The most important part of a media or public relations campaign is the beginning. The best game plan will get you nowhere if you don’t implement it. If you can afford to hire a public relations firm or media consultant, find a public relations firm that understands you and your story(s). An effective media relations campaign boils down to two main steps: discovering your story and being able to tell it effectively in an interesting and compelling way, and knowing who to tell your story to.
What’s vital is getting that initial press coverage and knowing how to grow it from there. For example, we were working with a client who had very little media coverage. We were able to secure an article in a regional magazine and using it as our business card we were able to land a segment on Oprah. Obviously, going from a regional magazine to a major national TV show isn’t the norm, but it is possible, and that’s basically how an effective PR campaign works.
Another client we were working with was looking to establish herself as an expert in her field and was also working on a book that she planned to self-publish. Prior to the book’s publication we were able to get its media coverage in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Time Magazine, NBC, NPR and other media outlets. That high-profile media coverage helped interest a major publisher. The publisher bought the rights, and the book went from being self-published to getting a major release.
Remember that public relations has countless uses; it reaches your target market, establishes you as an expert in your field, can brand your business more effectively than other forms of marketing, and provides you with promotional tools in the form of magazine and newspaper articles and radio and television interviews. Used wisely and effectively, dollar for dollar, public relations is the most powerful and profitable marketing tool available.
Copyright © Antonio Mora 2009
