Tik Tok, Facebook Reels, Instagram stories, gifs, videos, curated content; amongst the ever-growing list of digital communications, what’s the point of media relations in today’s marketing communications mix?
For a while, media relations were so last year. For many in marketing and especially those in business to business, media relations has slipped down the priority list. But savvy marketeers understand that media relations is a vital part of the marketing communications mix for six good reasons:
Wow that’s quite a list, isn’t it? So why don’t more businesses prioritise media relations?
One of the reasons is a commonly held belief that genuine editorial no longer exists in business to business media. Whilst it’s fair to say that covid lockdowns led to the closure of a number of titles and publishing houses changed their business models, it hasn’t spelt the end of the authentic editorial. What it does mean is that media relations has to be approached in a more strategic way, requiring a deep understanding of how to sell-in high quality editorial to editors and commissioners, whilst also recognising that in some cases, you need to work tactically to keep the publishers on board and your editorial doing what it needs to for you.
Trade media also carries weight with retail buyers – if you are selling into the multiples, high quality, a consistent editorial in sector-leading titles gets the attention of buyers, and when you do get in to see them you have something to point to a third party endorsement of your product or service. Effective media relations can also be a strong factor in building brand awareness, increasing credibility and authenticity, establishing relationships with the media, and crisis control … surely any or all of those are pretty convincing reasons to ‘do’ media relations?
Finally don’t overlook the relevance of your business to your local community and your employees. Being a great place to work and being seen to put something back into where you’re based, however small (litter picks don’t cost a lot other than time and bin bags), goes a long way to help recruitment in a candidate desert. Employees like to know that where they work is talked about positively – it helps them take pride in their work.
If you’d like to know how we can help your business benefit from positive media relations, just give us a call on 01242 282000 or email [email protected]