Brands of all sizes have been built, and destroyed, by the media. Print, broadcast and online media outlets have unmatched power to influence behavior and affect change, making publicity an essential part of every marketing budget.

Effective campaigns build strong media relationships, publicize newsworthy information and events, and proactively create news that fits the needs and profiles of target media outlets.

Here are 10 fundamental tips to conduct successful publicity campaigns:

1. Media Database: Every successful campaign starts with a custom media database. Whether you build the list yourself (or through your agency), or use a service such as PR Newswire’s MEDIAtlas, the key is to tailor the list to reach mainstream and social media with information targeted to their beats and interests.


2. Historical Coverage: Review past media coverage to establish a clear understanding of how your brand is perceived and positioned, and ensure you remain connected with media contacts that have covered your organization and your industry.


3. Press Releases: Identify the common news topics that can be publicized through press releases, including: awards, events, executive appearances, new locations and clients, personnel, product innovations and sponsorships. While I’m not a huge fan of the traditional press release, it still has its place when properly targeted. Releases can also be distributed online as a search engine optimization (SEO) tool (either through a corporate site or release distribution service). 


4. Feature Story Pitches: Package and promote big news about your organization, special events, industry trends and more with feature story pitches. Ideal for targeting one key TV, radio or print outlet with an exclusive story, feature story pitches often start with a phone call or email to the selected media contact.


5. Editorial Calendars: Identify opportunities to deliver timely information to trade, business and consumer media. Editorial calendars (commonly available on publication Websites) provide detailed outlines of the topics and news that outlets plan to cover throughout the year. 


6. Expert Sources: Position your company spokespersons as valuable media resources, assuming that they can offer expertise on topics relevant to your industry or an outlet’s coverage areas.


7. Awards: Garner recognition for your success, innovation, community involvement and leadership through awards. 


8. Trends: Consider the trends impacting your industry, how they are being covered in the media and what your organization can contribute to the discussion. 


9. Special Sections: Assess the recurring special sections in your target media outlets for editorial opportunities. For example, your local weekly business magazine may have a monthly small business or technology section that would be a great fit.


10. Publicity Calendar: Plan and track press releases, feature story pitches, editorial opportunities and events throughout the year with a publicity calendar. Basic software applications such as Word and Excel work great for maintaining publicity calendars, or for the more tech savvy professionals, consider a project management tool, such as BaseCamp, or even a wiki.
    

Next up on PR 20/20 Insights, “Tools to Increase the Impact of a PR Campaign” . . .