One quick move that will increase your media coverage

Here’s the move: select the right media to pitch your story to. Sounds obvious, yes? Yes, but it’s rarely followed.

Let’s look at a typical scenario: A boutique restaurant in Phoenix develops a wine-country type menu and pairs specific wines with each menu item. The owners write a press release and then blast it out on all the PR newswires. They get no coverage.

Why didn’t they get any coverage?

There’s a variety of reasons, but one of them is doing a major blast out to the hundreds of media outlets who subscribe to a PR newswire service. One of the problems with this is that the media outlets who get their releases also get another 500 – 800 press releases every day from the same service, and most aren’t interested in what the restaurant does.

The 80/20 Rule in PR:
If you want to get more coverage, you must keep the 80/20 rule in mind: 80% of your coverage will come from 20% of the media. To put this into workable terms, create a “top ten” list of media outlets that specifically cover your type of wine and/or food, and then focus on them.

Back to the restaurant example. They provide high-end wine-country type of food, paired specifically with select wines. Who would the owners want as customers? Families with hundreds of children screaming for cheeseburgers? No. Adults with refined palates and a certain income level would be better customers.

Target your Audience:
Now let’s look at two different publications in Phoenix: Phoenix Magazine, and New Times, a weekly periodical.

• Phoenix Magazine focuses on the medium-to-high-end market: Men and women, married, average age is 54, only 32% have children in the home, and the average household income is $179,000.

• New Times’ audience is different. Their audience is 59% male, single, age range 18 – 34, and the average income is $55,000/year.

The Better Choice:
If you run a high-end wine-country-type restaurant, which would be a better choice? Phoenix Magazine, because Phoenix magazine targets the people you want in your restaurant. An article about your restaurant, along with their usual glossy photos, would draw customers to your door by the hundreds. Especially since 82% of their readers hang onto the Dining Guide for reference all year long.

So remember: target your PR efforts rather than doing a mass email-blast. Create a “top ten” list of targeted media outlets that reach your audience and focus on them. It’ll save you a lot of work and will provide a lot more coverage.