When starting a successful business venture or launching a new product, most entrepreneurs or business owners conduct some type of marketing research to determine
extent of their prospective customer base. And when getting word out to that customer base, many entrepreneurs may turn to media to help generate a buzz for them. However, as detailed as their marketing research might have been, very few business owners are as meticulous at determining their proper “media market” – that is, all those media outlets whose editorial profiles are a match to a product/business profile and would be appropriate for generating media exposure and publicity.One of my favorite things to do is educate my clients about their “media market.” Consider this, in North America there are more than 75,000 media outlets and almost one million reporters, editors & producers in entire media market. However, only a small percentage of those may be appropriate and applicable to your business/product. But which ones? Unfortunately, too many well-intentioned entrepreneurs are either uninformed or misinformed regarding what it takes to attract media attention for their business. I recently surveyed 100 business owners and entrepreneurs who contacted my business about a publicity/media exposure campaign. Here’s what I found:
11% - “Are Admittedly Media Market Clueless” 19% - “Have Unrealistic Media Market Perceptions” 29% - “Think Local & Large Media Are The ONLY Media” 41% - “Have A Good Grasp On Their Potential Media Market And Its Benefits”
Here are descriptions of these categories and lessons I try to teach those who fall into each category:
11% - “Are Admittedly Media Market Clueless” These are business owners who know their product and market inside and out, BUT they have never thought about launching a publicity/media exposure campaign before now. They know very little about their potential media market or how to generate publicity therein.
The Lesson: For these types of business owners I recommend asking for help from a smaller PR agency or publicity specialist who is willing to “hand hold” to get client educated. Research to find one who doesn’t mind spending time to educate you about what should be included in your specific media market and pitch. Make sure agency or publicist understands product/business as well as you do and can in turn educate you about your media market – one that will be able to benefit your business for years to come.
19% - “Have Unrealistic Media Perceptions” These are business owners who are CONVINCED that EVERY newspaper, consumer interest magazine and TV show will run a feature on their new products when they launch a publicity campaign.
The Lesson: No product or business, no matter how big or great can be assured media coverage in every outlet in a media market. But you can get coverage in a good number of them given right media tending. Every media pitch will be weighed against media outlet’s editorial lead-time, its available editorial space, and availability of an editorial staff member to cover your pitch. It is totally up to discretion of each media outlet as to whether your pitch makes it to pages or on air. It can be an uphill battle if you target wrong media with wrong message. But you can greatly increase chances generating those media placements with a little expertise and media market know-how.
