Essentials of Media Outreach

Technology and social media platforms have dramatically changed the way that people consume news on a daily basis, and have also changed the way that journalists source their stories. That’s why it’s important for companies to develop a media outreach plan and strategy to be able to keep up with all of these changes.

Segmentation

The first step in every media outreach plan is for companies to take a look at the audience that they want to target, define that audience, and then segment it into different groups. This way, companies will be able to choose the right media outlets that will be broadcasting the company’s story, as they are going to be the outlets that are already of interest to different segments of the target audience. The company also needs to figure out the purpose of conveying the key messages of the company to different segments of the target audience. 

Contact list

Once a business has a better idea of the types of outlets it should be targeting with its public relations or marketing efforts, as well as general press releases, it’s time to start looking for the journalists that are available on the right platform that will be able to tell the company’s story to the target audience. That means companies will have to research the type of content and the stories that each journalist has previously talked about in the media outlet, to figure out the best way for the company to angle its story, so that it interests the journalist, as well as the best way for the company to reach out to that journalist in a way that will grab their attention.

Story

When companies are looking to develop a story for their media outreach, they first have to think about the key takeaway that the target audience will have from that story. From there, companies will also have to include the angle of the story that’s going to grab the attention of the journalist that’s initially going to be receiving it. The biggest challenge that most companies have when they are developing stories is making sure that they include their key messages, journalistic angle, as well as the key takeaways for the target audience all in a single story.

Schedule

Many companies tend to overlook the importance of a thoughtfully crafted schedule, and the impact that this type of schedule can have on media, outreach efforts, as well as the overall marketing and public relations campaigns from businesses. With the help of schedule, companies get to plan out each one of their action items, from their marketing or public relations materials that need to be ready before the company starts reaching out to journalists, to creating the right types of emails that will be sent to those journalists.