Got PR Envy?
By Monica Bardier
Owner/President
Ping PR

It's happened hasn't it?

You open the newspaper, perhaps Monday's Union Leader Business Section only to see your competitor has landed a positive new story on the front page and to make the pain repeat itself, they are above the fold with color photos. Right there in print, your competitor is smiling at you. The grin says it all. They are there and you're not. They are featured not only on the front page but the article continues inside describing the benefits of their new product or service.

Two things have just happened.

One, you wonder why your company is not featured and second you wonder why your competitor is. It's simple, they either have an experienced public relations company advocating to the media on their behalf, or they know how to successfully handle the media themselves.
While it makes sense for some companies to outsource public relations services, it's not always necessary for all businesses, especially if you know how to handle media opportunities. You know your business best and before venturing out and hiring a firm, be sure you don't have the resources internally first.

Let's start with the basics. What is traditional public relations?

Please note for the purpose of this article and word count constraints we are concentrating on traditional PR. There is so much more to PR especially with the use of social media. Visit www.mypingpr.com for more on using social media PR tactics.

Public relations is NOT advertising.

Advertising is when you pay a media outlet to run an advertisement of your business. You are guaranteed your ad will run on a specific day of the week, in a particular section of the newspaper, radio, television or news website. Again, public relations is NOT advertising because there's no guarantee your story will run.

Public relations is when you generate positive news related stories about your company, people, product(s) or services. Many people are misled to believe all it takes is a nice, grammatically written press release sent to a news organization and they will run your story. While good grammar is noted with editors and reporters, more importantly, they determine if it's newsworthy.

What is newsworthy you ask?

One editor or reporter might like a story but his/her colleague sitting in the next cubicle may think the press release will make a better liner for their dog crate instead of tomorrow's front page headline. To capture any reporter or editor's attention you must first know who you are sending your press release to. Pick up the phone and call the news organization and ask them who the ‘best person' you should send your news idea to. All newsrooms operate differently especially those in different mediums.

Typically, most television newsrooms are designed to receive news releases to the assignment desk which is the hub of the newsroom. News producers and assignment editors then funnel the news releases to the reporters, again if newsworthy. A newspaper newsroom is designed for the beat reporters/editors to receive the news releases directly. For example, if you have a business related news story, you should send your news release to the business editor or reporter and not the sports reporter.

If you think your ink will print just because you sent to the right beat reporter, you're mistaken.

If you take the easy route and do a mass email to all the media, it goes without saying that reporters/editors will know that you sent the story to everyone. Why would they want to print the same story everyone else is going to have? This is where you need to make intelligent decisions. If you are sending a press release that announces a company event, a recent award, or a new hire, yes, send a mass email campaign. Remember your competitor on the front page, they most likely sent the release to a very finite number of news organizations, and not competing newsrooms. Media outlets compete with each other too.

So how do you get your story printed?

You have a press release that has all the factual information; who, what, when and where. You sent a tailored email with the release specifically to a news editor or reporter that would be interested in your industry. You should be done, right? Not even close.

As a PR professional with more than a decade of newsroom experience, I think the ‘news pitch' is the best part. This is where your passion for your company, the service or new product comes to life to the media.

After your release is sent to the newsroom, now's the time to pick up the phone again and call the person you sent your release to. If it's a cool product with neat features, get in your car and drive to the news organization and drop off a sample. Give them everything they need to make them want to cover your story. You also need to find the right angle to make them want to run your story. It shouldn't be slanted with a sales pitch. If they find the hint of it being a sales ploy, your press release is in Fido's crate and you have lost not a little but a lot of credibility with them.

How to Pitch Your Story to the Media

As you prepare your news pitch, remember these five steps:
1. Know your own story
2. Research the best media outlet to tell your story
3. Know your reporter/editor
4. Find an interesting angle (without a sales pitch)
5. Make the pitch with passion highlighting the benefits to the news organization's readers/viewers

You're really seeking a conversation with the reporter or editor. Be respectful of their time and deadlines. Show some passion yet display controllable patience and don't stalk them either! Remember you're trying to get featured as a leading business in your industry and not in the police log. I look forward to answering your questions.

Monica Bardier

PingPR Owner/President

Award winning marketing and public relations executive, Monica Bardier is Owner/President of Ping PR, a public relations and marketing firm. Ping PR is a public relations driven marketing communications agency that provides fully integrated multidisciplinary marketing services including social media to build awareness and sales for its clients.

Prior to starting Ping PR, Monica worked for five years as the VP Communications at a leading advertising agency in New Hampshire, strategizing and implementing marketing and public relations campaigns for more than a dozen of the agency's top accounts in healthcare, finance, education, legislative and more. Monica was the director of community relations at Catholic Medical Center, one of the state's leading acute-care hospitals and was recognized as the top public relations professional among her peers by the New England Society of Healthcare Professionals for her public relations work surrounding the announcement of the hospital's Da Vinci Robotics.

Monica has a strong television news producing background with a ten year career at WMUR-TV, Channel 9, New Hampshire's largest television station. Under her leadership as Executive News Producer, the station won its first Emmy, from the National Television Academy of Arts & Sciences for Breaking News coverage. She also news produced WMUR-TV's very first nationally televised political debates during the 1996 Presidential Election. More than 17 million viewers watched the debate broadcast on C-SPAN and CNN. Monica was an integral part of the WMUR TV's relocation from Granite Street in Manchester to its current South Commercial Street home. Her television career also included a News Producer gig at WCVB-TV, Channel 5 in Boston, Massachusetts.