7 tips for landing broadcast media coverage
Is your brand ready for its TV moment?!
Over the course of just three weeks, we had the pleasure of watching three different clients featured or interviewed on TV in three major media markets across the country. Che client Urban Community Action Network was on ABC7 Los Angeles, The Pickle Games was on CBS4 Miami & The Cookie Joint was on FOX32 Chicago.
Broadcast coverage is an engaging way to bring hyper-local attention to your company’s upcoming event, fundraiser, product launch or other announcement. Not to mention, it’s low-hanging fruit if you can make the geographic connection clear in your media outreach.
See our seven tips for securing broadcast coverage below (many of which we pulled from these recent experience with our clients):
7 tips for landing broadcast media coverage:
Identify a time-sensitive topic to pitch. Broadcast news stations have to prioritize their coverage daily based on what else is happening in the world. Breaking news takes priority, but if your event is timely, they will add it to their planning calendar for consideration.
Draft a media alert. We compare a media alert to a birthday party invitation: the who, what, where, when & why of an event intended to encourage in-person media attendance.
Email the news desk, producers & planning editors (not the anchors). While anchors might forward something of interest, the news desk, producers & planning editors are the decision-makers on the team & the ones putting together content.
Follow up with phone calls. The morning of your event or announcement (6am to 7am local time), call the news desks & confirm they have your media alert. This ensures your story will be evaluated during the morning editorial meeting, during which it's decided when & where reporting teams will be deployed.
Share a selection of pre-approved photo & video assets (b-roll). Two of the three placements we shared above resulted from sharing video assets with our media alerts, either from promotional pre-event photoshoots or from the day of the event. Making the media's job easier is the name of the game, so include horizontal b-roll with your media alert & your chances of coverage will increase.
Prepare for the interview with a briefing document. Putting together background & context on the opportunity, intentional talking points & a strategic call-to-action will optimize business results coming out of the segment.
Be ready to go! Broadcast opportunities often come about quickly, so whether it's getting to their studio for an interview, hopping on a Zoom call or sending necessary materials, make yourself available, respond as quickly as you can & stay agile until the segment is complete.
Broadcast TV coverage is a whole different world within the earned media landscape. If you can manage to accomplish these things, your chances of seeing yourself on the local news & gaining traction from an on-air segment will increase.
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