Healthcare PR Insights: How to Get Stellar Media Coverage

As ratings and circulation diminish, traditional media rethinks its business model and newsrooms all over the world suffer. Smaller budgets lead to layoffs and have affected the quality of coverage in many outlets. As fewer journalists are tasked with more pieces, there has been less space for companies to tell their stories. The focus is on the day-to-day hard news.

There are a few tactics, however, that help media relations. Before reaching out to journalists, though, it is paramount to “be clear about what your message is, who your audience is and what will compel them to respond.” Those three initial steps will help as you map out which outlets to target, as explains Jeannette Bitz in her article, “How to Get Better Press Than Your Competitors.”

The next phase is to “understand and clearly articulate your buyers’ pain points and how your offering solves them.” A strong understanding of competitive advantages will help sell the story when talking to reporters.

When the internal alignment is done, it is time to start the outreach. Below are a few tips and insights for getting stellar media coverage:

Engage with the right outlets and reporters. Media kits and background information on publications are rich with demographic and distribution data that will help pinpoint the ideal channel for you to get your message across. “Another good strategy is to pinpoint which publications mention your competitors — chances are that those are the ones you should be targeting in your media outreach.”

Connect to bigger trends. This is probably the easiest way to make a successful pitch. Most healthcare PR professionals are already tuned into industry news to understand what is happening and how competitors are positioning themselves. The next step is to identify a story that is relevant to the brand, which you can build upon with new or complementing information. “Be clear ahead of time about which trends are relevant for you and your buyers and develop pitch points so you can respond quickly.”

Data is critical. It is a fact that most articles are born from raw numbers that are interpreted by the reporter with the help of experts along the piece. “Whenever possible, provide supporting market research and infographics as part of campaigns and press releases. You may even find it worthwhile to conduct your own survey on a topic relevant to your market, publish the results in a paper and announce them in a press release.”

Respect the reporter relationship. This is true for journalists just as much as for any relationship. Helping a reporter in one occasion might make them more open to help you in the future, especially as you develop a stronger bond. “The more helpful and reliable you are as a source, the greater your chances are of developing strong relationships with reporters and of receiving greater coverage.”

With those pointers in mind, the most common way to reach the media is with a press release. Even though it sounds outdated, it is still an efficient method to get your message out to the public, as data shows.

When working on press releases, however, it is important to have a few things in mind, as Lisa Hoover McGreevy points out in her article, “The 10 Things You Must Do When Distributing Your Press Release.”

Tease and tell. Use a hook to tie in your company’s contribution to a bigger a trend.
Use visuals. Press releases with images and videos generate more engagement, therefore a better chance of seeing your content published.
Optimize the SEO. Apply your keywords and use links. Careful not to exaggerate.
Tailor language to the audience. Use clear and concise language to get your key messages across.
What’s in it for the reader? Take the time to write individualized notes to the reporters you’re reaching out to. It’ll help build the relationship. If that release isn’t the one, he or she will certainly remember you next time.
Be ready to answer questions. Your contact information should be clear and you should be reachable to respond to follow-ups. After all, that’s what you’re seeking.
Use free and paid distribution services.
Tell a story. “Think of press releases as a short story that explains your news in a captivating way.”
Always post releases on your company website. Having a press release on a specific page of your website not only optimizes SEO, it helps drive traffic and lets customers and reporters get information straight from the source.
Be a good Internet citizen. Linking to other interesting content will help Google search your material and will also show readers that you’re connected to thought leaders. “This increases the likelihood that search queries will result in your business showing up due to co-occurrence and co-citation, as well as the recent semantic search updates to Google’s algorithms,” explains Jayson DeMers, Forbes

Whatever the strategy you choose to use while reaching out to the media, putting yourself in the reporter’s shoes is always a good idea. What is news to company executives may not necessarily be worthwhile for the journalist, the publication and its audience.

If you’re in healthcare, insurance, technology or other professional services industries, and need help with healthcare PR, marketing or social media campaign, contact Scott Public Relations.

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