Whether you realize it or not, the public has an unforgivingly high standard for content. Many companies don’t realize they are playing a serious game when they publish content on their websites or in other promotional channels. I’ll tell you why we are so aware of this hidden test for earning publicity.
We sell media coverage and we price it by the story we arrange. Selling publicity by the story is a simple but challenging business model: We convince reporters and producers to do stories about our clients, or our company doesn’t get paid. And, the media lives under the same brutal business model. They either deliver interesting content that meets the standards set by their audience, or they die. No audience, no ad revenue … Bye bye.
So what’s this standard that publicists, the media and you need to meet when publishing content? Here it is, as said by John Q. Public: “Your content better be interesting and worth my time. Period. ‘Cause if it’s not, I’m leaving.”
Our company is recognized by the PR industry as a leader in our ability to consistently arrange media coverage for clients. How do we do it? We know how to put together client stories that the media considers compelling enough to publish. After 30 years of selling media coverage, pricing it by the story, and succeeding tens of thousands of times, we’ve coined a term for our standard of content. We call it “Media-Grade Content”.
Recently, Editorial Manager Robin Miller wrote an article about how to write Media-Grade Content that was published in the public relations industry’s best-read, widest distributed trade journal. She introduced our concept of Media-Grade Content to the public. She outlined the necessary elements including nine important considerations to keep in mind when writing content worthy of being published.
While we only coined the term “Media-Grade Content” recently, we have been in the business of creating Media-Grade Content for our clients for almost 30 years. We continuously hold ourselves to this level of quality because we have seen the effect it can make on clients’ sales. Media-Grade Content pulls in audiences and engages their attention in channels where they’re actively seeking information. It teaches audiences about your product where they’re ready to listen.
