The Role of Media Relations

The role of media relations in any business practice goes far beyond your goal of publicizing your business through a story on television, on a website or in the newspaper. The role of media relations is to educate the media on your business enough to interest them in doing a story, and as a result, educate the general public on the services your business provides.

Some helpful tips to keep in mind when planning your media relations campaign:

Media relations is not advertising. People often do not like to feel the pressure of a hard sell. A good media relations campaign can help alleviate that feeling by offering credible sources and perhaps other consumers who have had experience with a certain company or product and who can attest to what a business is trying to achieve.

Media relations is about building good, dependable relationships with the media who write about your industry. Reporters in any media need to know that they can depend on you for reliable, and perhaps most importantly, honest information. They need to know that you will follow through on your promises to connect them to the key people who should be a part of the story.

Media relations is about researching and targeting appropriate reporters. If you are pitching a story on a new treatment for diabetes, the reporter who writes strictly about cancer research is not likely to be interested. Do your research and read or watch some of the reporter's previous stories to get a flavor of their focus.

Media relations is about being responsive. The media work on tight deadlines.  They need to know that you will respond to their requests in a timely manner and with the information for which they are searching. This is key in aiding the relationship building process.

Finally, media relations is about being true to yourself. If you feel something is not quite right with a story, do not pitch it. Wait until you have all of the key aspects in line before you think about pubicizing it. It may take longer than you had hoped, but in the end, you will thank yourself for the positive outreach you achieved.

Heather Holtschlag is a freelance writer and public relations specialist who resides in Upper St. Clair. Visit her website at http://www.heatherholtschlagpr.weebly.com.