Don't Believe Media Placements Are Impossible: Success Secrets Revealed
I hear it often: media relations are so 1990. it's all about social media today for hotel/resort promotion. That could not be more wrong.
Of course in a large way, it is half right. A property neglects social media at its own - real - peril. Facebook, Instagram, even Pinterest and Twitter need to be in every hotel marketer's arsenal. But today's bigger neglect are the traditional media which, increasingly, hotel/resort marketers are marginalizing. Big mistake. Big hits in big media - that means national media mainly, with a sprinkling of influential local media - put heads on beds and rears on dining room seats. Those are facts.
The other fact: big hits are not easy to get.
But they can be gotten if you know the secrets of success. Six steps will help you win consistent success in your media outreach. None is hard. But all take focus - and scrupulous honesty - to get what you want from an increasingly time-harried (some say occasionally irritable) media.
Media today are bombarded with pitches, most bad. By one count, PRs outnumber media by 4.6 to 1 - and seemingly every PR is flinging out pitches.
How to rise above the din?
The building block: Know your pitch. What's the story? Hone it until it is a snappy elevator pitch. I have seen multi-page pitches to media. Big fail. Stay on one page, be short, to the point.
Be ruthless about brevity and punchiness. I have seen insecure marketers ruin pitches by adding "and" "and" "and another thing."
That's how to lose a media audience.
And have a real story. "We have just completed a $6 million soft goods upgrade" is not a story. That's housekeeping. "We have increased our number of rooms by 25%, added new public spaces, and upgraded the F&B" - that's a story.
Next step: hone the media list. Don't scatter shot pitches. Know who follows what and deliver the right pitch to the right media.
Trust me: media who don't write about golf hate golf pitches and, no, your zinger of a pitch won't persuade them otherwise. Restaurant critics don't give a hoot about new guest rooms.
Laziness is not an acceptable excuse for not pruning distribution. For every pitch create a bespoke list, just for that pitch.
Third step: Be ready with the next steps. The elevator pitch is not the final act, it's the first act. Its intent is to prod the media into contacting you for more information. Be ready to deliver. Immediately.
Know exactly what follow-up material you will distribute before you even send out the pitch. When media questions come in they want answers, immediately. Be prepared to deliver.
Fourth step: Have quality images ready.
For some pubs the images are irrelevant but for many - including many top online outlets - images are a necessity.
Don't dither when asked, what images do you have? Just ask: do you want hi or low-res? And send out what you have as soon as you are given specs.
It can even be a plus to have short video clips on hand.
Storytelling today often is as visual as it is verbal. And visuals are ideal for resorts and hotels.
Fifth step: Have a spokesperson on standby.
Some reporters will write based upon a pitch and a few email follow-ups. Others - including many from the creme de la creme - will not proceed without a live interview and usually that means a senior exec. Who is available and able? Coordinate before distributing the pitch. Make sure the exec can in fact speak - engagingly - to the pitch. Do on the spot media training as necessary.
Maybe nobody calls, maybe several do. Be ready. Disappoint a reporter today and there may not a be a tomorrow.
Sixth - and last step - celebrate your successes. How? Tweet stories that run, put up links on Facebook, also Google+. Success breeds success.
A big hit gets many readers but with adroit use of social media you can dramatically amplify the results and know this: Savvy reporters love to see their work retweeted, reposted because that ups their clicks and that's good for business.
Six steps: that's all it takes to go from nowhere to media success. It really is this simple.
Babs Harrison
Babs Harrison + Partners
Babs Harrison + Partners