How to establish a successful collaboration with journalists
A successful collaboration with journalists is based on three pillars : the quality of information provided by a press agent, the quality of a journalist’s targeting and the relationship of trust established between them. Rather than a win-win rapport, it is give-and-take that unites journalists and agencies.
What do journalists need ? Reliable, verified and pertinent information. Journalists today are overly solicited, prey to click-bait practices, to enticing headlines and caught up in a news race to compete against continuous news media. They can receive hundreds of emails a day, which they prioritize according to how pertinent the information is, while obviously favoring the “hottest” content and news.
Trust : building ties takes time
First and foremost, PR implies targeting journalists upfront in a very precise way, in order to supply them with topics that correspond to their field of expertise and to ongoing current affairs. The daily press doesn’t operate the same way as the weekly or monthly press. The notion of targeting is intimately tied to the notion of trust, particularly when a press agent wants to promote a brand that isn’t well known. It’s essential to provide qualified, verified and reliable information. Just recently, a group of journalists on Twitter posted it was regrettable that announced figures, information and products didn’t reflect reality (fundraising figures rounded up, product sales numbers extrapolated…). Tiny errors which contribute to deteriorating the relationship of trust.
Secondly, we must be able to identify journalists’ expectations and to put ourselves in their shoes. We must sense how a topic should be broached, know the right time to follow-up on a previously submitted topic or, on the contrary, let a few days go by. How do we sense this ? It’s a question of feeling, of voice tone, or of context when placing the call… so many small details which PR consultants must pay attention to when following-up. The same goes for well-established relationships and using SMS : when to use text messaging ? How much time to leave for a response ? When to follow up ?
If a brand’s expertise isn’t taken on board the first or second time, it might well be the third time : the most important thing is for the relationship of trust to build up step by step so that eventually, results come to a successful conclusion. It is essential not to rush journalists or to be too pushy.
The priority for a brand is to be clearly identified
Today there are two ways of establishing contact between a brand and a journalist : either the brand already has a reputation and journalists know immediately who to contact in order to get information from its press agency ; or the brand isn’t yet on the radar and the task will be more arduous.
A brand must bear in mind two key elements : journalists don’t necessarily know it and it isn’t the only brand on the market. Convincing and promoting differentiating factors (its expertise ? It’s market segment ?) should be at the heart of the PR strategy in order to offer the journalist a GOLD NUGGET !
A relationship based on co-development of information
The most important stage in a relationship with journalists is when they take on a key topic ! A common preconception is that a journalist’s work consists of receiving raw information and turning it into topics. On the contrary, the relationship between agencies and journalists is based on an ongoing dialogue about topics that could be of interest, and if they are, which angles can be used.
The co-development of information is a shared effort where agencies help journalists with their investigation by suggesting pertinent information, with the knowledge they have from their clients and the technical expertise they can bring to it. As an example, last October was “European Cybersecurity” month, which represents evergreen content for the IT security sector. During a luncheon with a non-specialized media outlet also unfamiliar with this sector, a discussion started on the topic of various recruited profiles and ended up with the specific case of ethical hackers. The topic hit the mark and the media outlet decided to cover it !
Ultimately, journalists and press agents know they can count on each other, because even though they occupy two distinct professions, they are part of the same large family : the family of information and communication.
Rather than a win-win rapport, it is above all a relationship of collective intelligence that binds agencies to the media and gives rise to the best articles. Building a network of journalists takes time and represents a long-term undertaking and investment for a brand. But once trust is established, it is always beneficial for both parties, since everyone ultimately wants the best topics to be brought to the attention of the general public.
