Earned Media Strategy Basics

Webinar for MAT Access Points August 13th, 2020 Welcome Back and Re-introductions

Please share in the chat box: • Your name/pronouns/organization. • Where you are based. • Share your primary go-to news outlet. Bonus if you include a reporter you follow. Our Agenda

• Hone your strategy • Build a foundation • Earn media coverage • Q + A • Wrap up of our communications training series Hone Your Strategy- What is Earned Media?

● Television ● Newspapers ● Online outlets ● Radio ● Magazines ● Blogs ● Podcasts Hone Your Strategy

Start with your Goal Determine Your Target Your Audience Audience Hone Your Strategy- Is Earned Media Strategic?

● Is traditional media outreach a strategic way to connect Target Your with your target audience/s? Audience ○ Learn where you audience gets their news via Pew and other online databases ● Does what you have to share pass the newsworthy test? ● Do you have capacity for an earned media strategy? ● Do you have spokespeople ready and willing to speak with the media? ● Will media coverage help you achieve your goals? Are there any risks that media coverage could hinder them? Does it pass the newsworthy test?

❏ Is timely ❏ Is centered around an important ❏ Presents new information – event something that’s never been ❏ Affects a large number of people said (but not too new) ❏ Is a variation on a popular theme ❏ Involves a newsmaker, public ❏ Localizes the national; Local figure, celebrity, or story that points to national well-known group trend ❏ Is unusual or ironic (Man Bites ❏ Involves conflict or controversy Dog); Has “strange bedfellows” ❏ Can get traction on social media ❏ Has a human interest angle ❏ Has good visuals Hone Your Strategy- Is Media Strategic?

● Influence decision makers ● Media coverage ● Public education and awareness ● Reaching the general public ● Shifting narratives on your issue/s ● Fundraising (most of the time) ● Promoting an event, program, policy, or campaign ● Advocacy ● Sharing thought leadership ● Positions your organization Hone Your Strategy- Which Tactics Should You Choose?

● Which outlets are the best place to reach your target audience? ● What assets- stories, data, visuals- do you have to offer? ● What press materials are needed? ● Organic vs Earned ● Editorial vs Reported ● Which media tactics work well with the other elements of your strategy? Example: Race Counts

GOAL: Build visibility for Advancement Project California’s Race Counts initiative (an online project that tracks racial inequalities by issue area in California’s 58 counties); ensure reporters are able to use it as a resource for future stories; ensure decision makers locally and statewide were aware of the initiative.

MEDIA STRATEGY: Surround sound approach to media outreach to target national, statewide and local media.

TACTICS: - Offer the initiative as an embargoed exclusive to select publications - Coordinate a press call as a launch moment - Develop press release and other supporting materials - Target relevant reporters (by issue and by geography) - Develop and place one op-ed in key publication Build a Foundation- Media Monitoring

● Who are the main reporters covering this issue? ● What are some of the dominant messages around this issue? What frames and messengers are being used/left out? ● Who else is active on this issue? How might our efforts align or complement one another? ● What patterns do you notice in terms of coverage and gaps? ● Where are there openings or hooks for your organization or issue? Build a Foundation- Media Monitoring

Identify Journalists who: ● Are influential ● Cover your key issues ● Follow your organization ● May be interested in your viewpoint ● Have written accurate and strong pieces ● Are on a beat that matches your issue/s Build a Foundation- Maintain a Media List Build a Foundation- Cultivate Relationships

● Reporters are people too. ● Media relationships take time- persistence is key. ● Follow reporters you’d like to cultivate. ● Continue to share news and information. Be a reliable, trustworthy resource. ● Promote their coverage even if it doesn’t include you. ● Understand the impact of COVID on reporters and newsrooms Build a Foundation- Prep Ahead of Time

● Ongoing media and spokesperson training can help your team be ready whenever media opportunities arise. ● Do you have quotes, photos, data, or other assets ready to share? ● Do you have talking points or soundbites ready for your spokespeople? Earn Media Coverage Earn Media Coverage- Identify your Hook

● Breaking and trending news ○ Includes news and pop culture ● Timeliness and urgency ● Impact on readers/viewers ● Prominence (big names to interview or feature) ● Localize a national story ● Nationalize a local story ● Firsts or something new (new data, new policy, new program, etc.) ● Tell ‘another’ side of the story Earn Media Coverage- Identify your Hook

Look at your news idea and ask:

For immediate release: Nonprofit organizations ● Is it news? (see slide 7) create new coalition to address education issues ○ What would the headline be? ○ Will this matter to the audience? ● Is it timely? ● Is it rare/unique/different? ● Is there a larger story to tell? ● Verifiable and reportable? Earn Media Coverage- Who will you pitch?

Television: National Newspapers: Will your event have TV-friendly visuals? Does your news or event have national Is it appropriate for cameras to be present at significance? your event?

Radio and Podcast: Local and Regional Newspapers: Is there a show that often covers your issue or Are you trying to boost attendance at an event? features events? Does the outlet have a reporter who covers this Will your event have audio-friendly aspects? ‘beat?’

Magazines: Trade/Sector/Niche Outlets Are you prepared to pitch your story month(s) in Is your audience interested in a particular issue advance? (ie criminalization, justice, immigration?) Do you have a deeper story to tell? Earn Media Coverage- Develop Press Materials

Press Release Media Advisory ● Reads like a news story and ● Alerts media to upcoming event could be used as an article itself or action (inverted pyramid) ● Provides the basics: why, who, ● Includes facts and quotes from what, when, where. spokespeople ● Often written in bullet format. ● Starts with a headline that grabs ● No more than 1 page attention and a lead sentence ● Often sent twice: 1-2 weeks that points to what’s most before the event, and again the newsworthy. day before (or early day of). Earn Media Coverage- Press Events Earn Media Coverage- Make the Pitch

● Customize each email pitch. Reference an article they’ve written related to your topic, a tweet they’ve sent, or something else you know about their beat and their interest. ○ 79.4% of reporters say they prefer pitches by email ○ Twitter DMs are also effective for short pitches ● Keep it short. Cut to the chase. Make your email skimmable & easy to read. Paste your press/advisory release below the body. ● Keep it conversational. No long intros. Avoid jargon and statistics. Lead with a question. “Have time to hear about...?” “Have you heard? Earn Media Coverage- Reporter Relations

● Be polite and respectfully persistent but not a pest. ● A no is still a response. ● Prompt follow-up is critical ○ With interviewees, data, visuals, materials, or other information the reporter requests ● Note: What is the deadline? ○ Journalists report to an editor ● Nothing is ‘off the record’ ● Send a thank you and amplify coverage ● PLEASE CHAT: Are there other ways you Handle media relations? Earn Media Coverage- What Journalists Want

NO! YES! ● Overwhelm with data or process ● Make it easy for them ● Wing it or guess if you’re not sure ● Exclusivity about the facts. ● Engagement (Share/Retweet) ● Over-pitching ● Visuals (Event, TV) ● Typos or mistakes in materials and ● Respect deadlines pitches Earn Media Coverage- Tips for Success

● Consider offering an exclusive ● Make sure your headline (and email subject line) pop but aren’t too clever. ● Provide new updates or offer new information or angles when following up. (Try to avoid - “just following up…”) ● Engage with them on Twitter Earn Media Coverage- Consider Editorial Tactics

● Short (150 words) ● Features outside voices ● Secure an endorsement responses to coverage sharing one opinion at a or editorial from the Ed in an outlet time Board of an outlet ● Opportunity to tell ● Word count is usually

another side, shift the around 750 narrative, or counter a ● Competition for piece placement is up ● Pitch one outlet at a time Earn Media Coverage- Make Your Own Media

Original content Blogs Podcasts and (IGTV, Video, radio shows YouTube, Art) Earn Media Coverage- Case Study

● Needed hooks for media to uplift conversation about adverse early childhood experiences (ACEs) ● Hosted Children Can Thrive summit - first statewide event of its kind- as hook to invite media into the conversation ● Launched a Children Can Thrive report as an additional hook ● Used a hashtag to connect to online conversations ● Received more than 50 media outlets in CA Small Group Breakouts

● How does media fit into your organization’s strategy? ● What media wins have you achieved? ● What tips or tools have you used to earn media? ● What questions or challenges are coming up for you? Q&A Wrap Up

• August 20th: Final office hours with Change, including a recap of the series

• Tell us what you think! Please take a moment right now to fill out this short evaluation of the series: bit.ly/TellChangeMAT Thank you! Contact us today to learn more about how communications can help you make a difference. [email protected]