SOCIAL MEDIA ZEITGEIST

There is no formula for getting media coverage, which is why you probably get so many PR agencies offering you their services… for a fee. Should you enlist specialist help or can you do it yourself?

The answer will depend on a few factors, starting with whether you have the time, interest and a bit of a gift for it in house. Think carefully about what kind of coverage you want, how much of it, where – and crucially why. What do you want to achieve?

Big practices with many projects normally have in-house teams, sometimes supported by an agency for their firepower and contacts. Smaller practices often complain they never have time to think about publicity because they’re so busy designing.

 

Specialist help

If you decide you want help, pick an agency or individual with the right expertise. If you want glossy spreads in the architecture press, use a specialist who knows the publications inside out. If you want to be in the Sunday Times, you probably want a national agency. Give prospective agencies a scenario and ask how they would go about securing you column inches. Their answer should be about tailored approaches, not the number of emails they would send.

 

DIY

While there is no formula, it’s also not rocket science. If you fancy giving it a go yourself, don’t be daunted by the idea of approaching journalists. They don’t mind who contacts them – in fact they much prefer speaking to the horse’s mouth rather than some junior PR who has to keep going back to the client.

Read your target publications, think about their audiences and try and work out which section or journalist might be interested in a particular project and why. The FT is not going to review your small housing project, but it might just be possible to get a mention in a piece on housing trends, or a picture in a property round-up in a lifestyle section.

Email, DM or even try calling, but be brief and very clear on why they should be interested. The “why” may be different for each paper you approach. Redrafting your email each time is time well spent. Journalists are swamped with irrelevant approaches and are always on a tight deadline, sometimes minutes away, so you need to catch their eye very quickly and respond quickly to their questions. Think about it from their point of view.

In your initial approach, include the “pitch”, some top-line project information (what is it?) and an image or two so they can quickly gauge if it’s of interest. Most won’t bother to download your hi-res images to see what you’re talking about. You have to convince them it will be worth their while.

 

What kind of coverage?

Broadly, the slots in the specialist press tend to be: project review; technical piece; news story; opinion.

 

Features

If you want an 8-page glossy review, you need to prove your project warrants that much space and effort. Only a handful of buildings each year get that kind of treatment. Your new school may be competing with a global museum opening the same week, or this month’s theme may be healthcare. If so consider offering your first-choice magazine an exclusive and waiting a month, unless the client’s PR is already talking to the press.

What makes your project stand out? Did you solve an exceptional technical challenge? Is it the first/biggest/greenest? Is there something sexy about the design or the client?

If it’s the kind of project everyone will be clamouring to cover then set an embargo for shortly after the press views so everyone can publish at the same time. Notice if the magazine only runs features on completed buildings – or is there a chance for, say, a first look/on-site/interview?

 

News

News is only news at key moments: project win; first images; planning; and when you complete, or run into trouble!

These milestones are mostly of interest to the architectural press, but if your client is particularly glitzy or the project particularly significant or quirky you could make mainstream headlines. Apply the pub test: how would you tell your mates about it?

Prepare a short press release, snappy quote and images – probably commissioned by you – ready to go out immediately. Otherwise the news will be too old or will leak out some other way: a tweet from the planning committee, or a press release from the client neglecting to mention you. A press release doesn’t need to be anything formal, a few lines in an email is fine.

Be alive to news opportunities your project could illustrate, such as a sudden interest in retrofit after a policy announcement. It may come down to luck but if you are regularly talking to journalists it increases your chances. If they know they can email or call you when they’ve got a deadline looming because you’ll always try to help with an example or a quote, you’ll build the kind of relationship where they read your emails and take your calls when you’ve got something to promote.

 

Opinion

Another opportunity is soundbites, thought leadership and op-eds. This could be getting your quote into a story, or writing an entire column on something you feel strongly about or have expertise in. Think strategically: what kind of profile do you want to build? Do you want to become known as experts in, say, net zero? Or do you want to become an authoritative industry voice, which means sticking your neck above the parapet? Do you want to be noticed by peers or clients? Don’t be afraid to pitch directly to publications you know run pieces like this. Or use social media to get noticed by journalists.

 

Disaster Management

There is also the kind of news you would rather avoid: local objectors, bust budgets, construction flaws… your building starts melting cars. Your hands may be tied by the client but if not it’s often best to engage with the journalist. Be positive and honest, even if you can’t tell them everything. What’s the bigger picture? Discuss it internally so you feel prepared. And if you already have a relationship with the journalist or are experienced at talking to the press it will be easier.

 

And finally…

While it’s useful to understand all this, don’t let the constraints stop you trying a brilliant idea.

Once you’re in print, shout about it on social media. Don’t quibble over minor points: journalists are not there to do your PR. If they get something factually wrong ask quickly and politely for a correction. They want to get things right. In our digital age, the old reassurance about today’s story being tomorrow’s chip paper is no longer true.

 

Elizabeth Hopkirk is a journalist and communications consultant, specialising in the built environment. She spent more than a decade at Building Design, covering news, features and opinion. Before that she worked for the Evening Standard and Radio 4. She is currently Editorial and Communications Manager for Save Britain’s Heritage.