Proactive marketing and communications can be a tough concept to grasp at times. Beyond having a nice website and responding to RFPs, what other outreach is your firm actually supposed to be doing? One thing that everyone understands though, is getting published. It’s generally an immediate request when we meet with firms for the first time to discuss a communications strategy. So, how does the typical firm get coverage for their work and expertise?
Here are some of our tips to help you catch the eye of the media.
- Be realistic about what’s noteworthy. New projects and groundbreakings may get small mentions, but unless there is something truly unique about the project, those won’t get a lot of media attention. Identify projects or story angles from the perspective of an editor that’s trying to create great content on a deadline. What would they be proud to write about?
- Look beyond the big names. Not every project belongs in Dwell or Architectural Record. That doesn’t make them less important, it just means they aren’t a great fit. Often clients seek those out as the epitome of a great placement when in fact their target audience may not even read those pubs.
- Expertise is just as important as experience. You don’t have to receive a full project write-up to get media coverage for your firm. If you have subject matter expertise on your team that has key input in a newsworthy issue, your firm can still get the mention and the opportunity to build awareness as an expert.
- Develop relationships. What if a reporter or editor called on you regularly for answers to industry questions? It happens! Blind press release distribution doesn’t do the trick though. Finding publications that are in alignment with your firm’s brand and developing long-term relationships with business colleagues does.
- Awards are for you to promote. Winning design awards earns the respect of your peers and your clients alike. They help tell the story of your expertise more often than they are a story on their own though. Additionally, remember that many awards are sponsored by publications already, so the likelihood of another (potentially competing) publication picking up the story is diminished.