Tactics for getting press coverage with digital PR are as broad and varied as the public relations agencies and clients that pursue them. The news media is influential, so everybody wants to get press. But everybody knows how to get it.
In this post, I'm going to share the digital PR strategies Sarah Evans (@prsarahevans) uses to generate media coverage for her clients.
Paypal, Cox Communications, MGM International and WalMart are just a few of the companies she works with.
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Table of Contents
Digital PR vs. Traditional PRIf It's too Polished, It's Less NewsworthyIf It's Really News, It Has To Be NewHow to Get Press Coverage with Digital PR ToolsState of Online Media MonitoringTraditional Public Relations Best PracticesDigital PR Starts with Owned MediaThe Risk of DIY Public RelationsYour Website is Your Press Kit
https://youtu.be/bR4K5DaWl3Q
I connected with Sarah today. She's one of the most talented and effective digital media PR professionals I know.
She generously shared which digital PR tactics are working best for her right now, during this time of economic uncertainty.
YouTube video replay of PR Tech Wednesdays with Sarah Evans
Digital PR vs. Traditional PR
She provided all sorts of digital PR examples, digital PR activities and details about the types of digital PR programs she has underway. And Sarah also made a point to say that as a result of the pandemic, everything old is new again.
She's combining digital PR tools with old school mainstream media relations tactics to increase her effectiveness in these lean times.
"I think we're at 23,000 reporters either furloughed or laid off. Things are changing so quick. We need resources to be able to get reporters the types of stories being covered," says Sarah.
She uses digital PR tactics to gauge what types of stories are gaining traction in the news media. And she uses email to develop Weekly Stories email pitches. They're not too formal. And they give journalists an easy way to glance over the various stories she's pitching on behalf of clients.
If It's too Polished, It's Less Newsworthy
The not too formal part is an important distinction, because the more polished it, the more is looks like mass communications.
Longtime Rogers & Cowan Entertainment Publicist Julie Nathanson
When I was at Rogers & Cowan, I was in a meeting with the Julie Nathanson, who passed at 68 years old this week. I'll always remember her as helpful and kind.
We were talking about putting together press materials for a new client. These were the days of press releases, bios, fact sheets and backgrounders stuffed into dual pocket presentation folders.
Only the Grammys -- with the help of IBM and Ron Bloom -- could pull off an online press room in those days. But that's another story.
Anyway, in the meeting with Julie, I suggested printing slick folders with the clients picture and logo on the front. Then we could do a mass mailing to all relevant media.
Julie took a post it note. She wrote the clients name on it, stuck it on the front of a blank presentation folder and said, “Here, send this.”
She wanted the client to look undiscovered.
News is New
Reporters want a scoop. They want something newsworthy, not something everyone knows already.
