Aside from distributing press releases and other media materials to publishers, editors, and journalists, the goal of every Lakeland public relations company should be to build a great relationship with the media. They should diversify and expand their media contacts. They should have a relationship-based approach when it comes to communicating their promotions and marketing materials. 

Read the Journalists’ Work

Reading the journalists’ work is PR 101. You need to show respect to the journalist by being aware of his work. So many journalists receive press releases of topics completely unrelated to their beats. This shows that the PR practitioner has no idea what this particular journalist is covering. Keep in mind that print journalists also have digital responsibilities and personal blogs. Share their work on social media. That will show that you took the time to check out their work. 

Be Respectful of Their Time

Journalists are busy people. They won’t likely have the time to listen to you gab about other journalists and publishers. Get to the point when you get the chance to pitch a story to them. Be direct about what the pitch is about. Do not waste their time by providing irrelevant details. The most you can get out of a journalist is time to grab a cup of coffee. But most of the time, they are trying to beat deadlines and running after sources. 

Interact on Social Media

If there’s one good thing that social media did for the PR industry, it’s the ability to connect to one another instantaneously. Sure, PR practitioners need to be on their toes waiting for negative comments about their brands to pop up on social media. But most of the time, they can use Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to connect with journalists. 

Interact With Them Face-to-face

Journalists are highly sociable people, no matter how grumpy they are depicted in movies and television shows. In fact, they like bonding in person much more than interacting via texts, calls, emails, and social media. You should invite journalists for coffee, lunch, or dinner. You’ll learn a lot about the industry when you begin a kind of work friendship with journalists. You can also attend industry events where you might be able to meet journalists in person. 

Stay Positive

It can be frustrating when journalists make an inaccurate report about your brand. But instead of being angry, send the journalists some materials to better understand what your side is. If they are worth their salt, they will look at both pictures and give you fair coverage. There is no use being angry or arguing with journalists. You might see your Lakeland public relations company in the losing end.