The Media G&T: adding new twists to a timeless classic

Press releases and trade magazine articles are what we like to call the Gin & Tonic of the PR B2B world.  Even though the media landscape has changed, these classic ways to reach your customer are still important and not going away. They work best when you have a product launch, a big announcement or a unique news hook that media within your sector are looking for. This might be an industry trend report, case study, survey results or any other content piece that they haven’t seen before and will appeal to their reader.

The media is always looking for new stories to keep their audience informed, and your news might be their news of the day. 

Aim for Quality over Quantity

If you are a gin fan, then you know they aren’t equal in taste and quality.  The same holds true with reaching the trade media. With the emergence of digital, there are numerous ways to send out your press release to a mass audience, but how do you know it’s going to be read by the right people or reach the right audience? Sure, you might get picked up by 200+ outlets, but many of these, if they come from a mass PR distribution online service, are automatically syndicated and not worth much. 

For quality, you need to ensure you send out your release or article pitch to a targeted group. The trade media industry is small, so the more you network and make personal connections in this area, the better your chances are of being picked up. This is one of the reasons, clients choose specialty marcom agencies like EMG.  Because we specialize in B2B for  industrial technology companies, we have strong relationships with the editors, journalists and influencers in these sectors.  

Botanicals  Make all the Difference

Quality isn’t the only thing people look for in a memorable gin and tonic. Without the addition of botanicals, gin is basically tasteless alcohol, and it’s these botanicals that make it stand out in the crowd. 

The same can be said with your press release. Yes, send out the release like you usually do, but don’t rely on it to solely tell the story. Add additional content around it so that if the media or a customer like what they see in the release they can find more information to compliment it and complete the story. The content might include additional blogs on the topic or case studies on your website, a webinar, video or perhaps an infographic.  Plus, not everyone will read the release in the trade magazine. A report by Forrester states that 68% of B2B customers prefer to research independently online. You want to be the one they find when conducting a google search for a particular solution, so make sure you have content online that they can find. 

Finally, don’t underestimate your own audience. Those who follow you on LinkedIn and Twitter already know you and likely want to know the latest news you have to share. Post your content on your social media channels to increase the chances of the news being seen. 

Masters of Media G&T

When it comes to masters of Media G&T, one company who has it down to a science is Apple. Both the audience and the media know long before the press release and press conference happens that something new is coming. Yes, they do send out a press release, but they take that “classic recipe” and the add in their own botanicals of social media, live video, video explainers and email updates to tell the story virtually before, during and after the launch. 

Take a lesson from the pros. Next time you have an announcement, rather than serving up a generic happy hour media G&T, think about the content around it that will make it memorable and stand out from the crowd. At EMG we love the Media G&T, contact us to learn more about the botanicals we use.

 

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