to interview companies. Gone are the days when you could call a reporter and offer a background interview with a new client, to hear new messaging, meet a new executive or to simply grab a coffee because you’re in the same city.
Instead, other tactics and steps need to be taken to establish relationships with journalists and to ultimately cement in the media’s mind who a business is, where it’s headed and most importantly, what core message points matter most to their target audiences. In these situations, it’s key to remember that this requires a strategic communications strategy that leaves public breadcrumbs of continued business success and growth that keep a business top of mind while building a larger picture of its market position and roadmap. Let’s take a look at some of the tactics to do just that.
In part, your business’ press and media relationships are built through regular communications that develop a relationship over time. Depending on the space you’re in and how quickly the news cycle moves, “regular” could be weekly, monthly or quarterly check ins.
Some pieces of company news are not necessarily headline-generating on their own, like a new hire, or an award win, but they could generate pick-ups of the press release in trade outlets, increasing exposure and visibility. More importantly, these bits of news, like award wins, new hires, funding rounds, a new office opening, rebrands, can be used as ‘breadcrumbs’ to give you a stronger reason to check in with your key media on a consistent basis, and in some cases, we’ve seen these interactions lead to inclusion in more meaningful pieces of coverage than a pick-up of the press release.
For example, in pitching news around a client’s new product automation functionality, we were able to garner the attention of a key publication who happened to be working on a story on automation. This interaction resulted in an interview with one of our executives discussing automation in manufacturing and the article even gave a nod to the new functionalities of the client’s software solution.
Some media opportunities require these regular interactions, and strong media relationships, to be included. This article in Forbes, Meet the 13 VCs dominating cybersecurity, is a great example as it is not based off a submission, but rather the list is built by the cyber editors and their knowledge of VCs in the space. This further highlights the need to get – and stay – in front of key editors, regularly.
A momentum release can include all of the above moments or breadcrumbs I’ve highlighted. Everything from a new hire, office, funding, partnership, customer, and branding to award wins, ESG initiatives, and more. But, with the added benefit that momentum releases allow you to craft a larger narrative around global company expansion, strengthening your team and culture, or continued success. All things that pack a big punch than “New office opens in Germany” or “10-Year Veteran Joins X-Company”.
This tactic can help keep media informed on all company news in a single sweep. Momentum releases have allowed us to secure interviews with key media for our clients, but also inclusion in lists and feature opportunities.
And finally, repurpose this information across all channels. At Brands2Life we are experts in taking a few bullets and making it an article, commentary, a LinkedIn post, a tweet and so much more.
Utilizing news and thought leadership across social channels can help garner media attention. In our experience, we have posted news or an article on a client’s LinkedIn profile and a reporter has slid into the executive’s DMs as a result, writing “we saw your article/post and I’m writing an article on a similar story and would love to arrange an interview”.
There’s a difference between news to ‘you,’ as in between the four walls of your company itself, and newsworthy of your larger target audiences’ attention. Bringing a creative, strategic, and intentional approach to the packaging and delivery of a company’s news, and determining the right audiences, as well as the right time and message, leads to a stronger narrative. This plays a key role in building deeper relationships with key media, leading to interviews, and ultimately coverage, that moves the business needle forward.
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