The Public Relations Blog

Learn how making the right decisions can advance your news coverage efforts

Some say that ethics comes from knowing the difference between what you have a right to do and what is right to do. Sure, there are ways to cheat and get around rules with little or no consequence, but is that the way you want to run your business?

Just as there are right and wrong ways to run your company, there are also correct and incorrect ways to manage your media relations efforts. Before you create or adjust your media relations strategy, it is important to be aware of the ethical issues involved to ensure that you don’t damage your reputation in the pursuit of news coverage.

Use PR expertise to learn how to work with media

Many companies want to know how to control the media. They want to know exactly when a story will appear and what it will say.

The truth is you cannot control when or if a news outlet will run a story. Nonetheless, with help from PR, you can learn to better target your media relations efforts, give journalists what they want and increase your chances for coverage.

When it comes to your growth and success, invest wisely

You have decided that your company needs the services of a public relations firm. Perhaps you already have in-house staff that could use an extra hand to get more done. Maybe you are looking to invest more resources and time in your company’s PR efforts for increased visibility and results, and you have determined that a PR agency is your best option. Whatever the reason, you first need to know how much hiring a PR firm will cost.

Media relations is important to a company's PR strategy. If you don't tell your company's story, then someone else, who does not have your best interests at heart, will. It's critical for businesses to understand that media relations can be a highly effective method of reaching target audiences. Here are three other reasons that you should trust in the power of good media relations management:

Create the news to get you noticed

Not every day is jam-packed with breaking news announcements. Product launches, news conferences and mergers are the bread and butter of media relations. Having news to share makes the job easier. So what do you do in the absence of news? You create it.

Developing news stories is difficult for business people to understand, but in media relations there are techniques that can and do keep your name in the public eye.

Let PR show you how to get a reporter’s attention and keep it

Media coverage is an ideal way to educate people about your product, inform them about your events, highlight your company or feature your CEO as a thought leader in your industry. As a result, every business wants to know the secrets for obtaining more media coverage.

While there is no one-size-fits-every-company answer, there are media relations practices and habits you can adopt to increase your chances of coverage success. With help from PR, you can get the media coverage your company needs and deserves.

Get more exposure using media relations

Marketing and advertising are powerful tools for any corporation, allowing business leaders to spread the word about valuable products and services to a broad audience. Without a public relations firm providing media relations, though, these marketing efforts may fall flat.

Media relations is an integral part of any business, allowing professionals to distribute company news and product updates through traditional news outlets and popular social media channels. Because of their role in the marketplace, these outlets are regarded as credible sources of information, earning the trust of consumers.

Too often, corporations set out on ambitious new projects or marketing campaigns without taking time to consider media relations.

That may be because the task of spreading the word through traditional publishing channels and media outlets takes too much time, and the performance of each media hit is hard to measure. What many business leaders don't realize is that this arm of communications is vital to long-term success.

Learn how to use media relations trends to your company’s advantage

Staying aware of and understanding trends allows you to know what’s going on in a particular field and be proactive about the ways they may affect your business. One area that affects all businesses is media relations.

Earned media is an effective method of reaching a wide audience and delivering your messages, but you must first know how to get journalists’ attention.

One of the best ways to tell large audiences about your business is to secure coverage in one of the major business publications: Forbes, Fortune, Fast Company, Money, Businessweek, Harvard Business Review, and Inc. These business media giants provide high-quality coverage of top business news, including successful business and leadership strategies and innovations in technology.