Getting great consumer hits with media relations

1. Getting Great Hits: 10 Steps to More & Better Media Coverage for
Consumer Clients
2011 Summer Retreat
July 27, 2011

2. How can we opened the door to
more consumer coverage?

3. #1: Address the Pain Point
Start with a clear and convincing pain point...
• Prior to the introduction or rapid testing, more than one-
third of the 2.2 million Americans tested for HIV at public
health clinics each year did not return to learn their test
results.
• 35 million Americans suffer from some kind of hearing loss,
but less than one-fourth are doing anything about it.
• CMS stopped covering “Never Events” such as sponges left
behind after surgery & one in every 1,000 to 1,500 intra-
abdominal surgeries results in a surgical sponge being left
behind in the patient.
Numbers and statistics build credibility & interest

4. #2: Tie to Breaking News & Events
• Gulf oil spill creates need to move thousands of tons of equipment
into region for detection and cleanup
• Financial Crimes Enforcement Network issues national advisory for
US financial institutions to pay closer attention to private banking
accounts of political figures such as Libya’s Gaddafi
• Magnitude of Super Bowl (or World Cup) causes spike in levels of
fraud transactions
• State Medicaid programs issue funding
cuts for hearing aids for most adults
• Sponge left inside Palm Beach County
judge during surgery spurs him to seek
reforms for better technology and no
caps on medical lawsuits

5. #3: Use Catchy Subject Lines
Subject line should be short, clever and easy-to-read
on a PDA....
• Are We All On Drugs? The Answer May be in the Water Supply
• Talk to the Ying to Microsoft's Yang in Enterprise Collaboration?
• Is RFID Sponge-Worthy?
• Are We Becoming Too Green?
• Web 2.0 Expert Brings Sweetness
to Hershey PA
• HIV testing at the Dentist's Office?
Yes with Rapid Oral Fluid HIV Testing
• New Ad Channel Turns Commercial
Breaks Into Lucky Breaks

6. #4: Pitch the Seasonal Gift-Guides
Christmas
Valentines Day
Mother’s Day / Father’s Day
Back-to-School & Back-to-College Shopping
Offer product reviews, demos and high res photos...
Pitch gift guides several months in advance...

7. #5: Target the National Days/Months
Earth Day
World AIDS Day
Nat’l HIV Testing Day
Nat’l Computer Security Day
Better Hearing & Speech Month
Nat’l Human Trafficking Prevention Month
Consider packaging up the staggering
statistics into an op ed...

8. #6: Create Expert Tips/Top 5 Lists
Offer client as an expert in his/her space & work the
technology angle into one of the tips...
• Expert Tips to Shopping on the
Secondary Market
• Top Fraud Encounters that Business
Travelers Face & Solutions for Each
• Top Ways to Maximize
Summer Value & Fun
• Top 5 Places in <insert City>
to Hear Sounds Better
Offering customers provides third party validation...
Use tips to help ensure that your pitch doesn’t come
across too much like an advertisement!

9. #7: Build the Relationship
Have I identified my top reporters
several months before the launch?
Do I follow their blog, tweets
and recent coverage?
Have I sent them an intro email?
Do I know what topics and trends
they are covering?
Can I invite any key local reporters to tour my
client’s office and have lunch with their CEO?
Have I sent my top contacts any
relevant articles or reports/research lately?
Building the relationship starts DAY ONE on the account...

10. The intro email...
Dear <INSERT NAME>,
I am reaching out today to introduce myself. I represent OraSure
Technologies, the maker of OraQuick ADVANCE, the only rapid oral fluid
HIV test. OraSure is also currently developing the first-ever rapid oral
fluid HCV (Hepatitis C) test.
Given your beat and recent articles <PLACEHOLDER-CUSTOMIZE>, I want
to also take this opportunity to offer myself as an informational resource
in the event you are ever looking for information or sources on OraSure,
HIV/AIDS or Hepatitis C. I have contacts and relationships with doctors
and community-based organizations across the country who are fighting
these diseases on the front lines. I’m happy to share my resources with
you.
As always, if you are not the appropriate contact, I do not want to bother
you with unnecessary email. As such, if you are not the right person, I
would appreciate you pointing me in the right direction.
In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to reach out if I can be of any
assistance.

11. #8: Leverage Reporters Across Accounts
NYT Freelancer
!
Pop Sci Freelancer
WFMZ Host
Fox Business Booker
Can I connect the Fox-Dallas Reporter from SD to Loffles?
Can I connect the News ProNetProducer from Genco to Songbird?
Can I connect the PBJ from EyeIC to Loffles?

12. #9: Master the List
Leverage your media database to...
Search across hundreds of beats
Pull up reporters by entering keywords
Pull similar outlets when searching tags of any outlet
Answer any questions through its 1-800 customer support line
Pull up dozens of regional broadcast reporters in every city/region
Pull titles that start with a keyword (i.e. health, product review, etc.)
A strong list + an extraordinary pitch = reporters contacting YOU.

13. #10: Leverage the Phone
Email is not enough when the top reporters are
getting 100+ pitches a day and juggling deadlines,
breaking news and special requests from their
editors...
BLOGPOST
If you you’ve done your research
on the reporter, know your
technology inside and out,
and you just don’t hear back
by email, USE THE PHONE!
Active PR trumps passive PR.
Approximately 1 out of every 6 to 8 calls leads to a PR
hit...

14. Summing Up:10 Steps to More & Better Media
Coverage for Consumer Clients
1. Address the Pain Point
2. Tie to Breaking News & Events
3. Use Catchy Subject Lines
4. Pitch the Seasonal Gift Guides
5. Target the National Days/Months
6. Create Expert Tips/Top 5 Lists
7. Build the Relationship
8. Leverage Reporters Across Accounts
9. Master the List
10.Leverage the Phone

15. LUCK IS WHAT
HAPPENS WHEN
PREPARATION
MEETS
OPPORTUNITY
- SENECA, Roman philosopher, mid-1st century AD

16. THANK YOU!