Making the Most Out of Media Relations

Jim Fredericks, Executive Director, PPMA

When it comes to a company’s marketing program, media relations is a key part of its success.

Not only does it help spread awareness about a company’s services, but it can boost credibility, making your company a trustworthy resource for pest control information and services in your area. In order to have a successful media relations program, it’s important to set aside time to ensure your company is prepared for interviews as well as have an idea of how you intend to market your interviews once they’ve aired or been published.

Securing an Interview

If your company does not have a media relations plan in place, it can be a little overwhelming to get started. Before diving in, your company should determine whether it is looking for earned or paid media, or both. In public relations, earned media is any press coverage that does not require you to pay for it while paid media is exactly as it sounds—something you pay for. A lot of times, paid media allows you to have significant control over what questions you’re asked, giving you the ability to make the most out of the opportunity. While this could be tempting, it usually costs a pretty penny and doesn’t always come across as authentic as an earned opportunity.

A great way to kick off your media relations program is to create a pitch calendar. Organize yourself by looking at the year ahead, month-by-month, and seeing what topics could be relevant to customers in your area. For example, mosquitoes and ticks are most prominent in the summer. Add them to your pitch calendar for the summer months, but plan on reaching out to local media a couple of weeks in advance to get on their radars. You can also utilize NPMA Awareness Weeks, such as National Pest Management Month or Rodent Awareness Week, to bolster your pitch calendar. While pitch calendars can be a useful tool, your company will have to act quickly if a pest-related topic pops up in the news unexpectedly. An example of this is if your region suddenly sees an increase in pests due to erratic weather. You’ll need to have a pitch and spokesperson ready to jump at this opportunity.

Once you have your pitch calendar, do some digging on local journalists and media outlets to create a list you can reference when you are pitching your topics. This list can also be used to make notes on responses and any successful interviews or positive conversations with journalists. When you go to pitch journalists, make sure the topic is something they are interested in. Journalists respond best to a pitch when it’s something relevant to them. This

means reporters who cover topics like politics, crime, food and entertainment shouldn’t be on your list.

From here, you’re ready to develop talking points that will help you nail the interview and drive home your message, whether that be to take proper protection against pests or to call one of your company’s pest professionals.

In order to have a successful media relations program, it's important to SET ASIDE TIME TO ENSURE YOUR COMPANY IS PREPARED FOR INTERVIEWS as well as have an idea of how you intend to market your interviews once they've aired or been published.

Taking Advantage of the Placement

So, you’ve done the work, and your interview has aired—now what? It’s common to think your work here is done, but there are ways you can take advantage of your interview and amplify the opportunity even further.

One way to keep the momentum going is by posting about your interview on social media channels. Whether it was a broadcast or online piece, this is a great way to share the interview, and your message, with followers. For online articles, it’s easy to link to the article and even pull out a quote or two to give followers some context on what the interview was about. For broadcast segments, you can do the same. If you are unable to find the segment on the station’s website, reach out to your contact to see if they can give you the interview file and permission to share online.

Once the interview has ran or aired, it’s important to follow up with your contact to thank them for the opportunity. This is a great way to build relationships with journalists, which will likely lead to further opportunities in the future as your company becomes a reputable and reliable source for pest control information. If you find yourself struggling to maintain relationships or even get responses from journalists, don’t be discouraged. Even public relations professionals cite lack of responses from journalists as a top challenge.

At the end of the day, no matter how big or small the opportunity, an interview is a chance to get your company’s name out there. Even if you only secure one new customer as a result, positive media exposure gives you the opportunity to build a relationship with potential clients who will think of your company whenever they need a pest professional.