The Barcelona Opera opened back up this week by hosting a concert…for plants. We love this article for so many reasons: a positive news story, culture, plants and great public relations. It’s not always easy to break through the noise of media pitches to get your story published but this seemed like an easy win. Why? It has all the elements we outline in our “PR hack” guidelines.
Let’s go through them.
First: build your brand. It’s important to make sure your company is an established brand, providing credibility. Of course, news articles often feature small businesses or “man-on-the-street” interviews. However, they aren’t usually regular contributors to stories or news cycles.
Second: be the reason for coverage. This means if you do something newsworthy, you are more likely to make the news. That seems obvious but it usually requires out-of-the-box thinking. Help your community or pinpoint a unique internal feature you’re doing. This could be a good pitch!
Third: Find a connection to today’s news. For example, COVID-19 has been a major headline for months. Reporters are looking for angles to this story that stand out. The Barcelona Opera did just that (maybe not specifically for coverage). They found a unique way to tie their story to global news.
Fourth: Don’t spam reporters. Let’s say that again…don’t spam reporters. You know who you are, you send everything and hope something sticks. What actually happens is you lose reporter’s trust and most don’t even open your emails. Pitch quality over quantity.
What’s your story? Let’s work together to hack your PR strategy and get you covered! Get in touch with us to learn more!