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The Best Media Outreach Strategies for Proven Success - 2024

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What is Media Outreach?

Media outreach is the process of forging connections and fostering relationships with media professionals to secure coverage for your brand, product, or story. It Is a practice rooted in mutual benefit because journalists and content creators are always in search of compelling stories, while brands seek the visibility and credibility that media coverage provides.

Media outreach is often handled by Public Relations (PR) professionals as they have excellent communication skills, strategic thinking abilities, adaptability and strong interpersonal skills.

The ultimate goal of media outreach is to enhance brand visibility and credibility, supporting broader marketing and PR objectives by sending press releases, pitching stories, arranging interviews, and offering exclusive insights or content to journalists and media outlets.

 

 

4 step-by-step guide to crafting media outreach plan

Successful media outreach strategies require careful planning to ensure a systematic approach and avoid mishaps that could’ve been easily eliminated. Use the following steps to ensure your media outreach is the best.

Step 01: Define your objectives

It is important for a brand to understand the purpose of their media outreach and identify their end goal. This will act as a guide as to how you will craft your content, which media outlets and publications you will be reaching out to and which specific members of the media you will be reaching for effectiveness of your strategy.

Step 02: Select an appropriate media

Once you have selected a good media outlet or publication, you will know if it aligns to your objectives, determine the content length that is required and know how to present your content. You need to avoid forcing your content in a platform that accommodates your content for the sake of doing so because you will not reap your desired results. Instead make sure your content fits the platform to drive maximum engagement.

Step 03: Know and understand the target audience

Media outreach involves writing for an audience you did not grow by yourself. Therefore, you should take the time to learn about the audience of the media outlet you desire to collaborate with. This will determine the demographics of those people, the type of content they are used to consuming and the content style they prefer and the media outlets they prefer

Step 04: Develop a pitch

Now that you know who you will be writing your brand message to, you have to draft a strategic way you will be reaching out to the journalist or influencer you want to collaborate with. Remember to reach out like a human to avoid being thrown in the trash can/deleted mail or message.

Types of media Outreach strategies

  1. Email Pitch

Crafting the pitch is an art in itself. A compelling email pitch is concise, directly relevant to the recipient’s interests, and clearly outlines the uniqueness and timeliness of the story. Avoid wasting both your time and the journalist’s time by sending irrelevant emails to their inboxes. This will only result in your email being dumped without any second thought. Email pitches are a short form of communication that creates interest in what you have to offer, so don’t ruin your chances.

Here are tips you can follow to ensure you get covered:

  • A good subject header/subject line: Most journalists determine the newsworthiness of your email pitch just by looking at the subject line. You need to ensure it is short enough but rich to capture their attention and stop them from scrolling further. You can try include their names as this will increase the chances of being seen.
  • Introduction line: This determines the quality of the content that is contained in your email. It should be direct and easy to read. It is important to make your introduction personalized so to create a connection with the journalist. You can start by acknowledging their previous work, explain who you are and why you chose them as your preferred journalist.
  • Email body: Who, What, When, Where, Why and How? These are your best friends. Journalists needs to know all this information before deciding your email is worthy enough for their news outlet or publication. Do not beat around the bush trying to impress with complicated English and jargons, it should be easy to read and have no grammatical errors. If the journalist is interested in find out more, they will get back to you asking for more information. Also, this part should explain the types of angles your story can take, this determines the flexibility and creativity of your communications team.
  • Show gratitude: Always thank the journalist for the time they spent reading your email pitch, this can come in handy and convince the journalist you actually deserve the opportunity.
  • Call-to-action: This is a perfect opportunity to reinforce the importance of your story for the journalist and their readers. You can include a sentence saying, “please use this link to access the complete research”, “please call me on this number for questions” and the like. You can show your interest in future collaborations as well by asking a question like, “what can I do to partner with you for the future”, “I would like to contribute to your publication more often, please keep me in your mind should you need opinions on some of your topics”.

2. Press Release

A press release is a kind of formal writing an organization gives to the news through a process called press release distribution. Its main aim can vary from introducing new product launches, update about hiring a new executive team, a new partnership with other organizations, introduce a new product or service and highlighting achievements. A press release is a cost-effective marketing tools that gives you the upper hand in the value you offer. It can easily gain you organic backlinks, a new audience and drive traffic to your website.

A press release format should include:

  • The title of your press release
  • The type of release your organization is going for, this can be ‘for immediate release’ or ‘to be release on a certain date.
  • An address of your organization.
  • Two – three paragraphs of captivating content with hard facts
  • A call-to-action that you wish your audience to take
  • Company description and lastly
  • Contact information for the company representative

 

3. Press Kits

Press kits, also called media kits are a promotional materials content about a company that is shared to members of the media so they can write articles without any hassles. Usually, a media kit should include a company overview, detailed product descriptions, high-resolution images, statistics, biographies of key team members, press releases, and contact information for media inquiries. It may also contain case studies, testimonials, and data to support the narrative the organization is talking about.

There are various formats of media kits which includes:

  • Digital/Electronic press kits: These are the most popular format due to their ease of distribution and accessibility. Digital media kits can be downloaded from a company’s website or sent directly via email. They often come in PDF format but can also include multimedia elements like videos and interactive links. Online media kits are easily updated, ensuring that the information remains current.
  • Physical media kits: Although less common in the digital age, physical media kits are still used, especially for high-profile events or luxury brand promotions. They may include printed booklets, brochures, product samples, and branded merchandise, all packaged in a custom-designed folder or box.
  • USB Media Kits: For a modern twist on the physical media kit, some organizations distribute their media kits on branded USB drives. This format is particularly useful for including large files, such as high-resolution images or video content, that are too big to email or download easily.

4. Media Events

Media events are also known as pseudo-events are planned experiences that bring stakeholders of an organization together. They are usually hosted to celebrate, attract, inform to generate media interest and coverage. These can also be conducted both physically and virtually.

Benefits of media events are:

  • Increased Visibility and Awareness: Media events attract attention from both the public and the media, significantly increasing visibility for the cause, product, or individual in focus. This heightened awareness is beneficial for launching new products, discussing social issues, or promoting campaigns.
  • Interaction: They provide a platform for direct engagement and interaction with the target audience. Through live broadcasts, social media participation, and audience involvement, media events can foster a sense of community and engagement.
  • Content Generation: Events generate lots of content that can be repurposed across multiple platforms, such as social media, websites, and press releases, extending the lifespan of the message conveyed during the event. This is also good for brand message consistency.
  • Immediate Q&A: Live media events allow for immediate feedback from the audience through questions, comments, and interactions, providing valuable insights into public perception and areas for improvement.
  • Crisis Management: In times of crisis, media events can be a strategic tool for organizations to manage their public image, communicate directly with their audience, and clarify misunderstandings or misinformation.

Types of media events include: Press conference, red carpet events, product launches, awards, publishing and content conferences and many more.

5. Newsjacking

Newsjacking includes:

  • Monitoring breaking news and trending topics that align with their audience’s interests or the company’s industry.
  • Quick Response to offer commentary that relates to the story. This could be through social media posts, blog articles, press releases, or even advertisements.

The key to successful newsjacking is ensuring that the connection between the news event and the brand’s content is relevant and is able to grab attention from media persons and the general public. The goal is to add value to the conversation and somehow gain authority, not to appear opportunistic in a negative way.

How can brand managers track the success of their media outreach

Nothing beasts success therefore, brand managers can track the success of their media outreach efforts using a variety of tools and metrics that help measure the impact and effectiveness of their campaigns across different media channels they used to gain visibility and audience attention.

Here is a breakdown of how they can do it:

  1. Measure objectives set with outcomes received using Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Define what your campaign was aiming to achieve, such as increasing brand awareness, generating leads, or boosting sales and measure it with how many sales, leads, conversion did you generate in a set time period. Establishing specific and measurable indicators will guide your journey to seeing the fruits of your effort.

You need to use KPIs such as: website traffic, social media engagement, or conversion rates, mentions, likes, shares, email open rates, time spent on website and so many more.

   2. Media Monitoring and Analysis Tools

Use tools like Google Analytics, Hootsuite, or Meltwater to monitor mentions, track the spread of campaigns across digital platforms, and analyze the sentiment of the coverage. This will give you either congratulatory ballons or a wake-up smack in your face. Either way, you will know what type of content work and what doesn’t.

   3. Social Media Analytics

Platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram provide in-depth analytics about reach, engagement, follower growth, and the performance of specific posts or hashtags.

  1. Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

ROAS is a marketing metric that measures the effectiveness of a digital advertising campaign. It calculates the total revenue generated for every rand spent on advertising. It is an important indicator for marketers to understand the effectiveness of their media outreach strategy in generating sales and to assess whether the investment in advertising is driving sufficient returns.

It helps businesses in:

  • Evaluating their performance: Determine which campaigns, channels, or ad creatives are most effective at driving sales.
  • Optimize Spending: Allocate the advertising budget more efficiently by investing in high-performing media outreach ads and reducing or reworking underperforming ones.
  • Improve Strategy: Understand customer behavior and preferences better, leading to more targeted and successful media outreach strategies in the future.

Media outreach strategies depend on your business objectives and the types of media people you want to associate yourself with. Should you not know where to start, send us an email on: info@twelvemarketinginc.co.za or call us on: 010 065 2667 /+27 73 375 6375

 

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