The Value of Long-Term Media Relationship Building
Long-term reporter relationships built through valuable, no-strings-attached access can lead to deeper, more strategic coverage when major news breaks.
In PR, it can be easy to fall into the habit of relying on transactional relationships with reporters. When your clients have near-term news or you’re pitching a time-sensitive proactive story, you reach out to the most relevant targets and hope they’ll report on it. It’s how a lot of coverage happens.
But making time to interact with reporters when you’re not expecting an immediate payoff can be a lot more valuable in the long run. That kind of relationship-building leads to better, deeper coverage down the road, especially when you want to transform a news moment into a more strategic storytelling opportunity.
Here’s an example of what that looks like in practice. One of our clients is frequently in the news but rarely gives behind the scenes access to media. Knowing that there were likely to be some major news moments in the coming months, we reached out to a locally based reporter with a national tier 1 technology and business outlet, offering a site tour and interview with the company’s CEO. The briefing wasn’t tied to any particular news nor did we have any expectations for immediate coverage. It was purely to build a relationship with that reporter.
Three months later, the client was preparing to announce some significant funding news. A key goal for the announcement was to generate a more in-depth, nuanced piece of signature coverage that went deeper than the typical “company X raises a lot money” funding story.
We went back to the reporter who’d visited earlier in the year and offered them a first-run exclusive on the news (early access under an embargo), which they accepted. The resulting article covered not just the funding news, but brought in elements of the company’s strategy, key milestones, and unique vision that came directly from the prior tour and CEO interview.
Getting this kind of coverage isn’t rocket science, but it does take persistence and patience. Here are a few tips for long-term media relationship-building:
1. Offer reporters something of value even if there’s no news.
A meeting can’t be a waste of their time. Whether you provide access to a hard-to-get executive, a visit to an interesting or normally off-limits facility, or background perspective on breaking news, you want the reporter to feel like it's time well-spent. The more rare it is, the more valuable it is.
2. Set expectations properly; immediate coverage isn’t the goal.
Don’t entice a reporter with a promise of news that isn’t coming; you’ll damage the relationship - for you AND your client. Instead, position the opportunity as something that will help their reporting when there is news. That said, most reporters are busy, so you’ll need to be flexible in accommodating their schedule.
3. Offer exclusives, it’s what reporters value the most.
The best payoff for a reporter is when they can get a scoop. If you can couple a background or relationship-building briefing with a promise that they’ll be first on your call list for an exclusive, they’re more likely to take your call when that news moment comes.
Transactional pitching will always have a place in the PR toolbox because it’s necessary and it works. But there are some results you can only get from building a relationship with a reporter whose trust you’ve earned over time and who you’ve helped gain an understanding of the company that goes beyond what’s in a press release. Like any good investment, it won’t pay off overnight but it’s well worth the effort over time.