Media coverage is incredibly beneficial, and many clients ask us how to get national media coverage. At Point Taken, one of our specialties is helping clients with just that. We love helping customers pitch ideas to media outlets, and we enjoy helping them prepare for any type of coverage. Unfortunately, there also can be negative media attention and helping clients in difficult situations is another area our team is experienced in (crisis communications). Many companies and nonprofits don’t realize the importance of local and regional coverage, thinking it may be too small of a scale. But not only is it beneficial for most organizations, but it can also lead to national coverage which can bring great success to a business or nonprofit.

Finance Digest makes an important point, saying that media coverage is important, but how that coverage is presented is key. When a company or nonprofit works with a media outlet, it helps the organization reach a wider range of people. Word of mouth and posting on your own social media accounts can be helpful, but more people will learn about your organization if it is found somewhere in the news. Usually, people assume media coverage is all positive, but it can be spun in a negative direction if not properly handled. That’s why having a point of contact between an organization and a news outlet is so important and that’s where we at Point Taken can come in and help. Not only has everyone on our team worked extensively with media outlets from a PR and marketing standpoint, but we also have current and former journalists on our staff who help our customers with media coverage.

Whether a big fortune 500 company, or a small local company, your business is never too small for media coverage, techSPARK reminds. Media coverage is usually free (that’s why it is called earned coverage), so even a small organization, such as a startup with a low budget, can benefit from coverage without hurting revenue. Because it’s free, the angle of the story might be more controlled by the media outlet, that’s why it’s important that a client is either familiar with working with media, or has a PR team to help, to make sure the proper message is relayed. It is not that the outlet would portray something negative on purpose, they may just not fully understand the organization’s mission without the proper preparation, conversations and follow-ups.

Local media coverage is a wonderful opportunity for people within a certain area to become more acquainted with a business or nonprofit in their area. For many organizations, including small, locally owned business, local media coverage is the most important. But for companies that have more than one location, or maybe are looking to expand, national media coverage can boost business in ways that are hard to imagine, according to Management Library. If you are interested in local and/or national media coverage, here are some tips to get you started:

• Develop your pitch – Journalists are busy. You want to present them with a quick summary of why your organization is worthy of coverage. Make your pitch concise and get to the point. Include anything that makes you unique.
• Find the media you’re interested in – A food-based company pitching a story is likely not going to interest a political journalist as much as someone in the entertainment or restaurant field. Find the outlets and journalists who would realistically be interested in covering your organization.
• Respond immediately – Journalists usually work on tight deadlines, so if they don’t hear back from you soon, they may be forced to move on to the next story.

Point Taken has extensive experience in all of these types of pitching, as well as other areas like media training, strategic communications, communications planning and more. 

Ready to start securing media coverage?