How to Gain Earned Media Opportunities for Your Brand

If you want to get more media coverage for your brand, understanding who makes decisions in the newsroom is essential. Nic Hayes, co-host of Brand Newsroom and Managing Director of Media Stable, writes about a valuable opportunity for Australian marketing managers to meet these power players in person. –Ed.

Changing your communications approach

When putting together the running sheets for #MeetTheMedia in Brisbane, Sydney and Perth, I almost fell over in shock. The quality of the media attending is like no other event I have seen or heard about. But there’s a very good chance you have never seen or heard of the line-up.

Hold your horses! Why would you sign up for an event with speakers you have never heard of before? Who are these people and where is Karl Stefanovic, Waleed Ally or David Koch?

Who are the real power players in traditional media?

To meet the likes of Karl and Waleed, you have to get past the gatekeepers - the producers, the content directors, journalists and the editors. They are the real power jobs in media. They might not have all the limelight, the thanks and the big pay packets but they are the real pulse of the media outlet. They are whom the big talent in media listen to and take orders from.

Having said that, there will always be other media people such as presenters and general managers at #MeetTheMedia, who all play a very special role in the media cycle.

#MeetTheMedia brings together communicators, PRs, marketing types, business owners, experts, commentators and industry leaders to meet and hear from the people who make the real decisions in media. It’s important to know what #MeetTheMedia is not in order to manage expectations and set yourself straight on the takeaways from the event. It’s not a lesson on how to write media releases; it is not ex-journos or media telling you how it was or used to be in a time long ago. It’s not a heap of media jargon and hype that is meaningless to those who are not in the industry.

It is working media professionals sharing their insights into a modern day newsroom. It’s essential for brand journalists to understand the pressures, the restrictions and the direction each media outlet works under. Each panel member will walk through what they like, what they want and what they don’t want to see. What will get a story over the line or at least make it more appealing to your target audience? What makes a story newsworthy? Get these questions answered from people who, in many cases, will be racing off to their media jobs straight after the event. The information obtained is priceless.

The big advantage for modern marketing managers

But there are so many more questions to ask, and you’ll get the chance to speak directly with the media when the forum is opened up to the audience. Yes, it’s your question that is the most important and we want to make sure you get a chance to ask it. A Q&A opportunity with some of the most powerful media in this country makes a ticket to the event all the more worth it.

This is your chance to eyeball your target media, another advantage and a very powerful one. You often hear me speak about the art of relationships and what small- and medium-sized businesses need to do to build good media relationships. Making eye contact with media heavyweights whom you wish to reach out to will be crucial for future relationships. At #MeetTheMedia in Melbourne last November, attendees recognised this opportunity as one of the core reasons to come along. Some attending that event walked away surprised at how nice a lot of the media are. One of the industry experts who attended #MeetTheMedia said that after meeting the media she was looking to influence, the dozens of past media rejections melted away.

Earned media opportunities

The feedback from media in Melbourne was also astonishing. Media were just as engaged and excited to be in a room with potential talent and new and fresh industry voices. It worked so well, in one morning the media made contact with a plethora of opportunities that just stood out from a boring old media release. Yes, they too want to meet you. The media are looking for great talent and expertise to use for their stories.

The idea and the concept behind #MeetTheMedia is not new. This event simply uses the traditional means of communication, a chance to meet face-to-face and learn from those that are actively working in the media. This to me is the most crucial element of ‘actively working in the media’. They are not professional media trainers who left the newsroom ten years ago. They are ‘active’ and ‘relevant’.

As a result, #MeetTheMedia is active and relevant to anyone in charge of communications. It is most certainly an interactive session, with the audience asking questions you have always wanted to know about how the media works. There will be laughs, there will surprises, but most of all there will be enlightenment.