Transcript Slide 1

How to get free media
• Earned media. Free press. Whatever you call it, it's the stuff that
people hear and read about your club—the stuff you don't buy.
• It's earned because you work for it. You work to do something
newsworthy, you work to package it for the media, and you work to
deliver it.
• Experts say that free press is worth more, inch for inch, than paid
advertising. That's because free press has the appearance of being
a third-party endorsement of what you and your business have to
say.
• So what are the dos and don'ts? What can you do to enhance your
chances of getting what you want... and avoiding or minimizing what
you don't?
No Promises
• First, beware of agencies or consultants that promise to get you a
story, get one buried or get you one that says such-and-such.
• While the chances of getting covered get better every day (see "The
News Hole," below), there are way too many imponderables for
such a guarantee to be worth much.
Don't Try This Alone
• As with most things, two heads are better than one. Some clubs
recognise this by setting up communication groups between
themselves.
• A lot of corporate communication groups meet routinely. This helps
to keep ahead of stories, looking for opportunities, serving as a
reality check, shaping up messages, and more.
• A word about routine. When communication groups meet routinely, a
lot less falls through the cracks. Maybe more important, the
inevitable crisis or bad news has less energy when you're looking at
it as a group, with intention and some context.
• Therefore – if you can work with other like-minded clubs, there is
power in numbers.
The News Hole
• It's huge. And getting even bigger.
• Content hungry blogs and podcasts, cable, specialty print and
electronic media have created a practically bottomless, international
demand for whatever sometimes remotely passes as news.
• Scratch Where There's an Itch When you're planning your story,
think about who should hear it, when and where. That'll make a
difference all the way around... from when you release your news, to
whom, and so on.
• Your tactics depend a lot on your strategic goals. Who is the end
audience? Is there specialist media that would be interested?
The Myth of the "Exclusive"
• Editors and reporters live in a very competitive world. Despite what
they'll preach about "balance" and "fairness," they want a head start
on whatever news you have to report. That's why they call it a
"scoop."
• The risk used to be that you'd only get one bite of the apple. If you
showed preference to one paper over another, for example, then the
paper you slighted would probably regard the story as stale.
• I'm not so sure that's the case nowadays. Or, that it makes much of
a difference. If you get the play you want, where and when you want
it, then it shouldn't matter much if your story doesn't get decent play
in a competing medium in the same market.
Timing Is Everything
• Let's say you actually want coverage. If you have the freedom to
announce or release or schedule on any day of the week, it makes
sense to do it on the day that will result in the most, best play.
• Assume, for example, you want the weekly paper in your target
market to do a nice story. It would make sense, therefore, to know
the reporters' deadlines and any other lead time they might need to
prepare a decent story.
• Don't forget that most print media post their stories online,
sometimes in real time.
• Is there a day of the week in your local paper where sports news
gets more space? Or, maybe, there's a TV or radio station does a
“sports spot?"
• How do you find about the media's production schedule, just ask!
Lights, Camera, Action
• If you want coverage of an event, don't merely send a press
release... and hope that the media show up. In fact, don't send a
press release at all.
• Send a "media advisory" instead. Lay out the who, what, where, and
when in simple language. Be sure to include whether there's
anything visual that might warrant assigning a photographer. Leave
the assignment editors a way to get in touch with you 24/7.
• Acknowledge that getting a reporter to cover an event requires a
sales job. Editors need to be pitched, so figure on a follow-up call or
email.
Avoiding the Yawn
• Editors and reporters are busy people, so, avoid unecessary
information in your press release and anything else you put in front
of them. Make it easy for them to get to the meat of the story.
• Stick to the facts. And package them in a way that they'll be able to
weigh the significance of your news in 10 seconds or less.
• Never written a press release? Relax. If you've ever read a
newspaper article, you've seen the template. A strong, clear lead—
with the who, what, when and where—followed by sentences and
paragraphs of ever-diminishing importance.
• Always start with the ‘when’ e.g Today, Yesterday, Tomorrow
• Think of an upside-down pyramid. If, for space reasons, an editor
needs to cut, they can start chopping at the bottom and keep
chopping upward without doing any harm to the meaning.
Nurturing the story
• OK. You've got someone interested in doing a story. They have your
finely crafted media advisory or press release. What else can you do
to control the story, getting the most out of the opportunity?
• Start with some reality. Recognize that reporters are busy people
with unforgiving deadlines who are sometimes assigned stories on
totally foreign subjects.
• Then do yourself a favour. Prepare a separate fact sheet that lays
out any detailed background (e.g., your clubs history) that might be
helpful.
• If the size or depth of the story warrants, offer a "key contact" list.
Offer these experts as arm's length background resources.
• But don't be too detached. Make sure—at the very least—that the
people on your contact list are OK with being contacted. In the best
case, you've briefed them on what's going on, your message, their
role, etc.
If You Have Bad News
• It pays to deliver any bad news yourself. That's because the
chances are very good that the story is going to get out anyway.
• When—not if—the story gets out without your help, the media will
suspect that you had something to hide, with predictable
consequences. Why start off on the wrong foot... and then have to
repair a bad first impression? Why not score points for honesty
instead?
• I cannot imagine anything that the media dislike more than
arrogance. The arrogance they infer when they smell a cover-up, or
anything less than early and abundant disclosure
Finally…
• All things being equal, there's an advantage to knowing someone in
your targeted media. So, invest some time getting to know who's
covering sports clubs and sport in your area.
• Let them know you exist. Do something to make their life easier... or
to give them a competitive advantage.