Publicity hunters must know what journalists want
Business people are often disappointed when they fail in their quest for media publicity. But there are usually many reasons why they are rejected.
Among the top of the list is their lack of understanding as to what journalists are looking for. Just about every business person in the world believes their business would make a great news story. But unfortunately, without a grasp of what is considered newsworthy, they will remain anonymous in terms of publicity.
To interest the media, and its readers, listeners and viewers, there must be an interesting angle, or focus on the story. For example, ‘local business makes exciting products’, is not an angle. But ‘New product creates 100 new jobs’, is an angle.
The point is that there must be something significant to make it newsworthy. So rather than focus on the success of the business, you need to look at what flows from that. This could be anything from how a large export order will help the local economy to how a product helped prevent a disaster. The possibilities are endless, but without angles, your publicity hunt will never move past the editor’s desk.
Another thing journalists love are stories related to topical issues. For example, during the recent recession, many stories were produced on how businesses were thriving against the odds. In the same way, anything to do with earthquakes has been hot news in Canterbury lately.
Anything out of the ordinary is another winner with the media. If you are struggling for media attention, publicity stunts can be created. For example, recently a restaurant owner in America was concerned that he had empty tables on a Tuesday night. To create a media buzz, he decided to let bald people eat free. That led to a barrage of publicity and soon his restaurant was full on Tuesday nights. He also made money because all the bald people bought their friends and family. Could you do something like this?
There are many opportunities out there for businesses to gather valuable publicity. It’s just a matter of finding them and following the publicity process. The resulting profile and enhanced reputation will do wonders for your business bottom lines.
