Maximizing Your Media Coverage
How can I get more media exposure for my company?
There is one very simple way to get more media exposure for your company and it starts with using the media you already have!
Media tends to have a snowball effect. Let me explain..
The ultimate goal of a media appearance is not the media appearance in and of itself.
The goal is what you do with it afterward.
If you conduct an interview with a journalist or producer and no one hears about it or watches it, then was the interview valuable for your business or medical practice? No.
This is the #1 mistake most business owners and doctors make when it comes to public relations.
For example, their PR firm lands them a TV appearance and they assume people will watch the TV segment live. Those days are long gone.
PR Tip: Think about how your future customers and patients will see your TV appearance and how you can use your media coverage to shape your brand for evergreen PR opportunities. Make it easy for them to watch your previous appearances.
The goal is to use your interviews to develop long-term sustainable PR traction by building your brand over the course of many years.
That starts with you showcasing your earned media coverage on your website in a highly strategic way.
One great interview in a national media outlet can do wonders for your SEO rankings and your credibility!
How to use Social Media as a PR tool
The truth is, public relations professionals know how to use social media as a powerful PR tool to extend the life of all earned media exposure. This separates the amateurs from the PR pros. Social Media is one of the most powerful PR growth hacking tools, but the majority of people rarely use it properly. They are so excited about securing the TV appearance that they focus on the appearance, instead of promoting the appearance! This is a total missed opportunity for long-term personal brand equity.
HOW TO LEVERAGE EARNED MEDIA EXPOSURE TO BUILD YOUR BRAND
Score! You just landed a press placement on a national TV show. But now you may be wondering, how do I maximize the TV appearance?
The most important part of the publicity isn’t the actual segment. It is what you do with the segment before, during, and after.
To make the most of a national TV appearance to build your brand, ramp up your social media marketing and create engaging content.
Don’t wait until after the interview is over to start promoting it.
Tips for Promoting Your Upcoming TV Appearance on Social Media
Get your social media followers involved before, during and after the segment! Here’s how:
Create promotional social media graphics. Start promoting your TV appearance before you even set foot in front of the camera. Leading up to your national TV appearance, create a compelling graphic to let fans know you’ll be appearing on-air. Relevant details should include the time, date, show name and station channel. This is a great way to let all of your Facebook friends and Instagram followers know about your upcoming TV appearance. Be sure to tag the show’s social media handles in the graphic after you post it. You can also check-in at the studio on social media on the day of the appearance to let your followers know you are about to go live!
Live tweet. Encourage your social media fans to live-tweet with you before the show. For example, one tweet might be, “Have any questions for @yourname on @Nameofshow? Tweet them to me before @nameofshow at 8 p.m.” Many shows also use customized hashtags such as #betterwithfriends on Fox News, so be sure to incorporate those into your tweets as well.
Tag the TV network. Tag the media outlet and handles of any interviewers and TV anchors in all tweets and Facebook posts mentioning the show. This will show the outlet that you are socially engaged and interested in getting eyes on their network.
Ask questions to increase engagement. Questions require answers, which can lead to direct interaction and an increase of followers. Leading up to the TV appearance, ask fans their opinion on the topic you will be discussing on-air to create a two-way dialogue. You can also ask your followers their opinions on the segment topic. For example, you could ask, “Do you agree that this bill should be passed?”
PROMOTE YOUR LIVE TV APPEARANCE DURING THE SHOW
Strategically hashtag. If your TV appearance is on a hot news item, be sure to include the hashtags that are trending on Twitter as they pertain to your segment. Sometimes variations of a hashtag will be used to discuss a news story, so be sure to search by volume to see which hashtag has been used the most.
Tag brands. Part of a TV appearance includes wardrobe coordination, so be sure to leverage this for extra social media mileage. Look up the handles of the brands you will be wearing and direct message them prior to the appearance to let them know. Most likely, they will favorite the tweet or even retweet it.
AFTER YOUR TV APPEARANCE
Post-behind-the-scenes content. Fans and followers want more than what they see on television, so while you are in the green room, tweet a photo or post a video of the studio set on your Instagram story. If there are other guests in the greenroom, take photos and share them, but make sure you get permission first. Not every TV network is okay with guests taking photos.
Search for brand mentions. If you want to see what everyone is saying about you on Twitter after the TV appearance, search all tweets, mentions about the show, mentions with your handle, and any related replies. Sometimes people will post their thoughts on the TV segment with the handle of the show, without mentioning your handle. If you are a frequent on-air commentator, you may want to purchase a monitoring app, such as Mention, which will aggregate all of the social mentions for you. You can also set up a Google Alert for your name to get real-time updates.
Think before responding. Social media builds relationships with your audience, but one negative response to an angry fan can ruin it. Stay positive and be aware of what you are posting. If something goes wrong, try to take a digital detox. For example, if your segment offended a core part of your audience, think carefully before responding. Remember, there are many layers that go into a successful television appearance.
Don’t engage with Internet trolls. A core part of social media includes responding after you open up 2-way communication. However, replying to every negative tweet you receive can be a big mistake. Not everyone will like your TV segment. In fact, assume at least ten people will hate what you have to say before you ever even tape it. Cyberbullies get a secret thrill out of regularly attacking just about anyone who appears on television. This comes with the territory. Focus on how to be a good TV guest instead of focusing on replying to everyone who disagrees with your opinion.
Marketing Your Press Coverage: How to Maximize National Media Exposure on Social Media
If you learn how to strategically leverage your press coverage, your three-minute TV segment can generate years of credibility, brand awareness and long-term ROI!
Did you know that most of the PR work related to television appearances actually takes place after the segment? Sure, it is VERY difficult to get booked on national TV. But most publicists and self-proclaimed DIY PR pros make the mistake at stopping after getting the segment. If you hire a PR firm to get you booked on TV, it isn’t their job to publicize your TV bookings on social media. It is yours. They won’t do the leg work for you.
Maximize your press coverage
You must learn how to use social media marketing to turn one-off TV segments into a larger media firestorm for your brand to catapult yourself into the national spotlight. If you don’t, you will just be throwing money down the drain for random TV appearances that do not build a brand and that no one ever sees, except for the people who watch you live on air.
Those returns are diminishing. Most people aren’t watching you live at 6 am. In fact, this is why I have personally stopped telling people to watch me when I will be on-air because I realize most people will only watch you when it is convenient for them and when you bring the media appearance to them on social media, not the other way around! Make it easy for them to watch!
How to turn a national TV appearance into *PR magic* to catapult your personal brand
Always buy the videos of your TV interviews. It still amazes me when people hire a PR firm to get them booked on TV and refuse to pay a few extra dollars to a third-party clipping service to obtain the video of their TV segment after it airs. Do not rely on TV channels for copies of your TV segments! Invest in a video clipping service to purchase all of your segments or else if you don’t they will disappear and it will be like it never happened.
Never rely on TV network links. I have seen so many people make this critical mistake. The network posts a link to your TV segment, and you share that link. But then a few years later, you have a 404 error, and you have no copy of the actual link because you never purchased it.
PUBLICIZING TV APPEARANCES CHECKLIST
Publicizing your TV appearance is often more important than the actual appearance itself.
PR tactics to increase media exposure
How do you promote media appearances?
Follow this PR checklist to maximize exposure from your TV appearances.
- Post the TV appearance on your website.
- Keep a running list of all TV appearances in a word document in case media wants to see clips to other appearances.
- Purchase a copy of the TV segment from a third party.
- Keep all of your TV segments in Dropbox so you can create a sizzle reel with them after you have at least 10 clips.
- Upload the TV segment to YouTube.
PR TIPS KEY TAKEAWAYS: MAKING THE MOST OF A MEDIA APPEARANCE
- The majority of personal branding work on TV segments takes place after the segment or interview is over.. not before!
- Remember, media likes other media, so the more you promote your appearances, the greater the likelihood is of getting asked back as a guest.
- Once the television appearance is over, continue tweeting links and clips, posting photos on Instagram Stories and promoting the clips from the green room.
- The goal is to convey the message that your company is everywhere. Use social media and PR as a tool to help you achieve that objective.
Remember, reporters like to see that other journalists have quoted you. No one wants to be the first to quote a source. Prominently display your thought leadership and expert credibility on a press page on your personal or corporate website.
Need help developing a press kit or media relations strategy? Contact us today to book a discovery call.
TV BOOKING RESOURCES
Six Steps to Get Booked on National Television
*Date last updated 2019
KRIS RUBY is the CEO of Ruby Media Group, an award-winning public relations and media relations agency in Westchester County, New York. Kris Ruby has more than 15 years of experience in the Media industry. She is a sought-after media relations strategist, content creator and public relations consultant. Kris Ruby is also a national television commentator and political pundit and she has appeared on national TV programs over 200 times covering big tech bias, politics and social media. She is a trusted media source and frequent on-air commentator on social media, tech trends and crisis communications and frequently speaks on FOX News and other TV networks. She has been featured as a published author in OBSERVER, ADWEEK, and countless other industry publications. Her research on brand activism and cancel culture is widely distributed and referenced. She graduated from Boston University’s College of Communication with a major in public relations and is a founding member of The Young Entrepreneurs Council. She is also the host of The Kris Ruby Podcast Show, a show focusing on the politics of big tech and the social media industry. Kris is focused on PR for SEO and leveraging content marketing strategies to help clients get the most out of their media coverage.