Best Practices for Earned Media

What are the best ways to work with editors, publishers, and reporters to achieve publicity that will beat the averages? 

1. Develop and cultivate your company’s subject matter experts. Get to know them and learn about what makes them passionate about their work. 

2. Talk and/or survey your internal team and your customers and find out the key business challenges they are facing.

3. Research trade publications to determine which reach your target audience.

4. Watch their editorial calendars for planned articles that speak to those issues, then pitch an appropriate subject matter expert to the editor. Make your pitch concise, and don’t oversell. Simply demonstrate that your subject matter expert can provide non-promotional information that will help the publication’s readers improve their business performance.

5. Submit the pitch as an email. If it’s the first email you’ve sent to an editor it’s okay to follow-up with a phone call to make sure it got through. Otherwise, don’t be a pest.

6. When an editor or writer responds with a request for more information, or to set up an interview, reply promptly, request a deadline, and be sure to reply in time. If for some reason you can’t meet their need, explain why promptly and courteously. 

If this all sounds good, but you’d like to know more, please join our TMSA Media Relations Strategic Interest Group. It will be comprised of your peers, some with more and some with less experience in earned media. 

Our next meeting is Thursday, March 4 at 4 p.m. Central Time. We’ll start with a brief presentation to set up a collaborative discussion during which we’ll share challenges and best practices. 

Sign up here: https://www.tmsatoday.org/strategic-interest-group 

The webinars are free for TMSA members (memberships start as low as $95). Each session will be followed by a virtual "happy hour" for networking with those participating in the SIG.

See you there!