Television PR is a powerful thing. Translating your client’s brief or story into a format that will be applicable for television means they will get more exposure, more coverage and the campaign will generate a whole lot of public engagement along the way. But how effective is television PR? And how can you use television as a medium to boost your campaign?
What is television PR?
Television PR is the act of landing earned media on television. The way in which this happens is through a variety of methods – namely through smart planning, intelligent pitching and negotiating with producers in order to get your campaign aired on the appropriate channel(s). Owned media, such as content that your brand or campaign produces, may be more difficult to distribute than paid media, but is a lot easier to control, and is far more effective.
Why is television PR effective?
Television PR is effective for lots of different reasons. For example, looking through a newspaper, consumers will more often than not skip over the advertisements, despite the fact that more money has been put behind them to stand out. What will really grab a consumer’s attention is a well-placed piece of written content – think this, but even bigger for television. TV has the biggest reach out of any platform, with the ability to target vast audiences all day, every day.
TV is a fluid platform. You only have to look at the links between television and to see this. The synergy between television and social media is incredible – these days, when we’re watching television, we’re usually on a device – be it a smartphone, laptop or tablet. This means that if your campaign is televised and interests a viewer, they’ll go straight online and do more research into your story, boosting both reach and engagement.
Television PR is an extremely creative process. From the very beginning planning stages, through to the initial briefs and selection of appropriate spokespeople, all the way through to the negotiations with producers and the eventual airing of your piece, you have the opportunity to mould your campaign from an idea into a piece of hard-hitting television.
TV is, obviously, a visual platform, which means you can go many different ways with a television PR campaign to really make it stand out. Once it’s on the screen, there’s so many different, imaginative things you can do to boost it. You can target different audiences, playing to different emotions, and introduce relatable, real spokespeople and interviewees. Through your television PR campaign, you could use graphics to make a slightly heavier story more emotive, or b-roll footage to bring it all together and fill in any gaps. In short – you have so much more creative freedom than you do with print or radio. You also have more engagement – when people are listening to the radio, it’s likely they’re doing other things at the same time, and when they’re reading a newspaper, they could be on a crowded train that causes distractions. When people are tuning into their favourite channel, they’re more likely to be completely absorbed in the programme, and more engaged in your story.
How can 4media group make television PR work for your campaign?
By introducing television PR into your campaign, you’re opening up a whole avenue of opportunity. In our opinion, by far one of the best ways to make it work for your campaign is to ensure you have the strongest possible spokesperson onboard. An effective spokesperson is the linchpin of your campaign – someone your audience can connect to on a human level and someone who knows the story inside-out. We can help you plan thoroughly to make sure you get the right person for your story, and make sure they’re ‘real’ – nothing will make your audience switch off faster than a spokesperson they can’t relate to. Another important factor relating to your chosen spokesperson is to make sure they’re reliable. You need someone who’s going to give insight into the story, whilst still being able to subtly mention the brand – without going overboard or being transparent.
Through research and planning your television PR campaign, we’ll be able to create an effective cue sheet that includes relevant terminology to your story. By taking note of what programmes your story will be shown on, we’ll be able to get an idea of audiences, and will know best how to help your spokesperson address different types of viewers.
If your campaign is being televised across multiple channels, you will need to adapt the content so it’s suitable for each individual programme. Looking at their targeted audiences, we’ll be able to identify how they will best receive the campaign. We’ll help you to pinpoint the type of footage that should be shown, and the sort of interviewees that will have the most impact. Most of all, no matter what programme your television PR campaign is being shown on, we’ll make sure your campaign maintains purpose.
A final note from the 4media group – try to be original! If it’s a big story, chances are there will be lots of coverage surrounding it, so try and give your particular campaign a different spin to really make it stand out from the crowd. With our expert insight and in-house television PR specialists, we’ll be able to help you create a show-stopping tv campaign that’ll keep your client happy and satisfied.
To find out more, or to get advice on how best to use television PR in your campaign, don’t hesitate to contact us now!