Why we should think “big picture”
In public relations, an ongoing challenge is to identify media angles for our clients that are relevant and timely. Sometimes it’s straightforward—a client may have a new service or an upcoming event that provides reporters with a news hook. But more often, developing unique story angles takes creativity and a big picture mindset, pulling back the lens a bit to use our “outsider” perspective to identify good opportunities for clients.
Here at T&C, we practice this tactic often. We look at industry trends, national and local headlines and conversations that play out across social media. This allows us to see where our clients may fit. Our goal is to weave our clients into those conversations in a natural and authentic way. If we don’t have a broad perception of what is of interest at the moment, we run the risk of missed opportunities and stale pitches.
Take, for example, the Alaska Nurses Association, the labor union that represents and advocates for thousands of Alaska’s nurses. As experts in the health care field, Alaska Nurses can speak to various health care issues when they arise. But there are other topics that Alaska Nurses can provide valuable insight on, such as back-to-school time. We have successfully pitched media angles ranging from “required school immunizations” to the “top-10 questions that a school nurse hears from parents,” identifying a new angle each year to fit with the annual back-to-school season.
When the Disney Nature movie “Bears” was released, we tied the excitement to our client, Princess Lodges. We wrote an entire blog post for Princess about bear viewing in Alaska, specifically from Princess properties. The new movie served as a news peg for the blog, providing us with the “why now” element for the topic of bear viewing and better SEO online.
As PR professionals, we also rely on our clients to educate us on specific trends they see in their own industries. For a client like Recover Alaska, an organization which aims to reduce excessive alcohol use and harm in our state, the holidays — often a time when we look at pitching lighter story angles related to charitable giving or holiday shopping — may not seem like a topic that Recover Alaska would speak to. But after listening to our client and hearing that the holidays can in fact be a challenging time for people who are in alcohol recovery and trying to maintain sobriety, we were able to develop new media angles from an incredibly valuable perspective.
There are countless ways to find a unique angle for your client. But sometimes it’s easy to get too caught up on what we think will be the “right fit” and miss the “right now.” So what’s our best advice on thinking big picture? Listen to your clients, challenge your creativity and embrace the ideas that may at first seem like a stretch.
