Currently, it is plenty of cucumber time in journalism. At the end of August, many important stakeholders will return to the office and PR can be taken up again. The last months of the year are often a final sprint, because many goals still have to be achieved. How do you avoid missing the boat in the media landscape, during the busiest PR period of the year?
Stay up to date with important developments in your industry. Keep an eye on what events are coming up and when relevant figures and studies are published. Anticipate this by telling a journalist that you can serve as an important source a few days before an event takes place or a study is published. Please substantiate this, because everyone calls themselves an “expert” to the media. Of course, you can also send out a press release about the event or the published figures yourself, but you have to act quickly.
Without data, no news. Base your press releases on reliable data, such as supporting a trend or revealing a new trend. Also ask internally whether the journalist can use this data, because data sometimes contains business-sensitive information. Also, make sure that the data is representative. A survey of 500 respondents is often not enough, unless it concerns a niche market. If you don't have enough data, refer to larger party investigations and alert journalists to this. As an organization, you can then respond to this research by, for example, writing a press release about it.
Journalists often look for sources on LinkedIn. Even if you provide a source yourself, this person will be screened by journalists on this platform. So share your knowledge via LinkedIn. Bonus points if you have clear expertise (specialist over generalist) and take a concrete position on a particular issue.Don't make LinkedIn posts with ChatGPT: journalists recognize these posts out of thousands and they come across as very unreliable. If you maintain your own writing style and communicate consistently, you will come across as authentic and believable.
Identify which experts within your organization can speak to the media. This relatively quiet cucumber period is perfect for selecting experts and preparing them for media attention, for example with a media training. So you no longer have to worry about this - during the busy period. In addition, the selected experts will not be faced with any surprises. Also, make sure that these experts have a flexible agenda or — if it concerns a CEO with a 50-hour working week — want to be flexible with media requests. Journalists often want to speak to an expert within a few hours. So find several experts who can and want to speak to the media. This way, you always have a backup when someone is unavailable.
A press kit is an online collection of information accompanying a press release, such as photos, illustrations, product information, company information, and biographies of relevant stakeholders. Make it easy for journalists by placing your press kit on your website, for example under the heading “press” or “for the media”. Please state that this information is royalty-free so that journalists know they can use it. If you already have a press kit, make it up to date. For example, you can prevent outdated portrait photos of important stakeholders from appearing in a news item.
Do you still find it difficult to make these preparations yourself? No worries, we are experts in preparing for PR printing. Fill out our contact form for an informal call.
