🍞 PR@ctical {Issue #21}
One thing you can do to gain TV exposure in 2021
Welcome to our first edition of 2021. I’m ready to dig in and find the most practical and tactical tips to help you use digital PR to build influence and identify media opportunities this year.
We’re starting the year off with one thing you can do…
➡️ Local TV is where it’s at
It’s a chicken and egg conundrum. You can’t typically get TV experience without TV experience. When I’m pitching clients for national TV segments, producers ask for a TV reel or clips to verify ability to speak on air (plus valid credentials, of course).
FOCUS ON SECURING A LOCAL, RECURRING TV SEGMENT to jumpstart your television visibility in 2021.
For the past year and a half, I’ve been doing a somewhat regular segment on Las Vegas Now focused on consumer tech. It does a few things: continues to hone my on-air chops, gives me content I can use elsewhere and an opportunity to give a wider distribution to local-first content.
Here’s how I do it: I pitch time-sensitive topics to the show producer and package it together for a visually compelling segment.
Here’s how you can do it, too:
Identify the thing you’re an EXPERT on that would make for a great TV content (e.g. consumer tech) 🔑 without the visual angle, it won’t work
Select your favorite local news station, then a morning or afternoon segment where your content would be a great fit
Package together what you want to talk about, your visual assets and pitch
Research and find the producer of the segment you want to pitch
Send your pitch to them. Seek them out on Twitter and Linkedin.
For your written pitch to the producer follow this format:
👋 Personal intro and establish your expertise and/or online reach
📺 The angle + visual components
🗓 Timelines and appropriateness
🗺 How it applies to your local community
If you decide to take this route, let me know how it goes, including: any hurdles you experience, what is holding you back and, most important, YOUR SUCCESS and SEGMENT. I’ll share links to any that run right here.
Thanks to all for reading this week.
Stay safe and well.
In service,
Sarah
Can you share an example of the types of visual assets you typically include? I'm not sure what the actual pitch would look like either. Super interesting stuff, Sarah!