In the fast-paced world of public relations, getting your target media right can be the difference between a campaign that soars and one that falls flat. Pitching a cute parenting story to the Australian Financial Review (AFR) is a classic example of a mismatch—it simply won’t get picked up because the AFR isn’t the right fit. While this may seem obvious, many PR professionals face less clear-cut situations, making it difficult to determine the right media to pitch their stories.
The media landscape is vast, encompassing thousands of individual journalists, bloggers, and organizations, as well as a wide variety of media types, including newspapers, TV, online platforms, and radio. With so many options, how do you know which ones are worth your time and effort?
Start with Your Target Market
The foundation for defining your target media lies in understanding your target market. In general terms, most businesses have a good sense of who their primary market is. You might say, “cyclists,” “homeowners,” “CEOs,” or “young men.” But identifying your primary market is just the beginning.
To truly unlock the potential of your PR efforts, it’s essential to narrow down and consider your secondary markets. For example, at HYOPR, we see small business owners as our primary market. However, this group is still incredibly broad, and treating it as a monolith limits our ability to craft effective messaging.
Practical Tips for Finding the Right Media
1.Research, Research, Research: Invest time in identifying journalists and media outlets that specialize in your niche markets.
oUse media databases to search for relevant contacts.
oFollow journalists on social media to understand their areas of interest.
2.Build Relationships: Establish connections with journalists and editors before you pitch. This can be as simple as engaging with their content or attending industry events.
3.Tailor Every Pitch: Personalize your pitch to fit the journalist’s beat and the outlet’s audience. Highlight why your story matters to their readers.
4.Stay Organized: Maintain a detailed list of media contacts segmented by niche market. Include notes on past interactions and preferences.
5.Be Persistent but Polite: If you don’t get a response right away, follow up respectfully without being pushy.
Conclusion
Getting your target media right is crucial for a successful PR campaign. By starting with a deep understanding of your target market, segmenting it into niche groups, and crafting tailored messaging, you’ll increase your chances of gaining media coverage and building lasting relationships with journalists.
In a crowded media landscape, a thoughtful and strategic approach to targeting your media makes all the difference—and ensures your story gets the attention it deserves.
Years of experience have taught established publishing houses that book marketing is crucial to the titles they release.
If you're publishing independently and weighing your options about marketing or hiring a book publicist, it's vital to think things through carefully.
More work goes into a well-rounded marketing campaign than you might expect, and to earn coverage in the media, you need to know who to approach.
Ideally, your publicist has established media relationships.Given the importance of the internet today, it's common for first-time authors to think about marketing their books entirely online at no cost.
But for nearly everyone else, the results are limited.
Traditional book PR campaigns that include media outreach and coverage to augment online visibility can improve the chances for success.
Unicorns. Cryptocurrency. Blockchain. Sandbox. Artificial Intelligence.
These were the buzzwords on everyone’s lips at Fintech Abu Dhabi 2019 organised by Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and Seven Media was in the thick of things handling the media operations and PR campaign for this incredible event.
The third edition of the FinTech festival, powered by global innovation platform, Unbound, had over 5000 participants, 100 speakers and more than 50 sessions.
The event featured a packed schedule of discussions, panel sessions and debates from some of the world’s most innovative global companies, industry thought leaders and top CEOs.
A team from our Abu Dhabi office were on the ground at ADGM and Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) at the three-day event managing the media operations with a host of top-tier media present, including a CNBC studio on-site.
Our deep industry expertise and understanding of the local markets enabled us to pick out the right stories and guided media to the key sessions at the event. In addition to this, our outstanding strategic thinking and experience in managing large scale high profile events led us to successfully deliver MENA’s leading FinTech and Financial event to the media.
Using a mix of press releases and one-on-one interviews with key speakers, we were able to deliver great stories running across top tier broadcast, print, online and social channels in UAE, and beyond.
With industry experts covering the entire spectrum from the future of the banking industry to the use of Artificial Intelligence and machine learning, to blockchain and the application of AI, it was an exceptional educational experience for the team.
Here is a roundup of some key takeaways from the event:
Artificial Intelligence is the key to the future
A.I. and machine learning massively reduce costs and allow businesses to disrupt the traditional model of business.
The FinTech industry is using technology intelligently and creatively. We now see Venture Capitalists using AI to conduct due diligence and hunt for new investment opportunities as it helps them informed decisions at a faster pace.
Collaboration is vital
The importance of partnerships and collaborations were pointed out as one of the critical factors for success in the sector.
The perception of the FinTech companies has changed from being a disruptor to a collaborator. This has helped in accelerating the speed of the product cycle, aiding the stakeholders and the end-users.
Startups and financial institutions need to work together to create solutions and help each other to enhance the scalability of their business as well.
MENA is a growing hub for FinTech startups
Even though the region’s FinTech industry is still in a development phase, the ecosystem fostered will provide a platform for FinTech unicorns to emerge over the coming years.
Consumer demographics, large smartphone and money transfer use and government support have been one of the key drivers for the growth of the FinTech industry in the MENA region.
UAE’s positioning as the largest fintech hub for startups in the MENA region was further cemented during the event with Mubadala Capital unveiling a $250 million (Dh918.29m) in tech funds and ADGM launching their digital sandbox.
Judging by the success of what we saw, there’s no doubt that the FinTech industry will go from strength to strength in the region. The industry is continuing to evolve by the day, and there will be innovations and ideas that will inspire more companies and entrepreneurs in the coming years.
Originally Published At: https://sevenmedia.ae/reflections-of-fintech-abu-dhabi-2019/
