Maximizing publicity opportunities involves more than just widely distributing a news release or pitching the same story idea to multiple media outlets.

To get the most PR mileage, look for ways to expand your story’s reach to a variety of audiences by identify angles that will appeal to narrower segments.

When I started my own agency, one of my first clients was a lady who was launching a residential steel framing business. Although steel framing for homes had been around for many years in some parts of the country, it was a new concept for our area. In fact, hers was the first company of its kind in Tennessee.

While the basic facts of the story were the same, I was able to generate some excellent media coverage by segmenting my pitches and emphasizing different aspects to different media outlets:

• To our local business journal, I emphasized the entrepreneurial side
• To our local daily paper, I got a front-page feature story about alternative materials for new houses
• To HGTV, I focused on the growing trend of having steel framing for homes, and the benefits of steel over wood framing
• To women’s publications, I focused on a female entering the construction business, which traditionally has been dominated by men
• To my client’s hometown paper, which also ran a front-page story, I pitched a “local lady makes good” angle and tied it to an award she recently won

As I noted in my previous post, the more you can provide reporters with relevant, factual information that is meaningful and targeted to their audience, the more likely you are to get coverage.  Giving reporters an appropriately segmented pitch is one way to make their jobs easier and broaden exposure of your client or business.

Don Beehler provides public relations consulting services to advertising agencies and businesses.

photo credit: Bogdan Suditu via photopin cc