Posted on: December 7, 2018

With newspapers, radio stations and TV stations receiving countless media advisories and press releases each day, it is a great feeling when your story gets told. A successful news story is full of great SEO for your business and can help change public opinion of your company and brand for the better. Public relations is most effective when you have a positive relationship with the members of the media who are influencers in your industry. Without having a positive relationship with them, your press releases may go unnoticed or your calls unanswered.

Marshall Communications has worked with several spokespeople including Travis Mills, a US Army veteran, motivational speaker and spokesperson for CBU Benefits in Hallowell, Maine
Marshall Communications has worked with several spokespeople, including Travis Mills, a U.S. Army veteran, motivational speaker and spokesperson for CBU Benefits in Hallowell, Maine.

As a public relations agency, our job is to develop and maintain working relationships with the media across the state and we have some tips to share to help you make the most of your media contacts.

  • Put a face or voice to a name and company: If you handle the PR for your company, you should definitely reach out to key journalists whose beat covers your industry. Read their articles, see what you admire about them and then pick up the phone and make an introduction. Let them know who you are and what your company is and how you appreciate their coverage of industry news. Offer to bring them a coffee so you can put a face to your voice but don’t be offended if they simply don’t have time. Ask which ways they prefer to receive press releases – it could be through the media company’s online site, like the Portland Press Herald’s news@pressherald.com email account. It is also possible they like Twitter, LinkedIn or their own email address.
  • Speaking of Twitter: Twitter is a great way to DM a journalist. If you have something truly newsworthy, by all means, tweet it to them. Everyone’s inboxes are chock full, and Twitter is a great way to cut through the noise.
  • Follow up after a release: Once you’ve sent your press release to your email list, follow up with specific journalists. Say you want to give them a heads up because you really value their perspective. This can be done by phone or even Twitter, depending on the relationship you have with them. Be sure your story is newsworthy, though. Job creation or loss, a big new deal, a unique human-interest piece – those are the kind of stories that grab a reporter’s attention.

Honor your relationships with the media and they will be a great asset to your business.