Starting a PR campaign in a new industry, or new market, with media you don’t know IS damn hard.
I been doing just that for some clients of late. I’ve also been doing just the opposite for others. The opposite, when you already have relationships, know who likes what, and are yourself a known entity, is like shootin’ ducks in a barrel (especially when the client ‘gets it’).
Here is a kind of media relations continuum.
- From formal to informal. I am not much for formality. Never have been. When any relationship I have is formal I know it is just starting out.
- From pitching to ‘having something’. Pitching is such a bad word. It implies selling something the receiver may not actually want or need. Pitching is what happens when you don’t know a media outlet/journo. With those I know well (and this is probably the same for you) I just kinda know when I have something they’d like. ‘Having something’ does not necessarily imply having the world’s hottest piece of news, more knowing about who the receiver is and how they like to operate.
- From stranger to friend. I am genuinely friends with a number of journos and bloggers in my city. Wow, it makes doing PR much easier than being a stranger.
- ‘Who’s that?’ to ‘oh them’. This is the client version of number 3. Nothing quite so hard as working for a new organization in a new market. Having a known entity of a client (provided they are not a know entity with a sullied rep) makes things a lot easier in terms of getting press.
Anything to add?