I was co-host for the Birmingham Charity Meetup from April-December 2020. Our sixth event in the series was Making the media work for you, when we heard media tips from speakers including Claire Monks, Head of External Communications at Macmillan Cancer Support, and Rebecca Slater from Beck and Call PR.
Here are five media tips from the event to help you get media coverage for your organisation.
- Start with what you want to achieve. Do you want more parents to access your service in Leeds? Or do you want more retired couples to adopt cats from your shelter in London? Whatever your aims, look for hooks and publications that will help you achieve them.
- Gather your stories. Stories from the people who benefit from your services, have been impacted by the issues you address, or support your cause, are key to connecting with your target audience and compelling them to take action. Back them up with facts and stats.
- Define your audience. There’s a saying in comms that there’s no such thing as the general public. You are more likely to achieve your aims if you can get specific about who you need to reach. What are their interests? Where do they live? How do they get their news?
- Write a compelling release. Journalists can get hundreds of releases into their inbox every day. Make sure your release passes the ‘So what?’ test, includes information relevant to the publications’ audience, and makes the journalists’ job easy by including everything they need.
- Get to know your newsroom. Building relationships is key to getting positive and relevant coverage in the media. Do some research to discover which publications and journalists cover issues related to your cause. Find out when they publish and when their deadlines are.
I would love to hear your top tips too! Share them below or on social media using #CharityMeetup.
The Birmingham Charity Meetup takes place online on the second Tuesday of every month from 10am until 12pm. Find out more and grab your tickets to the next event.
Claire, Director, Colvine Communications