FEATURE
COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING
How to engage correctly and effectively with the media
By Dianne Allen (pictured), Managing Director of Nottingham-based firm Gemini PR & Marketing
The media is an important communication channel for businesses and organisations and by having a positive relationship with the media, a business can take advantage of a range of benefits.
This includes: • Regular opportunities for some great publicity and positive exposure
• Additional sales as a result • Safeguarding the reputation of the business - if a crisis arises, a business can effectively communicate their side of the story with the media quickly and efficiently.
If a company does not realise
the importance of the media and neglects this relationship, it could miss out on opportunities and a chance to secure regular exposure through a third party which, many would argue, is the most effective type of publicity. This may restrict business growth or worse, potentially damage the reputation of your business or organisation. This is why it is so important to
entrust your media relations activity to PR professionals who know what they are doing and can build and maintain this relationship on a regular basis for you. The starting point for engaging effectively
with the media is to identify the media channels that are appropriate to your business or organisation including print, broadcast, digital and social media channels, as well as trade press if it is appropriate to your business. You also need to consider whether you are
looking for coverage on a local, regional, national or international level. This will depend on where you currently operate and any future plans for growth, as well as the current scale of your operations and the nature of the story. Once you have identified the appropriate media channels,
you need to identify the relevant contacts at each one. It is worth spending time researching who they are and the areas that they cover, as journalists get fed up of receiving material that is not relevant to them –
38 business network November 2017
It is important to understand what makes a story newsworthy
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