Don’t take this the wrong way: you are not obliged to befriend a journalist and use him for your own good. Most journalists are aware of the benefits that they can get from a Lakeland public relations and they know, too, that a PR agency benefits well by maintaining a good working relationship with them. The relationship, therefore, is mutually beneficial.
But how do you befriend or maintain a good professional relationship with journalists, who, let’s be honest, can be some of the most intense and passionate professionals you can ever meet. If there’s nothing for them in an event, not a single person they can interview or not a product they believe in, you’ll be hard-pressed to find them here.
And they don’t like it either when a Lakeland public relations company goes straight to their bosses, the managers and owners of the media outfit they work for, so they can be pushed to attend your event. Chances are, they are not going to like being bypassed by you.
Let’s start with your event. If you want to make sure that journalists will attend your event, make sure that it is newsworthy and that there is something or someone in your event that will interest them.
Inviting experts as resource speakers will be a great opportunity to attract the interest of journalists. They love nothing than hunting down specialists and experts so they’ll attend an event that will give them access to these persons.
Next, let’s focus on how you are inviting them. Send them an email at least two weeks before the event. The email should include a press release of what the event is, where it will be held, what time it will start, and who the speakers and guests are going to be.
The press release should highlight the importance of the event and should clearly emphasize why it would be important for media outfits to cover it.
Then, follow that email up with a phone call a week before the event. This is to make sure that your coveted journalists will attend your event. This is called good Lakeland public relations.
With so many things happening in a journalist’s everyday life, they are bound to forget an event two weeks from now (but the good thing is they are aware of it). After reminding them over the phone, it’s time to get their RSVP. Don’t hang up the phone unless you get a favorable answer, although don’t be too annoying.
Once in the event, treat the journalists as guests. Some PR specialists make the mistake of treating journalists as second-class citizens because there are more important guests in their events.
Have a person assigned from your Lakeland public relations team dedicated to guiding the journalists and making sure that all their needs are met. They will appreciate the gesture and will love to attend your events in the future.
