Niche Media or Mass Media
By Cheval John
A person has just started a new business and they are looking to attract new customers.
They understand they do not have the funding to place an ad in newpapers or buy a spot on the billboards.
They figured out one of the ways to market their business is by being featured in the media.
The first thing they might do is hire a public relations firm to pitch their business to shows on major media outlets.
It might seem like a good idea because major media outlets like CBS, ABC and NBC has a nationwide reach.
The first problem: it cost an average $10,000 to hire a great public relations firm to pitch your story to major media.
The second problem: the shows from major media will not be interested in you because you are just starting out and you are not big enough for them.
The better solution would be to focus on getting your story featured in niche media.
The reasons are:
1. THEY HAVE A TARGETED AUDIENCE.
When your story gets featured on a new media outlets like blogs or podcasts, you have a much better chance at accomplishing your goals.
Their audience are very interested in what you have to say.
If they are interested, there is a good chance you can win over some customers.
Dr. Ai Addyson-Zhang‘s live streaming show, Classroom Without Walls, has an average audience of 100 views from around the world.
That might look to you like peanuts.
However, every times a guest appears on her show,they ended up gaining new clients.
2. THERE ARE TASTE TESTERS
The people who run blogs,podcasts or live stream shows are taste testers because they are the ones who are ahead of the curve.
They are willing to see what your business is and are willing to put themselves on the line for you.
3. THEY ARE MORE TRUSTED
Their audience trust them because they have built a solid reputation over the years.
When they recommend something that is valuable to them, they is a great chance their audience will respond.
4. THEIR CONTENT CAN BE RE-PURPOSED ON MAJOR MEDIA
Morning television shows on major media are searching for content everyday because they have to fill their time slot.
If your story gets discovered on a blog by a major media, they will feature it as one of their segments on their shows.
Abbie Unger runs a facebook group teaching people how to land work as a flight attendant.
Her story was featured on podcasts before being picked up by the Huffington Post.
A couple of months later, a major television show featured her story in their segment.
Now that you have seen the reasons for choosing niche media, the question is how to reach out to them.
Here are some suggestions to this question
1. BE ACTIVE ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Interact with your audience on a daily basis because they will appreciate you more.
This might even catch the eye of reporters because they are now on social media because they know that breaking news can happen there
2. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
If you know what your target audience is about, it can give you an idea of how to sell your story to a journalist.
You can’t just send a blanket press release to every journalist out there hoping for one to bite.
That will make you look bad in the long run.
3. SHARE THE REPORTER’S CONTENT
If an article by a reporter resonates, you can share it on your social media accounts.
If you do this consistently, they will take notice and there is a good chance they will respond to your pitch.
Also, interact with them on social media.
There is a good chance you all might have a lot in common.
4. MAKE YOUR WEBSITE A CONTENT HUB
Thanks to technology, journalists are short handed.
They to do everything from writing their story to editing their package before deadline to air on the news.
If your pitch does not get their attention, they will simply delete it and move on.
One of the best things you can do is create the story yourself.
You can put blog posts on your website with some clips from your event.
If you done the first three steps above, you can then send your pitch with the blog post attached to it.
There is a great chance the journalist will select it because they saw you took the time to put the story together yourself.
What are your thoughts on this?
Please leave your comment below.
Live Streaming “Stars” To Watch In 2020
By Cheval John
It has been 15 years since Facebook was launched.
One can argue that platform was the origins of social media.
Facebook allowed us to re-connect with people we have not seen in a long time.
Other platforms like Twitter (2006), Pinterest (2009), Instagram (2010), Snapchat (2011) has given us options to grow our brand and organizations.
I can say for sure, live streaming was the biggest creation this decade.
Smaller platforms like Blab were the early entries into live streaming that made social media more personal.
Blab basically allowed Twitter to grow indirectly because you had needed an account in order to use the live streaming platform.
When the bigger social media platforms entered the live streaming space, the smaller platforms either
dissolved or were bought out.
Now major media companies are joining in on the live streaming space.
Major League Baseball live streamed a few of their baseball games this year exclusively on their YouTube channel.
Cheddar successfully created their own non-linear channel using Facebook Live, Twitter and other platforms.
ESPN created their own live streaming platform, ESPN+ in 2018 which has grown to 3.5 million paid subscribers.
ESPN+ has allowed many mid-major universities to broadcast their games to a national audience.
I will delve deeper on ESPN+ in a future blog post.
In previous blog posts, you have seen a list of live streaming “stars” to look out for.
This list will be a bit different as I will include media organizations who are using live streaming to reach out to a newer audience.
For without further delay, here is the list of live streaming “stars” to look out for in 2020
1. Ai Addyson-Zhang
Dr. Zhang is the host of “Classroom Without Walls” a show which interviews educational and social media professionals.
2. Jessika Phillips
Jessika is the co-host of “Magnet Marketers” live streaming media training
3. Mike Gingrich
Mike is the co-host of “Magnet Marketers” live streaming social media training.
4. Kami Huyse
Kami is the host of Social Media Breakfast which meets the second friday of every month.
The event is live streamed on their facebook page.
5. France 24
France 24 is a media organization which live stream their news segments every half hour on YouTube
6. Bloomberg TV
Bloomberg TV has recently started live streaming their business news on their YouTube channel
7. Meisha Johnson
Meisha is a journalist who live streams on Facebook
8. Europe 1
Europe 1 is a french radio station that live streams their shows on YouTube
Share this: