Media relations services
As an award-winning B2B PR agency, we know that solid media relations is crucial to the success of any business (it’s why we have a dedicated media relations team). While the world of publishing constantly changes, with journalists on ever-tighter deadlines, rolling 24hr news, staff cuts and a million and one publishing platforms – the fundamentals of storytelling remain the same: a good story in the correct format, will win the day.
Good media relations is about using said stories to engage with the media, resulting in favourable reporting and positive outcomes for your business. Read on for more detail on our bespoke approach or drop us a line to discuss how we can use earned media to help your business achieve its objectives.
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A five-step guide to media relations
According to 2022 Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ), far fewer people regard news found through social platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Instagram as trustworthy compared to traditional media channels. And almost half of adults still turn to traditional, well-respected news websites. Therefore, good media relations, now more than ever, involves careful planning and targeted pitching. Our five-step methodology provides a good framework for this.
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Most people want to jump straight into pitching rather than spending time aligning the right stories with the right journalists and outlets. Story identification is paramount. The strength of your media relationships comes second.
The story needs to be developed in a way that enables you to insert your business’s key messages. Plan what you want to say and who you’re going to say it to. Your story needs to be compelling for the journalists and publications that you’re looking to target. This might require interview offers with subject matter experts, comments that add to (not echo) an existing news item, case studies, multimedia assets etc. Journalists are looking to you to help them meet deadlines, fill column inches AND TikTok channels and impress their editors!
Some think that B2B PR agencies don’t get as many opportunities to be creative as their consumer-facing siblings. However, this is wrong – B2B campaigns can range from data-led research ideas to video and content production. The days of the press release being the only media medium and long gone. The creative process is key to any successful media relations strategy that wants to cut through the noise and catch the journalist’s eye.
A short project that relies on one campaign or story may not yield any tangible results to take back to the board. Regardless of how good your story is, it might get spiked in favour of breaking news. That’s why any agency worth their salt should provide a full strategy that covers multiple touchpoints over a sustained period of time.
Getting quality coverage is just the first step – the next is shouting about it. It’s just as important for you to take responsibility for amplifying your coverage as it is for the journalist and publication they’re writing for. Publishers rely on social sharing to increase their traffic, so it’s only fair that this be reciprocal.
In order to get marketing-driven results from PR activity, your media relations agency should be fully integrated into your marketing plans and strategies. If PR and marketing work together, the results are greater than the sum of their parts.
As well as getting the coverage you crave, a solid media relations strategy will also net you a higher profile, more website traffic, leads (if you have integrated it properly, of course), followed links (which boost SEO rankings) and a whole array of experience, expertise, authority and trust signals, which are all important to the modern day CMO. Find out what journalists want by reviewing our exclusive media relations research with top tier publications, or drop us a line to discuss how our media relations services can help you achieve your business objectives.
“We renewed our relationship with Definition in April 2020 to take on the role as our media relations agency. The UK had just gone into lockdown and we recognised the importance of maintaining and increasing our share of voice in key markets, at a time when there was a huge amount of ‘noise’. The Definition team has seamlessly integrated with our organisation.
“They have become a key part of our marketing and brand efforts, working hand-in-hand with our internal marketing team. The success they have achieved has been fantastic, providing us with opportunities to increase our brand reach that we would not have otherwise been able to resource.”
Helen Stead, Head of Marketing, Walker Morris
“The team was instrumental in building the credibility of WorldRemit as we grew from a start-up to a multi-million pound remittance company. They have excellent media relationships, both in the UK and internationally and are able to spot interesting media opportunities and manage them professionally to delivery.”
Ismail Ahmed, CEO, WorldRemit
“The team secured coverage in outlets that it’s highly unusual for a company of our size to feature in, by leveraging the unique TLC story and highlighting it to their established media contacts. They were happy to get involved in producing new website copy and additional marketing collateral.
“Education PR is often viewed as a ‘dark art’ by smaller companies, but the team guided us to quality coverage in publications read by millions around the world. We’ve subsequently won new business with a series of schools. Job well done and money well spent!”
Simon Barnes, CEO, TLC Education Group
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