What Makes News in Economic Development
As public relations professionals specializing in economic development, our job is centered around securing the most impactful stories that paint a positive picture about our clients’ regions, industries or initiatives. While this seems like it might be a simple task, sometimes it’s difficult to develop stories that garner high-level media attention without the “place” or the building backdrop getting lost in the story. Our goal is to identify some of the most unique approaches to telling a perception-changing story for our clients, and we’ll suggest some strategies that may help you in crafting your public relations approach as well.
Common Roadblocks
Misunderstanding the role of editorial media
For those who aren’t engrossed in public relations on a daily basis, it can be tricky to understand what “makes news.” Although some topics may be exciting internally for your organization or company, that doesn’t always mean the topic will gain traction with external audiences through the editorial media landscape. It’s important to understand the role of editorial media as non-biased and focused on providing information of value that is targeted to their readers or viewers. It is important not to confuse them as a vehicle for delivering your key marketing messages only to your target audiences, but to remember their particular audiences are more important to them.
Undefined goals & target audiences
In order for a media relations campaign to be successful, the organization or company has to identify specific goals and a specific audience they want to target. Without ultimately asking “what do we want viewers or readers to do or believe or understand as a result of hearing this news” the campaign can be ineffective. Without this clarity, it’s difficult to build effective public relations strategy and target the most impactful media outlets where readers have the right level of knowledge and decision-making power.
Timing and privacy
Often, organizations may have newsworthy information, but it’s not yet ready to be released to the public. This is especially relevant in the economic development space, as several different organizations, investors and developers are involved in announcing a single project through a multitude of channels. This may pose a barrier to the timely, strategic release of newsworthy information, but with advanced collaboration and planning, this roadblock can be overcome. Savvy public relations professionals are responsible for helping organizations spread awareness, while still working collaboratively carefully within the reigns of confidentiality.
While newsworthy info is only successful if it is pitched to the media in a timely manner, it is also important to be strategic and conscientious in the process.
Developing Compelling Stories
Exploratory interview
Setting up an exploratory interview with your potential spokesperson may be the key to a newsworthy story. Many organizations have an immense amount of news hidden between the lines, and they’re just unsure how to find their stories. By asking questions of the spokespeople within your economic development organization or at your leading regional companies through a guided interview, it may prompt the sharing of information that they may not have thought to otherwise mention. Especially when building out stories in a new industry sector or around a major new issue or policy, leveraging this type of discovery can help you build out a much more specific content plan.
In-depth research
Sometimes all you need to find that next story is a little quality time with your keyboard and your favorite search-engine. By performing both competitor and industry analysis, it’s likely that you’ll find a number of relevant topics that could paint a compelling story for use as a media pitch.
Newsjacking and trendspotting are two other key tactics you can leverage to tie your organization to already relevant news, and thus generate significantly more media buzz. Newsjacking involves finding clever ways to make your organization relevant to breaking news, and typically requires very speedy pitching on the same day a major topic hits the national or international news cycle. Trendspotting involves connecting dots across organizations or places to pitch a trend story previously unidentified by the press. While this kind of press coverage won’t only feature your place or your company, it can showcase your organization as one on the forefront of a particular topic.The power of people
People, and their individual voices, can be powerful. By utilizing the ideas or perspectives of an organizational leader as the centerpiece of your story, you can catch a lot of people’s attention. Thought leadership perspectives from these leaders can help humanize your organization and can make your place or organization more approachable for potential clients and investors.
Another way to put people in the center of your story is through a human-interest angle, where you can focus on the unique background of key leaders and provide insight into their journey. Many media outlets have Q&A columns or long-form interview features where they showcase one person as a way to tell a particular story.
The Violet PR Way
At Violet PR, we are dedicated to providing the best, and most personalized, public relations approach for each and every one of our clients. While sometimes a campaign can feel daunting, we are seasoned public relations professionals and leverage a variety of tactics to ensure that your organization gets the visibility it deserves.