This podcast episode explores reactive PR with digital PR expert Mark Rofe.
Join us as Mark delves into:
🔥 The Warren Buffet approach to PR and finding the sweet spot for reactive PR pitching.
🔥 Strategies for planned and unplanned reactive PR.
🔥 Tips for high-quality, relevant pitches tailored to journalists' interests.
And much more.
Some major takeaways for me are:
1. Reactive PR can be divided into planned (e.g., holidays, scheduled events) and unplanned (e.g., unexpected company layoffs, natural disasters) components. Prepare for both types to maximize opportunities.
2. High-media-interest topics are likely to get more coverage but are also more competitive. Low-media-interest topics might yield fewer but more targeted placements.
3. The window of opportunity can be very short, sometimes just a few hours. Being plugged into real-time updates and having pre-prepared comments can help.
4. For planned events, prepare different potential comments in advance and get pre-approval from clients. This allows you to react instantly when the event occurs.
5. Create a list of journalists who have covered similar stories in the past. This list should be updated regularly to account for their roles or beats changes.
6. Focus on sending high-quality, relevant pitches rather than mass emailing. Tailor your pitches to the journalists’ interests and recent work to increase the chances of coverage.
7. To ensure that the comments or insights you provide are authoritative and relevant, ask, “Would I (or your client) be comfortable talking on TV about this topic?”
8. Include relevant keywords in your email subject lines and comments. This increases the likelihood that journalists will find your past pitches when searching for sources on similar topics in the future.
Time Stamps:
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:01:41 - Differentiating Newsjacking and Reactive PR
00:03:45 - The Role of Reactive PR in Your Toolkit
00:07:01 - Observing a Drop-Off in Pitch Read Rates
00:08:20 - Explaining the Reactive PR Matrix
00:10:40 - Media Interest Levels and Coverage Impact
00:14:30 - Scaling Reactive PR Approaches
00:16:48 - Workflow for a Reactive PR Approach
00:19:03 - Tools for Monitoring New Trends in Reactive PR
00:20:57 - Building a Mini Newsroom
00:23:17 - Timeframe for Formulating Ideas and Pitches
00:24:54 - Building a Target List of Journalists
00:26:31 - Identifying Authority Topics
00:28:55 - Validating Prospects Before Pitching
00:32:15 - Formulating Lists Ahead of Time vs. On the Fly
00:35:00 - Assessing Relevance and Authority for Pitches
00:37:53 - Importance of Where and How You Reach Out
00:40:24 - Inspiration Behind Creating a Digital PR Course
00:42:34 - Sourcing Ideas and Inspiration for the Newsletter
Links mentioned in the video:
Digital PR Newsletter: https://digitalprnewsletter.com
Digital PR Course: https://digitalprcourse.com
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