September 2009

Social media has proved to be a game changer for the public relations profession. Its growth has not only upended the hierarchy of news-dissemination channels, but is also forcing a reexamination of media outreach best practices. However, regardless of the channel, there is no substitute for well-thought-out media relations.

Keeping It Real

With a backdrop of recent court rulings requiring anonymous bloggers and comments to reveal their identities and the questioned ethics of ghost-blogging, transparency is a topic of major concern in social media. Indeed, the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) has spoken out against "disingenuous editorial content" and "deceptive commentary on blogs," citing a clear violation of both PRSA's Code of Ethics and the organization's Professional Standards Advisory. (Read the story here.)

But what does the increasing emphasis on transparency mean for PR practitioners who use social media to reach bloggers and mainstream journalists? Perhaps most significantly, they must be more careful than ever before to lay their motives on the table and to create compelling, but authentic, content that their targeted audiences will want to read or view.

Five Best Practices That Stand the Test of Time

Beyond being forthright, here are five tried-and-true tactics public relations practitioners looking to engage journalists and bloggers should utilize.

• Identify your ultimate audience. In deciding which journalists and bloggers to contact, first consider who their audiences are. Think about the people who will eventually see the story, the kind of impressions you would like them to walk away with, and the actions you hope they will take.
• Know when to pitch. "Turn it off and listen. Yes, we're always supposed to be on-but turn it off, and be a person instead of a pitch machine," writes Jeremy Pepper. (Read his blog post here.) Public relations is about making real connections, just as much as it is about pushing "the next big idea." There is a wealth of information to be had just by listening on Twitter or reading a publication's online edition and/or blog.
• Stand behind your outreach. In other words, believe what you're selling. "Your outreach will be successful only when you can effectively blend your personality and the client's brand personality into one and the same," notes Stuart Foster of The Lost Jacket.
• Give journalists and bloggers what they need. This includes all the pertinent facts, links, photos, graphics, quotations, and access to yourself or key experts, not to mention a compelling reason to write your story.
• Be patient. A journalist or blogger, especially if working on a tight deadline, is not going to spend time hunting down information. On the other hand, it may also take a while before you're contacted about your pitch. Patience pays: If you don't succeed this go-around, more opportunities lay ahead-and you'll also avoid being tagged as a spammer.

BurrellesLuce Media Contacts

BurrellesLuce Media Contacts™, our online media database, is your ticket to reaching the bloggers and mainstream journalists that are most important to your campaign or initiative. Media Contacts allows nearly effortless distribution of traditional and multimedia press releases to your target media list. And since Media Contacts is updated daily, through the activities of PR pros like you, you're assured of having the most current information at your command.