Generating News Ideas
Spin it your way
Ever wondered how your competitor managed to get in the
news? It’s highly likely that they didn't have a genuine news story. By that, I
mean that they probably created the news themselves rather than a journalist
accidentally finding them and writing about them.
Here's a quick list with 10 tactics to get you thinking
about creating your own news (not all will apply to everyone, but will
hopefully get you thinking):
- React to news events of the day. You can pass comment on
your blog, Facebook or Twitter, or you can respond with a letter to the
editor. This is a great way to start
positioning yourself as an expert rather than simply flogging your product or
service.
- Create a mutual project with a newspaper or other media
outlet. You could sponsor a local sports team together, or help a charity, or
work with local schools by setting up an initiative. I helped to set a road
safety initiative with a number of schools in one area and a logistics company
I was working with. There were lots of photo opportunities for the local media,
as lorries were taken on site and the children were allowed in the cab and were
shown what the driver could see when they were on the road.
- Conduct a poll or a survey. You only need to pick up a
newspaper – any paper will do – to find a story with stats. I’d say you need a
poll based on a minimum of 200 people for local news or radio and trade
magazines, or over 2,000 if you’re targeting national broadcast or newspapers.
Remember, there needs to be a reason to connect it with your business. I used to conduct a monthly poll on a leading
recruitment company’s website, and we found out things like Tuesday is the most
productive day in the office; the majority of people would like a job interview
conducted by Jonathan Ross; and that only one in five takes a whole week off
for Christmas.
- Announce an appointment. Pretty much every industry has its own trade publication. Next time you hire somebody of relative
importance to your business, let people know. Local business publications may also take interest. It just needs to be a short email telling the
right journalist, along with the offer of a photograph of your new recruit.
- Celebrate an anniversary. Every time your business
reaches a landmark year, do something to celebrate. It doesn’t need to be big. It could as simple
as offering the press a photograph of your team with a birthday cake. One
client recently celebrated its seventh anniversary with a James Bond themed 007th
anniversary ball for charity. Over 150
people bought tickets and attended and it was hosted by a local radio station. Another client had a member of staff who had
put in 21 years’ service. She was taken
to London for the day and a photograph of her wearing a big 21 badge was sent
to the local press with a press release detailing what she’d achieved and why
she’d stayed with the company so long.
- Issue a summary of facts. Every year I used to issue the
Top 100 Groceries for a data company and a magazine. The data was taken from a huge number of
checkouts and the report was issued to the media. It used to achieve national
coverage – newspapers, TV, radio, and magazines. This can be scaled down, for
example if you own a shoe shop, it could be something along the lines of 20
percent of women buy stilettos, 10 percent buy peep toes, but 50 percent buy
flat shoes. Then you would back this up
with your rationale as to why that might be the case with your expert opinion.
- Tie in with a special date. There are key dates in the
year that most businesses can relate to and create their own news. Christmas is a great example. Do you sell or manufacture items that can be
sold as Christmas presents? You could
target magazines or newspapers with your predicted best sellers, or you could
do a story about your Christmas supply chain, such as Christmas in September
and what your company does to prepare for getting products on shelf. You could
talk about staff holidays, or something special you’re doing as a
business. One year I got BBC Breakfast
News to do a story about the way different cultures celebrated Christmas in
Bedford, all part of my remit of promoting Bedford as a place to live, work and
visit. Another time, I invited them to a landmark hotel in Bedford to film how
to make the perfect pancake on Shrove Tuesday.
- Enter industry awards. It’s amazing how many member
organisations and publishers run awards. Look at the magazines and websites relating to your industry. This is
the easiest way to find them. Also, your local Chambers of Commerce, or
Federation of Small Businesses, and academic institutions often hold their own
awards. Once you have found the entry form and read through the award
categories on offer, make a list of what your business does differently, well,
innovatively, expertly, as well as the messages you’d like to communicate about
your business. If you go on to win them, tell your local media, your industry
publications, or if the awards are tied to a national newspaper, make the most
of their coverage and puts links on your website, Twitter and your blog.
- Run a competition. This is a great way to tie in to your
local media. Last year one of my clients ran a competition to find the face of its
salon. The story ran several times, as the competition was announced, people
were shortlisted and the public were invited to text in and vote, and then the
winners were announced. The salon then
used the winners and some of the runners up to run its own awards for the
stylists and trainees. The winners were announced in the newspaper and entered
into national awards. One of the winners became a regional finalist, which was
also covered in the newspaper. This
achieved fantastic coverage and raised awareness of the salon locally.
- Showcase your
work. Most businesses have customers who
love them enough to say fantastic things about them. Make a list of the customers you feel you can
ask, along with the work you’ve done for them. Ensure they’re happy for you to talk to the media about them and ask if
they wouldn’t mind speaking to the media if necessary. When they started
working with you, what were they looking to achieve? What did you do for them
that impacted their business? What did
you put in place for them? What did they like about working with you? Look at
their sector media and see if there is a home for case studies in it. Put it on
your website and speak to your trade press. If it’s something completely different or outstanding there may even be
a home for the story on programmes such as BBC2’s Working Lunch, or The Mail on
Sunday’s Enterprise section!
There are many more ways to create buzz about your business
but hopefully I’ve given you a good taste here. It can be time consuming and it can mean taking time to research and put
together your news but before you start, think about the audience you want to
reach, what they read, watch and listen to, and how you can put yourself under
their noses.
Maria Kennedy
Maria Kennedy runs
Bedford-based consultancy cremePR, designed to create stars out of small and
medium-sized businesses.
