Congratulations! You are in an industry that is constantly being covered by television, radio and newspaper. How have you taken advantage of this free publicity? Every financial professional has the opportunity to become their communities’ “local expert” by partnering with the media.

Establishing media relationships is easier than you may think. Many financial professionals feel the pressures of writing articles or hosting radio shows. While these are extremely beneficial branding efforts, you can still reap the name recognition the media provides without the extensive time commitment. Your main effort should stem from building relationships with media personnel.

Like you seek the ideal prospect, media personnel seek the golden story. Every day they are consulting with financial professionals on “hot topics” for their articles, radio shows, and television shows. Make sure they are coming to you for the advice!

The first step is branding your company. It’s imperative to establish the company identity that you would like before having the media accredit you for expert advice. A name and logo will connect the media coverage with your company for readers and listeners. You must have an identity to be identified.

The next step to gaining the free publicity is building media relationship. With a little bit of research, you can quickly find which radio host, newspaper writer, or television anchor covers your area of expertise. Their contact information is distributed to the public so that people can submit story ideas which they deem newsworthy. Even if you do not have an immediate topic you would like to submit, you should still remain in contact for future topic proposals. For various methods on how to remain in touch, contact 4WARD.

Local hosts, reporters and writers constantly  deliver information that maintains their communities’ interest. One way to launch your media relationships is to be reactive. Send the media contacts your response to a piece about the financial industry that they covered. Present feedback and suggestions on how they could approach a follow up topic or what they could have included to peak interest in the piece. Offer to be “readily” available for them if they would like future guidance for financial topics and state that you would be eager to work with them.

Your personal contact with media personnel, like many marketing efforts, should be continuous. Make sure you stay on their mind.

Once you have begun the connection with your media contact, you are ready for the final step: becoming your local expert. You are proactive by sending newsworthy information. You are reactive by delivering feedback on media coverage and proposing a spin for a future piece. You’ve established your relationships with all media outlets and you’ve presented yourself as the local financial expert. Like all solid networking connections, make sure to maintain your media connections. Remember that while a financial topic may not hit every headline or radio announcement every day, there are still weekly financial publications, radio shows, and special reports. Take part!

Once you receive the publicity, make sure to fully utilize the coverage by getting a copy of the show or article where you are cited. Share with clients and prospects and combine the coverage with your other marketing efforts.

If you would like further information on how to build media relationships, please contact your 4WARD Marketing Team at 888-224-3324 or askhtm@nextrep.com.