By Lauren Darr
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If you want to raise awareness for your product or your service, think about hosting a media tour when you're launching. Having a great media tour will help you establish credibility in the market. The press you generate through public relations has more credibility than advertising, which makes this tactic all the more appealing to consider. Following are five steps to conducting a fabulous media tour.
Step 1: Establish Goals
Think about what you want to get out of the media tour itself. Ask yourself the following questions. What is it that you want to be known for? What is it that that you want to convey to the marketplace? How do you want to be perceived? Do you have a product, service, or solution that you need to introduce? Are you raising awareness for a cause? Are there specific interviews that you want to have? These are the things that you need to keep in mind when setting public relations goals.
Step 2: Determine The Right Media
The next step is to target the right media. Are there specific magazines, radio or television stations, newspapers, or online media that you want to be in? For example if you're a supplier to an industry target the industry-specific publications so that you get the greatest exposure within your market. Create a list of appropriate, targeted publications and media entities both electronic and print.
Step 3: Create Messaging
This step is all about developing the right messaging. Think about what you want to pitch. What do you need to focus on your interview? Form your hooks- interesting things that reporters love to hear. An example is using statistics or facts from surveys. These always make things seem more newsworthy and give credibility to the story you are telling. Be creative with your message platform so as to make it memorable. Write your messaging out and develop the appropriate communications tools such as press releases and press kits for the media tour. Decide if you need to develop collateral to go along with the press kit that will be left with the media.
Step 4: Get On The Road!
The next step is to actually go and pitch the media. Contact the producers, reporters, editors, and publishers ahead of time to schedule appointments. Call and let them know you're conducting a media tour and would like to meet with them. As a side note, get the right producer, etc. for the specific area you're pitching to so as not to waste anyone's time. For example, if you're pitching a technology topic, talk to a technical editor. You may not always get them right away on the phone and may have to leave a message and/or follow up. Patience is key. Don't be a pain in the neck. Once you set the appointment, send a thank you email with the agreed upon date and time. And, send a reminder just before traveling to them.
Step 5: Deliver
Know your stuff and deliver great interviews. Have all of your notes in front of you or memorize your pitch. If you're inexperienced, invest in training to help you keep on topic or rein questions back to your message platform in a positive way. Finally, there is no substitute for good old-fashioned practice. The more you practice, the more at ease you can be during the interview and focus on the conversation itself.
Follow these five steps and you can look back at the media tour as a wonderful experience that has gained a lot of attention for yourself, product, service, or cause.
Lauren L. Darr is the President and Founder of DIY Mmarketing Communications, a brand of Lauren Originals, Inc. She has over 20 years experience in working with companies large and small on their marketing efforts. Her passion is working with small businesses and entrepreneurs to create successful marketing campaigns.
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