What do clients want? Media! It’s the way they measure the success of any PR campaign. The best media strategies are ones that work effectively across all platforms. To be an effective public relations agency, particularly one that specializes in the very crowded luxury and lifestyle categories, you must be able to:
• Create a timely, creative message that cuts through the clutter and has a high degree of functionality in the social media spectrum;
• Build strong relationships with the top freelancers who have advanced social media skills and the influence to prove it.
How do you build these relationships?
The Growing Impact of Social Media
First let’s look at the vastly altered media landscape in just the past decade. While print still holds sway with consumers who are serious about spending money, much of the print media have disappeared before our eyes. Hundreds of travel sections in Sunday newspapers have evaporated, and of those that do still exist only a small minority produce their own travel sections.
And while there are still some heavyweights in the magazine category, stalwarts like Gourmet Magazine shockingly vanished before our eyes, and top-tier media that used to cover travel no longer do. The major players who are still key in this category exist with lean staffs, and often editors do not have time to leave their desks for events or trips.
But there are strategies a PR pro must understand to be successful in today’s shifting media marketplace. They need two things: an in-depth understanding the freelance journalist and an understanding of how well those freelance writers exploit social media.
Many of those top-tier media are journalists we have known for decades, really talented people, cut loose by media companies in search of revamping their images and curtailing budgets. But a pro is a pro – and many of those top caliber travel/lifestyle writers continue today in highly successful careers as freelancers. And their success is based largely on their ability to understand and use social media to their advantage.
Strategies to Build Strong Media Relations
A successful public relations campaign in the travel, hospitality, luxury, and lifestyle categories is reliant upon media relationships built on the ability to attract the most prolific freelancers. These are the writers who are attracted to the “meatier” stories, ones that are truly different and newsworthy, which they can broadcast across a variety of media platforms. By being able to employ strategies that work for bloggers, and also in Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest, the freelancer gains more influencers and thus strengthens his or her position in social media.
What does this mean for the PR professional? It means thinking in the social media realm, creating click-bait, trend-setting story ideas that a freelancer can take to the bank.
One example of this is the event we staged for Martin Miller’s Gin in which we had more than 20 freelancers in attendance, resulting in more than 50 articles, reaching 22 million consumers.
While print media still retains high impact result for clients, social media can reach a far greater audience in far more creative and impactful ways.
Old thinking: Pitch the opening of a resort to a travel editor at a key metro daily; freelancers were considered “second-tier” journalists and not highly sought after;
New thinking: Pitch a top-tier freelancer a trip for his travel blog; a picture for Intagram; a weekly update from the GM on the opening of a new resort/restaurant/destination for Twitter; a selection of dining or beverage options for Pinterest.
Still need convincing”? Consider that fact that Asiana Airlines just created a multi-million-dollar TV commercial featuring travel blogger Nomadic Matt. Imagine that! Instead of measuring simply the viewers of that ad, Asiana can add the millions that Matt will reach with his blog and related social media.
Think of it as a way to get more mileage, as every idea is open-ended and multi-faceted, just like those prolific freelance/influencers with whom we need to build lasting and meaningful relationships based on mutually beneficial results.