With the era of digitization, the relationship of companies and brands with their various audiences has evolved and communication channels have diversified. We live in the age of transmedia, which consists of transmitting the same message through different channels, platforms and narratives to audiences that are of interest to companies.
However, an audience that is and will continue to be essential for all these companies are journalistswho through the media they represent, whether traditional, native, digital, their social networks, or personal platforms, can make valuable information about the company reach its target audience.
For this reason, it is essential that, as part of any communication and public relations strategy, companies develop a relationship of trust with journalists and the media. This will contribute to generating greater exposure and visibility of the company, thus strengthening its reputation and credibility thanks to the transmission of valuable information through a third party or opinion leader.
Next, Francisco Galindo, director of Transmedia at Zimat Consultantsshares some important aspects to consider when establishing and maintaining a good relationship with the media:
- custom relations: Instead of just sending out generic press releases to a large number of journalists, it’s better to try to develop personalized relationships and find journalists specializing in a specific topic. It is essential to ensure that the content that is sent or shared to them is relevant and useful to them.
- Be transparent and honest: Transparency and honesty are critical to building strong relationships with the media. It is necessary to ensure that the information shared with them is reliable, supported, accurate and clear. It is recommended to accompany it with verifiable data.
- Proactivity: Offer ideas for stories and content that may be of interest to them. You can also look for opportunities to collaborate on the creation of content, such as reports or interviews.
- Listen and answer: It is important to listen to journalists and respond to their questions and comments in a timely manner. If journalists are ignored or take too long to respond, their interest or trust may be lost.
- Create quality content: Journalists will cover a story or share content only if it is of high quality and is of interest to their audience. It is important to provide accurate and useful data and statistics to support the information.
- Continuous relationship: It is not just a question of establishing communication with journalists, but of developing it in the long term. Keep in touch with them, update them on the latest developments and company news, but also interact beyond formal day-to-day relationships, get to know them, listen to them, find out their tastes and interests.
Francisco Galindo affirms that establishing and maintaining a good relationship with journalists requires transparency, proactivity, timely response to their questions and comments, creating quality content and building an ongoing relationship. By following these principles, you can significantly contribute to the company being seen as a reliable and relevant source of information.
It is important to note that having a good relationship with a journalist is not the same as having a good relationship with a media outlet. Trust relationships are established with people, not with entities. Talking about having an excellent relationship with the media is incorrect, since in reality you have a good or bad relationship with a specific person. This is the true magic of media relations, which many talk about, but few are able to exercise effectively.