5 Ways to Master Media Marketing

With the rise and expansion of technology, digital has taken the lead when it comes to marketing strategy. But, for marketing managers and freelancers, traditional and media marketing tactics are still as important when it comes to creating well-rounded campaigns. Here are 5 ways to master media marketing:

Be a brand manager

When you have a strong brand, and manage it as so, you’re going to inately master media marketing. Positive, well-liked, acitve brands get the most attention on all media platforms, whether it’s social media, press, advisories, and the like. So, if you work at managing the brand as a whole, the strategic media marketing aspect will come naturally.

To build a strong brand, take the position of providing thought leadership in your space. For example, when I led marketing for a picnic company, I took the position that we were thought leaders in the area of picnic and outdoor leisure. In fact, I went as far as to change our tagline to We Know Picnic. When you own the space that you’re in, your brand will stand out.

Write compelling content

When it comes to creating engaging content, make sure to stay away from being the company that cries wolf. For press, you only need to issue releases on the wire when something really intriguing, important, and effective is happening. Otherwise, the media will start to ignore you. Remember, the ultimate goal of a press release is to get the attention of reporters who will want to use the release to write a story on you. So, what do reporters want to know? Start there and work backwards.

For blogs, continue the idea of thought leadership, and provide strong visual imagery as a partner to your written content. Be thought provoking, engage with affiliates, add calls to action, and provide entertainment! This ensures that you’ll get (and keep) readership.

When it comes to social media, you want to think quick. You’re showing up in feeds along with other interests and family and friends, so you need to be impactful to catch eyes. Here, go for the kill. Compell a reaction from your audience and you’ll get the (hopefully viral) media attention you’re looking for.

Follow the “three C’s”

The three C’s here are consistent, compelling, and creative, and it’s a winning combination that works every time. When you take a solid, consistent stance in all of your messaging, it becomes easier for the media to write their story, so they’re more likely to take notice. Think tagline here, like Nike’s “Just Do It.” It’s catchy, and that’s the key to success for media marketing. At said picnic company, we used “Make Memories.” It was in all of our advertising, press, emails, social, and anything else we could possibly think of. We challenged consumers to make memories with our products, and sure enough, the media went wild with our company. We had press releases, blog features, newspaper and magazine articles, product placements, and so much more.

Think influential

There’s a reason that influencer marketing has taken off recently. As people, we’re genetically wired to follow, and when a company takes the lead, the media is going to happily fall in line. Facebook, Instagram, BuzzFeed, and Refinery29 are all great examples of companies that weren’t afraid to step ahead as leaders. Look where they are now! When you influence an industry, you’re going to get all the media attention you could possibly want, so take charge and step outside the box! Start a trending topic, set a world record within your industry, or anything else you can think of that will get (POSITIVE) attention, and invite the media to be a part of it with you!

Give back

It’s important to give back, so have a philanthropic donation policy in place. Give products to local charities, participate in charitable runs with your company, etc. Then, issue a release, post/share on social, and blog about the experience. I’m sure a reporter or media outlet will want to be a part of the coverage. Best case scenario, it goes viral like the ice bucket challenge. Most importantly, be authentic in your desire to help others, and your generosity will never go unnoticed.