In-house PR not always effective

Brands managing their own publicity campaigns are failing to keep up with the most influential press contacts, many of which are now freelancers, according PR Agency Media Jems. Big changes in the media world fuelled by the recession have caused

significant changes in the way journalists are working in both trade and consumer titles and freelance journalists are becoming an increasingly important asset in the communications mix.

The trouble is, many brands using traditional media databases which don’t extensively cover freelance journalists could be missing a trick and losing out on valuable coverage as a result, claims Jenna Gould, MD of Media Jems.

“Over the past twelve months, we have seen a huge rise in the percentage of client coverage being secured in national newspapers, glossy magazines and trade newspapers as a result of working with a freelance journalist. It is no longer enough to rely on traditional in-house contacts alone, you need to be wise to who can give you the most likelihood of getting the coverage you want, where you want,” says Ms. Gould.

Gould recommends that brands take a step back and conduct a Media Stakeholder Analysis to identify the most influential journalists for their particular sector, product or service. Media Stakeholder Analysis goes much further than just producing contacts from a list by patch; it explores which journalists are writing about certain key words, the frequency of which they are writing, the tone and also their wider influence – so for freelancers this includes other publications they’ve written for.

Image: Media
Source: Retail Bulletin