Certain subjects get wider recognition within the media than others, and knowing this can give you an edge when you are seeking visibility for yourself and/or your business or expertise.
Understanding how the media really works is a powerful tool, and PR and its potential is a fantastic way to punch above your weight if you’ve not got millions of dollars to spend on marketing. It’s massively underestimated.
However, in the spirit of sports – it’s a marathon, not a sprint!
Getting visible can be a real challenge for business owners as many of the subjects they want to talk about are only of real interest to B2B publications, on and offline.
That’s why many PR professionals talk about personality and people — often above weighty business subjects that, let’s face it, can be a bit dry.
Knowing what types of subjects are generally popular across the media is very useful when navigating where your stories can come from and where they should be “pitched” when you desire media exposure and engagement.
This is also about accepting that as a business owner, CEO, director, or expert, you cannot control the media — and nor can your PR provider — the story, the agenda of the day, and the news agenda will win out every time.
What Are the Popular Subjects That Come Up Time and Time Again in the General Media?
There are some businesses and some expertise which will be able to access more media opportunities than others — and broadly those subjects relate to the lifestyle of people.
When I worked full-time in TV, we knew that subjects that covered anything related to pets, education, crime, and sports would always get more traction. Those subjects attracted bigger audiences. Why is that? They are the subjects which, certainly in the UK, are of the most interest to many people generally. I suspect it won’t be that different in the USA.
Now, today, our ability to engage as humans with what interests us is very diverse in a way it wasn’t when I worked full time in UK television.
If you are a start-up business owner, or you run a social enterprise (I don’t know if these exist in the USA, we have several forms of not-for-profit enterprises here) or you are an “expert” setting out on your own – it’s wise to get some training about what might make the media “look” at you and take you seriously.
Actions to Consider
Step one is to recognize that it’s not going to be about your service or product most of the time for the media — if you want that, buy advertising space.
Step two is to understand the media landscape where you live and where your expertise is based — these are bread and butter valuable contacts for you because they have access to a bigger audience than you, and when starting out, most of your customers will come from your local area.
Step three — is to actually subscribe and read content from some of those outlets so you can naturally identify the type of stories they are telling. Can you fit into that tribe at all? Even if it’s once or twice a year.
Step four is to understand something of the news cycle (slightly different in any community) and start to plan and plot where you might fit. This allows you to anticipate the news cycle and then “pitch” your views and your stories, which might fit into their planning agenda.
Let’s Paint a Picture
Imagine, if you will — that for every news outlet, there’s a huge paper diary on a desk where a news editor is planning out stories and who will write, record, or talk about them and assigning people to that task.
The news editor needs stories in there to ensure that enough content is provided to keep his or her job healthy and active and to fill space or air-time.
If a huge news story breaks on a day unexpectedly, then those stories will be pushed back or deleted to make way — but no one can plan for that; this news editor plans for that “not” happening.
What I’ve just asked you to imagine, happens daily in newsrooms across the world. Understanding this will help you to understand why planning for PR is so very important for some business owners and business leaders and their teams.
Let’s Be Part of That Picture
How can you be part of that planning? How can you become a person that they “go to” regularly or even occasionally? That’s where the next steps come in.
Step Five — pitch at the right time, i.e., Slightly in advance of the “moment,” where you have something valid to add or a valid story to tell. I’ve mentioned this before. It’s called “newsjacking,” and it’s a hard skill to learn, but once you’ve got it, you’ll have this skill forever. One random example might be World Alzheimer’s Month.
Step Six – repeat next year. Even if it doesn’t work, repeat and show up again.
Let’s Take Sports as an Example
It may have escaped your notice, but we recently had the Olympics in Paris, and the USA did quite well in what’s often called “the greatest show on earth!” Your country bagged the most medals and had its most successful Olympics in years.
Also from August 28, the Paralympics will begin and in Tokyo 2020 the USA came third with gold medals behind China and the UK. Chances are that you can be part of this global conversations with absolute validity if it’s relevant to you, your business, your expertise or your life experience.
How can you pitch yourself or your business?
Here are some thoughts for you to consider:
- Do you sponsor an Olympian or Paralympian to help them pay their way and compete full-time? Can you talk about this and pitch your involvement to your own local media or even regional media? Perhaps even national media? Talk about why.
- Do you have a family member who is or was an Olympian or Paralympian? You know what it takes to reach the summit of sporting achievement — even being selected is a huge “thing.” It says you are among the best in the world.
- Are you a former Olympian or Paralympian who can share your experiences, how things have changed, and what they mean to you now? Again, pitch that viewpoint.
These two circumstances are quite rare, so how can you talk about this if you don’t have such direct connections?
- Can you share tips about success or failure based on a “moment” that is being generally discussed now in the USA around these two sporting events? You don’t have to make disparaging remarks around any individual — you can talk about the general issue or circumstance.
- Can you talk about any moment that showed resilience, petulance, arrogance, ego, unexpected success, humanity? If any of those words play to your business ethics or values, you can use that “moment” to talk about that.
- Are sports important to you and/or your business? Talk about the why, especially if your chosen sport is one that is featured in the Olympics or Paralympics, and especially if it’s a really niche sport. If it’s very visual, can you invite your local TV station to do a piece? Tell them what they will SEE, as it’s a visual medium, and they will be thinking of “visual sequences” to create their content.
- Are you confident enough to talk about more difficult moments that could come up? Something more controversial? This can be tricky, but if it is something you feel strongly about, then don’t be afraid. Just avoid making personal remarks that could be libelous. Remember that the rules in the UK are different from those in the USA, and the laws in France are also different. So, take a moment before going down this route.
If any of this resonates with you and you want to make a plan, it could be time to reach out to a PR expert like myself.
