Media Relations Action Steps: Research, List and Table Your Media
In the first step, get to know the target market of your business.
In the second step, conduct thoughtful research and gain information about the following matters:
Which media do your competitors use?
What are the media moguls in your market?
What are your required media?
Why does your group need media to communicate with the current audiences?
The objective of media relations is to communicate with the target market and to reach out to customers.
In the third step, make a list of required media for your business based on the target market and audiences. It doesn’t matter how large or small your business is. What matters is that you make a contact list of media platforms that make it possible for you to communicate with the target market. You may need a visual medium such as TV, but you may lack the necessary financial resources to use this medium. In fact, make a contact list of media which audiences are your target market. The media relations director is in charge of preparing this contact list.
In the fourth step, formulate the media contact list based on certain information such as name and title, distribution range, size of the medium, and all the other aforementioned items. If you have information regarding print run or number of subscribers of a medium, write down that information, as well. Specify whether a medium is a print or an online medium, and identify the field in which they work. Add to the list the address, phone number, and email address of the medium and the names of journalists you know from that medium. Make it clear what you expect from each medium.
By preparing the table of media contact list and details, you have at your disposal all the information you need to cooperate with them in an outlined and useful format. In fact, this table becomes your media guideline.