Have you ever read a lengthy feature article in which the reporter interviewed numerous experts, and wondered: “Why did she interview everyone except me?” We work hard to ensure that doesn’t happen very often for our clients. To maintain a success record such as ours requires frequent communication with our media contacts, timely follow through when we hear about a potential fit for a client within a story, and creative pitching for those times when we think a reporter ought to be doing a story that includes our client but nothing is planned (yet).
This Chicago Tribune feature article is a good example of ensuring that a client is included. This client is well known within the fitness industry, and we are working to build consumers’ awareness about them. While the majority of the article focuses on online fitness options, our client’s spokesperson is positioned as an authority on evaluating those options. That article made an estimated 439,000 impressions.
Plus, now that this reporter is familiar with our client’s organization, it will be easier to make a case for including them in future fitness-related articles.
You can’t get these results by sending a one-size-fits-all press release over the wires, or even by sending a pitch by email. You need seasoned publicists who love to pick up the phone and ask the right questions of the media. Quite often, after brainstorming about a client, I’ll even call a reporter or a producer back with a new idea or angle. Our media contacts respect that we’re looking for win/win situations: a win for them and their audiences, and a win for our client.
