When a successful business starts or a new product starts, most entrepreneurs or business owners conduct market research to determine the size of their potential customer base. And when they disclose this customer base, many entrepreneurs can turn to the media to attract attention. No matter how detailed their marketing research may be, very few business leaders so accurately define their own ‘media market’, i.e. all media whose editorial profiles correspond to the product/company profile and which will also be suitable for creating media. attention and publicity.
One of my favorite things to do is to tell clients about their “media market.” Think about it: there are more than 75,000 media outlets in North America and about a million journalists, editors and producers in the media market. However, only a small part of this can be appropriate and applicable to your business/product. But which one? Unfortunately, too many benevolent entrepreneurs are either misinformed or misinformed about what is needed to draw media attention to their business. I recently interviewed 100 business owners and entrepreneurs who contacted me about an advertising/media campaign. Here’s what I found:
11% – “Of course the media market does not know”
19% – “Have an unrealistic view of the media market”
29% – “Believe that local and mainstream media are the ONLY media”
41% – “Well aware of its potential media market and its benefits”
Here are the descriptions of these categories and the lessons I try to teach to those who fall into each category:
11% – “Of course the media market does not know”
These are entrepreneurs who know their product and their market from and to, BUT they never thought about launching an advertising campaign/media coverage. They know very little about their potential media market or how to draw attention to it.
Lesson: I recommend that owners of this kind of business enlist the help of a small public relations agency or an advertising specialist who is willing to “hold back” to inform the client. Do a study to find someone who isn’t afraid to waste time teaching you what to include in your media market and your presentation. Make sure that the agency or publicist understands the product/business as well as you do, and can in turn educate you on your media market – a market that will benefit your business for years to come.
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19% – “Have an unrealistic perception of the media”
These are business owners who believe that ALL newspapers, consumer magazines and TV shows will include articles about their new products when they launch an advertising campaign.
Lesson: No product or company, regardless of their size, can be sure that the media cover them in all outlets in the media market. But many of them can be attracted by good media coverage. Each media presentation is compared with the processing time of media materials, the available editorial space and the availability of an editorial staff member to cover your presentation. Each media is entirely at its discretion to determine whether your presentation will get to the pages or broadcast. Targeting the wrong media with the wrong message can be a tough battle. But you can significantly increase the chances of creating these placements in the media, with little experience and knowledge of the media market.
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29% – “Believe that local and mainstream media are the ONLY media”
It is they who see their media market in two simple terms: NEW AND BIG.
LOCAL, as you know, means the media of your city or the nearby geographical region – a local newspaper, one or two regional business magazines, several broadcasts on local radio/ TV channels.
Because of ignorance of the media market, many business owners do not even know about the existence of these smaller and more targeted media. This is where a PR agency or advertising specialist can become an integral part of your advertising campaign. They know the media market very well and will be able to find the media representatives who will best prepare editorials about your business or product. They also have excellent media that can turn a feature film into a syndicated story that is broadcast in several national media.
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41% – “Well aware of its potential media market and its benefits”
They are well versed in the media, entrepreneurs and business leaders who are realistic about the benefits that the media can bring to their business. They know that they need to improve their advertising in their chosen media segment to gain notoriety, which increases the popularity of the business.
Lesson: Don’t let a public relations agency or advertising professional tell you that they’re sending out your ads to 20,000, 30,000, or 50,000 media outlets. The reality is that of the 8,000 daily and weekly newspapers, 11,000 magazines and newsletters, 15,000 radio, television and cable channels and 7,000 online news sites in North America, only about 25% of them take press releases from outside their geographic region. They concern only LOCAL problems, businesses and products, and their solution is a waste of time. The key is research to find out which media channels are open to your presentation and how to turn these media contacts into positive consumer interests that inform and engage customers in your product or business.
Like marketing, to find the right customers, you have to be just as diligent in finding and presenting the right media market. The bottom line is that whether you have a product of common interest that attracts a large audience, or an industry business with a very small customer base, knowing your respective media market can be the difference between product/business advertising or product/company ambiguity. .
Todd Brabender is President of Spread The News Public Relations, Inc.
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