Keep it timely: In a world where "evergreen" pitches may never see the light of day, it's critical to keep media relations efforts as timely as possible. Can experts on your team comment on relevant topics? A healthcare expert who can address potential healthcare reform impacts? Or an immigration law expert who can discuss current policy matters? Reaching out to beat reporters and industry outlets with an expert resource is a good first step toward establishing a relationship with media contacts.

 

Allocate additional resources to content creation and marketing: In the absence of timely stories to pitch, creating and sharing your own content (either on your company's blog, on LinkedIn or on a platform like Medium) will allow you to share your company's insights and expertise. Here at Castle, we recently launched three new blog series (see below) to engage readers on a variety of topics. The right internal and external resources have to be involved to ensure a steady pipeline of quality content.

 

Rally the troops: The power of face-to-face communication cannot be denied. Targeted events that engage your employees, prospects, customers or other constituents are a direct path to impart your key messages. Who do you need to talk to? Who haven't you seen in a while? How does your organization communicate most effectively? It may be a simple lunch meeting or a conference with multiple moving parts. A management offsite. Whatever the event, it is important to get the right people in the right room at the right time (keeping them focused on the right topics is another story).

 

Amplify through social media: Be sure to share your content and coverage through social media. Curate content that's relevant to your messaging. And absolutely support your reach through boosted posts and AdWords campaigns. This will help cut through the clutter. Also consider your social media goals (if you don't have any, you should!). Are you enhancing your brand? Supporting thought leadership? Promoting a product or service? Be mindful of which types of content and messages are best for each channel.