Andy and I work with several media outlets – both traditional and new media outlets – to help them “do it better.”
There’s a lot that media can do “better” these days. Here are few ideas that come to mind immediately:
1. Connect & engage with consumers/readers/viewers/listeners better.
2. Provide better value to advertisers.
3. Distribute information better.
4. Build better communities.
5. Give better PR.
That’s right. There’s a lot that media outlets can do to make the event of giving PR – or media coverage, press mentions, etc. – better. Better for whom? Everyone. For the media outlet itself, for the business or person getting the coverage (assuming it’s positive) and for the consumer.
Now, keep in mind, I’m framing this in terms of what you, my readers, care about – and that’s getting or receiving coverage for your small, locally owned business. There are a million caveats to this situation, but for now, let’s focus on the “what if” of a media outlet giving a small business or local business owner some positive coverage of some sort.
One easy way that media can give better PR is to simply include the URL of the small business’ web site into the coverage.
For example, I was just reading a local magazine that had lots of fashion shots where models were dressed in clothing from many boutique shops around town. The brand of the clothing was mentioned and the name of the boutique was mentioned – the place where the model was posing was even mentioned. That leaves THREE opportunities to include three different business URLs in the caption as well. Why would including the URLs into this coverage have made better PR?
1. It would keep me, as a reader/listener/viewer from getting frustrated that I saw something I liked and then didn’t know where to go find it.
2. It would make the media outlet look thorough in its reporting (it is 2010 afterall).
3. It would make the small business owner very happy and even more likely to share the coverage with their network of customers and prospects (which leads to better circulation for your publication).
I think all of those boil down to the consumer having a better feeling towards the media. And when consumers love the media – advertisers love the media. It’s what’s good for the media outlet: to give better PR.
How can you give better PR while maintaining journalistic integrity? There are lots more that come to mind for me – what about you?
Photo Credit: xvaughanx
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[...] love it, too. This gives some testimony to the post I wrote on how media should give better PR and the other ideas I put in that post. Thanks for sharing, [...]