It is no secret that for any business to succeed publicity is key. However, very few people understand how to approach media stations and end up being disappointed when their efforts to get coverage to fail. Here are some tips to help you and your business get the most out of news coverage:
- What is your angle?
News organizations get hundreds of calls and news releases daily and to capture their attention, it is helpful to have an interesting angle to your story idea. The advantage of getting news coverage is that the news networks serve a broad audience. This is also a challenge in that, what might seem interesting to you might not be interesting to someone else.
Advertising in Ottawa will be easier if a business had more information about its target audience. Editors want to know if their listeners or viewers and readers benefit from the information they pass on to them. For businesses, the key focus should be on how the business started, how it is run and some of the main challenges faced. The media stations report on news rather than act as promoters for your business.
- News releases
Getting coverage is not difficult, especially if you have a clear story and clear angle. Headlines are the selling point of an article, which means a killer headline is always sure to get you great coverage. The reader, listener or viewer should always be in mind when developing a story.
- Do your homework
Research is key on deciding what media to use for your business. With proper research, print media in Ottawa can be a suitable media for your business depending on your business needs. It is important to spend time thinking about the sources covered by media stations to understand how you could fit in your own business.
- Timing and deadlines
Timing is important and understanding your own business will help determine the right time to get coverage for your business. A business that sells their commodities over the winter period will try to get as much coverage as possible over the end of spring to ensure they capture the maximum number of readers, viewers, and listeners.
- Interviews
Interviews are also important as they give audiences an insight into the business. It would not be the best idea to come up with a new idea and you are not willing to give a face to face interview. The person giving the interview should be able to speak like an expert rather than a salesperson.
After getting the coverage it is important to follow-up with emails, faxes, and phone calls. Print shops, news media are usually very busy, getting calls throughout the day but calling the editor or reporter will always give preference to your story idea.
Investing on publicity for your business always helps to net more customers. This in turn translates to higher profits, and who doesn’t like making money?