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Five Tips to Fine-Tune Your Media Relations in Sports PR

Ashleigh Mavros Leave a comment

#NPPRSA - The Edge (1)Good communication skills and strong media relationships are essential for any PR professional to be successful with those they work with, but with the different public relations industries becoming more and more niche these days, there are some keys things to keep in mind depending on which media outlets you are pitching and working with the most.

For those working in the action-packed and non-stop sports and entertainment industries (or looking to get into these areas), here are five tips to keep in mind to help you fine-tune your media pitches, break through with key media contacts and more to further develop your media relations:

Timeliness & Relevance

As the old saying goes, “timing is everything.” In the sports and entertainment industries, this is even more important to remember when it comes to PR and pitching specific media reporters whether they are with long or short lead outlets.

More often than not, unless something is breaking news, it is best to tie your media pitches into something timely occurring that the outlet and reporters are covering (or could cover) whether it a large sporting event (such as the Olympics, FIFA World Cup, US Open, etc.), the start of a new sporting season (like golf and tennis season swinging under way each summer or football season and college sports getting started again each Fall) or anything else that’s relevant so that there is a direct tie-in to the media reporter and their upcoming editorial calendar an outlet.

Keep the Competition in Mind

When working in the sports and entertainment industries and with the media coverage surrounding them, to say it is a highly competitive space for coverage would be an understatement. When pitching various media try to keep in mind everyone else they are being pitched by and those who work with leagues, teams, events, brands, athletes, etc. and try to determine what your best pitch angle is to make you stand out from the rest and break through to the media contact.

In addition to the timeliness and relevance of what you are pitching, think of creative ways to enhance your pitches by determining the best subject line (and one that isn’t over the top or misleading), including images with your text or bullet-pointing information so your pitch helps you get straight to the point.

Don’t Get Discouraged if You Don’t Hear Back

Sometimes I like to think that “PR” more accurately stands for “persistency = results.” Like when sending out a press release announcement to a large database of media contacts (or on a newswire), you don’t always receive a lot of immediate feedback from those you sent it to.

If you don’t hear back on your pitch within an appropriate amount of time (of which there is no magic rule of thumb for), make sure and send a follow-up email or give them a call to see if they received your information. As for cold call media pitching, it seems more media prefer to receive email pitches first before being cold-called with pitches but that once you have established communication or a relationship with them that they are more willing and likely to talk on the phone with you.

Making Sure You Manage Expectations

For those of us who work in sports along with a lot of us who work in public relations, the phrase “under promising and over delivering” is very important to remember.  This applies not only to those you work with/for, but also the media you’re building relationships with and collaborating on coverage opportunities.

When it comes down to things like determining how much time a media reporter can have in an interview or how much time they need to schedule photo shoots, it’s important to be aware of tight timelines and deadlines. It is in everyone’s best interest to be honest and forthcoming about what you (and who you work with/for) can and cannot do so that you are appropriately managing the media’s expectations.  By doing so, this will help you with building lasting media relationships for both the short term and long term.

Keep up with What the Media are Covering

With the integration of social media into our daily lives and almost every move we’ve made in the past five or six years, this has become both a blessing and a curse at times for those of us who work in PR. Social media demands our constant attention (not to mention that sports related coverage consumes about 90% of twitter and all tweets produced daily).

However, social media also provides us an opportunity to follow key media reporters, see what they are covering and determine better pitches to add a more personable touch to connect with them and develop our relationships. While it is impossible to follow every media contact you want to get through to and see what they are covering, for the ones you do follow it allows some extra insight on events they are planning to attend, products they like, things they are passionate about and any other tidbits of information you might not have known otherwise that can help you determine a good tie-in when getting in touch with them.

I would also keep in mind that social media channels are NOT the best or recommended way to pitch key media contacts, but that it can’t hurt to respond to their posts and engage in conversations that potentially could help make you stand out to them when they do receive pitches and emails from you at another time.

About the PRSA Entertainment & Sports Section

Practitioners working in the high-profile worlds of sports and entertainment face unique challenges. PRSA’s Entertainment and Sports Section offers great opportunities to connect with peers who understand your issues and are willing to share solutions. Through in-person and virtual networking events, newsletters and other resources, the Section helps practitioners develop public relations and management skills directly relevant to their entertainment and sports environments.

Natalie MikolichNatalie P. Mikolich, is the 2016 Chair-Elect of the PRSA Entertainment and Sports Section and the Founder of npm|pr (www.npmpr.com).  Natalie has worked with a variety of national businesses in different industries ranging from sports, fitness, health, beauty and luxury lifestyle to non-profit organizations and special events in addition to world class professional and Olympic athletes. Along with this, Natalie has provided public relations services for some of the leading global sports and entertainment agencies. Follow her on Twitter @npmikolich.

 

Three Ways to Make Your Press Release Stand Out

Ashleigh Mavros Leave a comment

#NPPRSA - The EdgeLike it or not, press releases are still a major resource for PR professionals. As a new PR pro you’ll may be charged with drafting a majority of the releases for your company. Below are three ways to make your next press release stand out from the crowd.

Craft a strong and engaging headline

To cut through the constant clutter of press releases, you’ve got to have a strong headline. When creating your headline you want to grab the audience’s attention and entice them to click or open the email.

You’ll want to answer the following questions: Why do I care? How is this news?

Let’s try a little experiment – which headline would you be interested in?

  • Atlanta had 45 Million visitors to the city in 2013

  • Atlanta sets new visitation record with 45 million visitors in 2013

The first headline is straight to the point, however there’s nothing to entice the reader to find out more information. The second headline tells me that Atlanta set a new record number of visitors to the city, which leads to more questions about how many visitors do other city attract? What was the previous record for the city?

Capture them with the lead

Now that you’ve got their attention, draw them in with the lead sentence. Most lead sentences are less than 30 words and answer the question of why the reader should continue on.

  • Atlanta set a new record for visitation in a single year, welcoming 45 million visitors in 2013. (17 words)

Make your way down the pyramid

For the rest of the release follow the Inverted Pyramid Structure. The first paragraph should contain, besides the lead, the most pertinent information and answering the 5 W’s (Who,What,Why, Where and When) of the release.

The next two paragraphs should provide additional or supporting information, though not as essential as the first. Quotes from executives or experts are often found here.

Finally, the last paragraph should contain the background details and basic general information.

Bonus Tip!

Before you begin writing a release, put yourself in the shoes of your intended audience. What would make you read this release? What makes this news? How would this make my job easier? By looking at the release from the reader’s perspective, you’ll gain a new sense of clarity.

What are some of your best press release tips?

Victoria Lightfoot (1)Victoria Lightfoot graduated from Georgia State University in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts in journalism, concentrating in public relations. She is currently the PR coordinator at the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau and volunteers on PRSA Georgia’s College Relations Committee and co-chairs the Travel & Tourism Special Interest Group. Connect with Victoria on LinkedIn and Twitter (@Victoria_Lenese). 

 

pr strategy… Distribute the “Necessary-but-Not-Hot-News” Press Release by Shirley Skeel

New Professionals PR Blog Leave a comment

You’ve got your press release ready. Now what?

The Annapolis Group list serve (for independent liberal arts colleges) had a flutter of activity recently about the fine art of sending out press releases. Is mass mailing still acceptable? How do you keep harried reporters informed, but not irritated?

One media relations officer said that, for local coverage, she mass-mails to a standard distribution list. For national coverage, she begins with the news services, such as EuerkAlert and the News Media Yellow Book, and chooses specific newsrooms.

Another officer said he is very choosy about where he sends each press release. He always sends individual emails, and he suggests that if an email “looks like a blast (even a small one)” reporters “will toss it.”

I disagree. Speaking as a former reporter, reporters are single-minded creatures—They want a story. That’s it. Whether it comes in an email blast or off the back of a corn flake box does not matter.

I do agree that you have to be choosy to prevent reporter ennui. I use “email blasts” or individual mailings, or a combination, depending on the story—but even with the blasts, I hand pick the recipients each time.

However the art can get pretty icky, sticky, tricky. There are times when you and your institution are proud of an event, but it’s as likely to get press coverage as my husband is to give up smoking (sorry darling). And the last thing you want is for reporters to stop opening your emails because you send out too many flimsy releases.

So far my approach has been NOT to send the “necessary but not hot news” release to individual reporters. Instead I send it to general news desks, such as tips@newspaper.com (but what if the news editor opens this!!??) and to community media who just may take an interest. If my institutional conscience is really nagging, I also send it to a few known beat reporters with a gentle note asking them to pass it on if someone happens to be collecting stories on this topic.

It’s not perfect. And I’ve known at least one purist who would say, “Just don’t send them out.” That’s tough to swallow.

What strategies do you use to get out those “necessary-but-not-hot” releases?


SHIRLEY SKEEL is Media Relations Manager at University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington. She can be reached at sskeel@pugetsound.edu