(By Heidi Raphael) If you’ve ever been directly involved in any sort of home improvement project, you know that having the right tools is essential to getting the work done properly.
The same holds true in promoting your station or company. The type of tools you use can effectively make or break getting your announcement out to the audience you are trying to reach.
Here are some things to include in your station or company’s PR Toolkit:
- Create a written media policy that outlines procedures, chain of approval, and turnaround times for releases, as well as who is empowered to speak on behalf of your station or company. Make sure everyone receives it and include it in your company handbook. Be sure to include specific information relating to employee postings (what’s allowed/what’s not) on social media that refer directly to your station and company.
- Create media advisory and press release formats for your individual stations to use to provide a consistent look for any announcements they may do.
- Write a “boilerplate” about your station/company. This is a very short, one-paragraph overall description about your station/company that is featured at the bottom of your release. It’s usually several sentences long.
- Have updated station/company logos as well as current headshots of your team members and on-air personalities. If you are promoting a special event, be sure to include any special artwork that you have designed that represents what you are referring to in your press release.
- Compile a media list of contacts that you can reach out to on both local and national levels. Be sure to update it on a regular basis.
The more prepared you are, the more effective your station will be in getting your message out!
Heidi Raphael is a Broadcasting Corporate Communications and Marketing Specialist. She can be reached at [email protected].
