Agency secures impressive coverage for clients without regular, ongoing pitching

With only three full-time staff members dedicated to PR on behalf of its nearly 20 health care IT clients, Agency Ten22 has taken an innovative approach to producing media placements for clients—an approach that has earned the agency first place in the “Innovation in Media Relations” category of PR Daily’s 2018 Media Relations Awards.

The agency hosts a biannual media tour targeting editors, bloggers and podcasters that delivers a 90 percent hit rate while saving thousands of hours that would normally be spent plugging away at pitches. Agency Ten22 introduced the tour in 2005 and has built upon it since then, refining the steps required to achieve those impressive results.

It begins with outreach three months before the tour to confirm availability. Account managers meet with client to brainstorm story ideas, subject matter experts and sources, ultimately deciding on about five topics. The Agency Ten22 team then meets to review each story and topic, determining which editors, bloggers and podcasters should be targeted for each one. Appointments are then set for breakfast, lunch, dinner or in-office meetings.

The agency creates briefing documents for each editor, association or outlet. The team takes copious notes during the meetings, where relationships are built and placements are confirmed. With the kind of results this effort achieves, it’s a wonder that more agencies haven’t adopted Ten22’s approach.

Congratulations to Agency Ten22 and Beth Friedman.