It has always been that in the media, the loudest voices get all the media exposure. With the proliferation of media sources, it has become much easier for less informed voices to tell your stories. The only way to combat this is to tell your own stories.
Why your voice is not enough
You have your own promotional channels, marketing strategy, web and social channels, and experiential promotions. This is all-important, but it is not enough. No matter how strong your brand and profile, you need the credibility of media sources to tell your story.
PR and press releases
PR and press releases are essential, but they have short lifespans and don’t tell the whole story. They may fit with your timeline but not with the media. You need a way of telling your story in a compelling, new, and newsworthy way. Your Lookatmedia™ centre is your vehicle to achieve these goals.
The many facets of your story
Journalists and media are not one homogenous group. Journalists have a specialisation. They are further defined by geography and language. They follow their own journeys, sometimes creating their own long-form content, other times following a subject or topic that’s already in the news. Part of your preparation should be to have the resources and story inspiration within their reach that helps them tell a more accurate and positive story about your brand. Your Lookatmedia™ centre is the ideal environment to create and manage this content and media engagement.
Evergreen content
Brands create websites full of content, knowing that individuals seek information on their own terms; however, they don’t do the same thing with content for the media. Often, they supply an archive of press releases for media and investors. This is counterintuitive when the media has the power to make or break your brand. Providing evergreen content is one way to use your media centre as the central focus of their research.
Filling the information void
Once you publish content on the News section of your new Lookatmedia™ centre, your content becomes discoverable on search engines. You can also promote this information through email and social media channels where journalists get their information (e.g., Twitter). Your Lookatmedia™ centre is your opportunity to fill the media void. If you’re not telling your story through the media, then other, less credible voices will.
Build brand equity
Major brands invest for years in their public profiles for a good reason. From time to time, stories emerge that can negatively impact any brand. Whether it is a privately or publicly owned brand, a government, semi-government or non-profit, you need to have reputational capital to draw down when this happens. Your Lookatmedia™ centre is a central column that is building this capital over the long term.
What role do you want to play?
In the media, you’re either the hero or roadkill. There’s not much in between. If you have a 24/7/365 day a year resource that tells the stories you want about your brand, you have a better chance that your side of the story will be heard. Your Lookatmedia™ centre is a crucial resource centre you provide to the media to help tell the stories you want. It offers new ideas, plus images and videos to illustrate those stories. It gives journalists and media representatives access to pre-approved content libraries, ensuring what you see in the final story is more representative of the way you would like to be seen.
