7 Media Relations Mistakes to Avoid

Media relations is the act of forming professional relationships with reporters and journalists to educate the media on your brand, products, services, and achievements. The goal here is to have those in the media tell your story to their audiences through publications including (but not limited to) magazines, online outlets, TV, radio, and podcasts.

Is there a right or wrong way to develop media relations? The short answer is yes. To help you better build connections with media professionals to amplify your brand awareness, establish brand credibility, and build trust between your brand and your community, we’ve put together a list of the biggest media relations mistakes to avoid.

The following 7 behaviors guarantee your media relations efforts are laid to rest.

1. Presenting a Lackluster Subject Line Will Prevent a Picture-Perfect Pitch From Ever Seeing the Light of Day

Think about your own email inbox. Whether it’s a marketing email from Lululemon or a promotional email from a company related to your job, if the subject line doesn’t pique your interest, you’re not opening that email. In fact, 64% of recipients decide to open or delete emails based on subject lines.

Subject lines must capture the attention of the recipient upon first glance. That being said, keep them straight to the point, no more than 60-70 characters, and make them punchy. And by punchy we mean, create a subject line that hits the recipient right in the face (figuratively, of course) so they simply can’t miss it and will be interested enough to open the email.

2. Sharing Irrelevant Press Releases Will Fall on Deaf Ears

So often, public relations professionals believe that sending out press releases is effective. There’s a time and place for everything. If you have a big announcement or grand opening, sure a press release is warranted. But if you have a thought leadership idea, or a featured story to share, a press release is not relevant and it will not gain traction with the media.

So when building media relations rapport, do not inundate reporters with meaningless press releases. Instead, craft intentional media pitches that intrigue reporters and make it nearly impossible for them to not write about. This means, tailor these pitches to what the reporter typically writes about and even to their personal interests. This is the true work behind effective media relations.

3. Projecting Anger at a Journalist for Not Including a Backlink to Your Website Only Hurts You

We get it. Of course, the best case scenario being featured in a high-profile article online is to also have a backlink to your website included. However, it’s usually not the reporter’s fault that there’s no backlink. Typically, the media outlet itself has rules on if and when backlinks to outside sites are allowed.

Getting angry with a reporter is not only a waste of time, but it’s a detriment to the relationship you’ve already built with them. All in all, it’s not worth it.

4. Disregarding Deadlines Burns Media Relationships

The number one rule in media relations is to always meet deadlines. Submitting responses to a reporter after the deadline will not only waste their time, but yours as well. A late submission might mean that your input won’t be featured in the article. 

The better strategy is to get the reporter what they need before the deadline. Is a reporter asking you for commentary on a hot topic by 5pm today? Send your commentary by 4:30. Has a journalist requested a guest article from you due in two weeks? Get it to them within 10 days. 

5. Not Having Assets Such as Talking Heads Bios and High-Resolution Headshots Prepared Will Cost You Coverage Opportunities

As discussed above, timing is of the essence. It’s critical to have biographies and headshots for each talking head in your business ready to go. This way, if there’s a quick turnaround media opportunity, you or your publicist have an arsenal behind them to pitch you as an authoritative source. 

Waiting to pull these critical pieces of information will probably result in the loss of media opportunities.

6. Twisting an Interview Into an Infomercial About Your Business Will Piss Reporters Off

A reporter wants to talk about the topic at hand in an interview. It could be a current event in the news cycle, or an industry trend. Either way, the reporter is likely looking for your expert opinion on the matter, not a lecture about your business. We promise, the more you share your expertise, the more your brand will get noticed as well (without you giving a QVC pitch). 

Moral of the story, answer the reporter’s direct questions and don’t manipulate the interview into a tell all about your company. If you do, the reporter will probably choose to not work with you again.

7. Ignoring an Editor’s Editorial Guidelines for Op-Ed Contributions Will Place You on Their “Ditch My Email” List

If you’re writing a byline or guest article for a media outlet, you better follow the editorial guidelines. If you don’t, (especially if you continuously fail to meet them), the editor will likely not accept your future submissions without even reading them first.

Nothing is more frustrating to an editor than receiving a byline that they planned to feature in their next magazine issue, that they can no longer use because it goes against their guidelines. You’d be ruining your chances of gaining thought leadership exposure with this outlet and you’d also be burning bridges with the editor.

Media Relations is a Two-Way Street

To ensure your media efforts are fruitful, be thoughtful. Be patient. Drop the ego. Effective media relations is all about give and take. Give the reporters what they ask for and you’ll get to take home the prize of securing media coverage. 

If you’re looking for media relations assistance, you’ve come to the right place. Get in touch with us or book a call with our founder, Mike Mejer to get started.