4. Conflict, competition, controversy, change Relevance to readers Timeliness Local appeal Trends Cool, new, unique, bizarre Facts, numbers, statistics Visuals What Makes a Good Story?
5. Best Way to Approach Media Find the right reporters… and build relationships with them Email well-written media advisory or press release Follow up with a phone call Follow up day-of event
6. Ten Commandments of a Press Release Follow AP style Use inverted pyramid structure (keep the most important information at the top) Localize the news Be sensitive to length Eliminate jargon Superlatives spell trouble Attribution key Use impactful, memorable quotes Proof and proof again Coordinate timing carefully
7. Good releases are… Concise Well-written Factual Newsworthy Bad releases are… Lack local angle Contain insufficient and inaccurate information Are too long Sound like an advertising/sales pitch Press Releases
10. Build a community of friends and advocates – and communicate directly with them! Tools: Alltop – Blog directory that filters by topic/region (http://alltop.com/) Twitter Search – Find topics on Twitter (http://search.twitter.com/) TweetReach– Calculates the reach of your Twitter posts (http://tweetreach.com/) Social Media Tips and Tools
11. Do… “Like” and comment on posts from influential industry leaders on Twitter and Facebook Post conversation-starters that aren’t directly tied to your organization, but still relevant Use Facebook and Twitter to post exclusive news that can only be found on these platforms Be responsive to your audience and address their concerns Be completely transparent Don’t… Don’t censor your audience by deleting posts Post anonymously Change the subject Get into a war of words Social Media Do’s and Don’ts
19. Partnership for Downtown St. Louiswww.explorestlouis.com http://stlouis.metromix.com/ http://events.stltoday.com/ www.slfp.com www.stlmag.com http://stlouis.about.com/ www.yelp.com/stlouis www.downtownstl.org
20. How often should I tweet or post on Facebook? Should I blog? How can I get bloggers to write about my organization? What are some other social media channels that may apply to me besides Facebook and Twitter? Social Media FAQ
Today’s Media LandscapeMedia relations – especially local – is an increasing challenge:Shrinking staffs at media outletsFewer resources (camera crews, trucks, etc.)Luckily, through social media, communicating to consumers has never been easier!
Don’t overlook the local/community newspapersDon’t overlook bloggersDon’t forget online outletsDon’t forget about national stringers who are here…