This is a summary of a post more fully explored at Public relations and managing reputation.
Media are not normally invited to participate in round tables, as it is generally one of the goals of the round table to produce content (initially captured in the form of a white paper) which is placed in a wide variety of media outlets. Thus, having one or two media outlets present at a round table can undermine this occurring.
Having said that, there are no rules that can’t be ‘bent’. It may well be that the one or two media outlets noted above are far and away the most influential on an organisation’s target audience. So if this is the case, then it can definitely be a viable approach to take.
Round table - media participation or not?
There is value, and there are limitations, in having a media outlet involved in the round table (RT).
Important elements to bear in mind when considering this question include:
- Do not involve media as a round table participant if it will stop you from gaining the desired coverage from priority media (or any media you want coverage in, for that matter)
- The participating media outlet will want an exclusive on the content - so they get to use it first
- That’s fine, but only if you are happy for it to be the only media outlet that covers the round table/white paper issues
- As I have written before, you can create a campaign for metro media that is based on one article or op-ed being placed and then you can leverage radio and/or TV coverage off that single placement
- The other option is getting a media outlet present that is part of a broader network, so the syndication of the story leads to multiple placements, but just within one media ‘house’ .
Public relations’ media coverage: giving an exclusive - yea or nay?
One approach to apply with securing media coverage is arranging an exclusive/placement with one metro publishing house and one exclusive with a vertical B2B publishing house. This may lead to more than one actual placement in both sectors:
- One is published virtually instantaneously and one takes longer
- Metro is often for a broader audience and B2B is generally for a more niche audience
- Metro media is often more particular than B2B in publishing content so it’s generally much easier to get placement in the latter
- After the content is used in metro media the issues not covered can be value-added to and used as a B2B media relations campaign.
And don’t forget, a bird in hand is worth two in the bush……..make sure you are smart when creating your media placement KPIs. Sure, get it so its business-relevant et al, but you also want to make sure you over-achieve, not, gasp, under-deliver!!
In other words, if getting that single placement is all important on different levels (strategically appropriate to target audiences, makes you look good in front of your organisation etc), then it may well be a prudent methodology to apply. Be smart about this on a variety of levels.
Have you used a round table to produce content that generated media results? What lessons did you learn? Where else apart from media did you use the content that was generated from the round table? Have you ever had media participate in a round table - can you share your experiences?
Twitter: @commaim
