Unless you are the Googles and Microsofts of the world, journalists are not running to you or waiting for your replies. For most companies, media relationships are critical and take time and effort to nurture. Part of the process is understanding that journalists are constantly on the move, and if they seek you out for participation in the story, they require rapid responses.
Media Strategy Require Speed
Media opportunities are windows that are only open for a limited time. Your invitation to participate can quickly disappear if there is internal lag to deliver responses or materials. Teams that move quickly will be able to take advantage of an opportunity. Those that delay, will lose out. Media opportunities can die on the proverbial vine if information can not be confirmed quickly. Executives’ need for perfection and mulit-layered approvals are the direct enemy to “good enough” and often what kills media opportunity.
Media Relations Approach By Company Size
For publicly traded companies, caution over speed makes sense. But for a startup that has a chance at positive exposure, it does not. For early stage companies, visibility can only be beneficial. You are not influencing markets and it is highly unlikely that you are in direct threat of getting yourself sued – so go for it! Language evolves, positions shift and as a startup, you are nimble enough to act quickly.
Startups exist on a different level. Unless you are an enterprise sized company, publicly traded, or part of the Fortune 500 – “Good” is good enough. Messages can be refined over time and improved but while a company is busy perfecting its language or waiting for the perfect situation to comment on, a competitor is jumping on the opportunity that highlights them instead of you.
Media Strategies Don’t Move on Your Timeline
While businesses can follow a clear timeline for product launches, announcements, and planned campaigns, when it comes to other media placements timing can be less predictable. Most opportunities are influenced by journalist deadlines, shifting priorities, and breaking news. Some strategies may start with a plan, but the media environment moves fast, so being adaptive and flexible is critical.
Media cycles shift, communication evolves and in order to take advantage of an opportunity companies need to act quickly. Businesses successful media coverage need to have the right message and disseminate it at the right time.
Reporter Capacity Changes Media Strategy
Media is a fast moving industry that has been thinned over the past few years. Reporters are overworked, often covering multiple beats, and working on various stories. They are juggling tight deadlines and are not seeking to do a company any favors. When they seek sources to include in their stories, the piece is written and they are just looking for a last few additive quotes. They are not going to wait or miss their deadline for a company to go through several rounds of approvals. If you want to be included, respond quickly because the train is leaving the station whether you’re on it or not.
Especially in rapid response situations where journalists are actively writing and looking for an expert perspective, turnaround times can be only a few hours or even less. If a team takes too long to align, finalize messaging, or gain approval opportunities can disappear.
