|
Media relations are an invaluable,
cost-effective component of your marketing arsenal.
Experienced executives know that good press, or lack
thereof, can make or break a company. In fact, studies
show that decision-makers are five times more likely
to be influenced by editorial copy than advertising.
Get great stories and you make your revenue numbers,
or get that crucial investment round closed. Get surpassed
in the press by your competition and the results can
be nothing less than disastrous.
Chicago public relations firm Walker Sands pursues a wide range
of focused activities to facilitate coverage of our clients. We
proactively create coverage opportunities and we respond to solicited
coverage opportunities.
Read all about what
we do for you and our connections.
Prior to pursuing coverage, we work with you to make
sure you are prepared and have optimal chances of
obtaining good coverage. First, we strategize on the
public relations plan and what messages we want to
deliver to whom. Then we do all the hard work that
ultimately pays off in excellent coverage of your
company and its offerings. This includes everything
from creating the press kit to lining up customer/analyst
references, from training management on how to to
talk effectively with the media to deciding which
publications they should be talking to.
With these foundational elements in place, we then
aggressively solicit media coverage on your behalf.
We develop and maintain comprehensive, focused target
lists of editors and influencers who are interested
in your offering. We send press releases and other
materials to them, invite them to your events, and
develop the relationship between you and them.
We review editorial calendars and follow up on published
opportunities to secure coverage. We call publications
on a regular basis to learn about new opportunities.
If appropriate, we arrange for press tours in which
you visit the media at their offices. We work with
editors to suggest novel story ideas or to gain coverage
of a specific company press announcement. We pursue
feature coverage, roundup coverage, and sidebar coverage.
Secured coverage will potentially include product
stories or reviews, case studies, executive profiles,
and by-lined articles.
Once we have a specific opportunity in hand, we manage
the process for best results. We arrange for management
and analyst interviews. We proactively work to ensure
that your coverage is good. For example, in the case
of a product review, we can work with the reviewer
to define the evaluation criteria and we always follow-up
to address any problems or open issues. We ensure
that the publication has access to graphic materials
such as logos, screen shots, or product shots. We
coach your spokespeople through Executive Q&As. Our
detailed knowledge of your company and your industry
allows us to deliver the highest service levels to
journalists which ultimately translates into good
and growing coverage for you.
We close the loop with you by preparing timely status
reports and by providing clippings back to you as
they occur and periodically in a bound media coverage
book. We constantly monitor your satisfaction with
our results and make adjustments accordingly.
Back To Top
It's not what you know, it's who
you know. We leverage our extensive network
of contacts to generate high profile coverage of our
clients across a broad range of trade and business
press, including:
- Business Press. Top publications such as
Business 2.0, BusinessWeek, Forbes, Fortune, Newsweek,
Red Herring, Upside, Time, The New York Times,
and the Wall Street Journal.
- Trade Press. Leading trade periodicals
such as Computerworld, InformationWeek, PC Magazine,
Internet World, C/NET and others.
- Vertical Press. Major publications in manufacturing,
retail, education, utilities, financial services,
government, telecommunications, healthcare, pharmaceutical,
and accounting.
- Broadcast Media. Television and radio programs
including: Good Morning America, PBS Morning Monitor,
Technology Edge, Bloomberg Business Forum, CNN
News, and local radio stations.
Back To Top
|
