By Nonprofit Marketing Guide’s Media Maven, |
Extra! Extra! Read all about it!
Once upon a time, in the Olden Days we now refer to as “the ’90’s,” if you wanted to get the word out about your good cause, you “did some press.” You slaved over a press release, made copies on something called “paper” and sent them to news editors by way of the U.S. Mail (gosh, things were so complicated back then). You followed up with a phone call, speaking to an editor, and hopefully, the Newspaper/TV Station/Radio Station would send a reporter to cover your story.
That was Grandma’s strategy for getting media attention when Grandpa manned the city desk phones at “The Olden Days News and Record.” Well, I have a NewsFlash for you, my friends in the nonprofit world . . .
. . . that’s old news.
Today, a newspaper’s staff is shrinking daily as advertising revenues dry up. Check your local paper’s bylines and you’ll see more stories from the Associated Press and other news services. TV stations and radio stations are feeling it, too. To top it off, a news organization’s shrunken staff also has to feed a beast called “the website.”
What does that mean for you, and how you go about getting media attention for your fine organization?
It means that you can get media coverage, if you know what’s going in your local media and how to pitch your story in a real-world way.
The #1 Rule is . . .
. . . always know what’s in it for them.
What’s in it for the harried assignment editor at WBIG-TV? What’s in it for the busy beat reporter at The Cutback Chronicle?
Find out “what’s in it for them.” Then give it to them. Savvy nonprofit communicators tap the trends and feed the beast, when the beast needs to be fed.
At Nonprofit Marketing Guide, we believe you should be your own media mogul. At the same time, mainstream media can still play an important role in getting the word out. But the rules of the game are different now.
