How to Deliver Your Message for Effectiveness
Getting Your Message to the Masses
Last week we published the first in a series of posts focused on connecting with the media. The articles expand on a recent webinar we created for legal professionals on Effectively Getting Your Messages to the Masses. The first set of topics we’re going to dive into all revolve around the different methods of delivering your message. Whether you are working with the media for a specific case or broadcasting a message for social or political activism, there are four common outreach methods you can use. These include op-eds, letters to the editor, pitching stories, and social media. We’re going to delve deeper into each of these forms in future posts, but here we’ll provide a brief overview of each.
Op-eds
An op-ed is a piece that you write yourself and submit for newspaper publication on the editorial page. Op-eds run opposite of the editorials written by the newspaper's own editorial staff. If you're going to write an op-ed, you should write it about something that you are an expert in. But, remember that you're an expert on many things besides your employment. For example, if you’re a parent, you may not be an education expert, but you are abundantly qualified to talk about raising and educating your own kids.
Letters to the Editor
A letter to the editor is probably the most traditional form of newspaper contact. In their most basic form, letters are generally about issues of concern from a publication’s readers. Newspapers are more likely to run letters that are a reaction to an article published by that publication. Also, for a greater likelihood of getting published, try to state facts or opinions that were not included in the original article.
Remember too that you need to realize whether you're dealing with the kind of newspaper whose focus is local issues or a national paper, like The Washington Post. Local papers tend to publish letters to the editor from local citizens. For example, if you were going to write a letter to the editor about the opioid epidemic, try publishing it in your local paper before going to a more national publication like USA Today.
Pitching Stories
There are really two types of methods for pitching stories. The first is a press release. This is something you should send to every media organization you can think of, including TV. Press releases are best for public events like a protest, a trial, a news conference. Something where you want every single reporter that you can get to come to your event. Hopefully, if it is a TV reporter, they can come and bring their camera!
Exclusive are best for a human interest story. That is the kind of story you're not going to send out a press release about. For an exclusive, it is really best to have some idea of what a reporter or news organization might be interested in. You can call them up directly and suggest an exclusive story to them. It's really great if you actually know a reporter or editor personally, and it's always good to cultivate those relationships.
Social Media
Our final avenue of connecting and getting your message out is social media. As the newest form of communicating to the masses, social media offers exciting opportunities to connect directly with media outlets, as well as getting messages out through your own social channels. Social blogging platforms like Medium and Linkedin have created effective avenues for directly publishing your pieces. Similarly, networking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have become vital outreach points for getting a message out to both your followers and others.
We’ll be releasing these articles weekly. If you have any questions or comments feel free to reach out in the comments section below, or connect with us on Linkedin.
Want to learn more about connecting with the media? Check out our online presentation on Effectively Getting Your Message to the Masses.