When a reporter says ‘jump,’ ask how high

Drilling in a sense of urgency when working with the media was a valuable career lesson: Reporters are your top priority. The term media relations is self-descriptive. Relationships are at the core of our profession. We have to work hard to become a trusted source of information.

They are our constituents. In media relations, reporters are the customers.

Marketing and media relations

Recently, Arment Dietrich hosted a webinar by acclaimed marketer Jay Baer (author of the book “Youtility“) on “Why Your Marketing Needs to be About Help, Not Hype.”

Baer says marketing tactics that are useful and helpful to the customer—even if they aren’t directly and immediately beneficial to the organization—are better at building a brand and establishing long-term customer loyalty. This premise holds true for successful media relations, too.