How to deliver a successful media partnership

Today’s newsrooms receive hundreds, if not thousands, of pitches and press releases every day. Meanwhile, traditional media teams have downsized dramatically, meaning fewer journalists covering more beats, as publishers become more reliant than ever on advertising partners.

The result? Brands looking to enter new markets and increase visibility of their product, where awareness is relatively low, can sometimes find it difficult to achieve cut through - even with the most attention-grabbing headline.

A content partnership with top-tier media outlets can, therefore, be an invaluable addition to your PR campaign, helping to deliver key messaging to your target audience and build credibility in an authentic way.

Why a media partnership goes further than traditional advertising

Media partnerships can range from a sponsored long-form article, to social media competitions and hosting roundtable events. Crucially, this means that they are very different from traditional advertising.

Rather than purchasing space to promote your message and lay out your sales pitch in a creative way, a well designed media partnership is a collaborative effort, often involving editorial teams to ensure strategic alignment and delivering mutual benefits.

When executed effectively, media partnerships can drive up to twice the impact of a standard advertising campaign - creating powerful brand exposure and strong ROI.

When should I consider a media partnership?

The strategic benefits of a media partnership can create third-party endorsement that will enhance your overall marketing efforts and increase credibility. But it’s important to know when this investment makes sense for your business.

Elevating your brand profile

If your goal is to target a new, niche or hard-to-reach demographic, partnering with an outlet that has strong engagement with that audience can put your message at the top of their agenda.

Some partnerships can also help you to better have a deeper understanding of who is engaging with your content beyond general reach, to demonstrate ROI at a more granular level. From analysing page views, to tracking UTM links and utilising opt-in data capture tools, media partnerships can play a role in supporting your lead-generation efforts.

Reaching a new sector

When venturing into a new market, getting onto the radar of journalists at specialist media titles can take time, as your PR team works to nurture these relationships to secure a steady pipeline of coverage opportunities.

A media partnership can support these efforts and fast-track the process, often presenting editorial benefits as part of sponsored packages. If you work well together with the editorial team, you’ll be able to grow the relationship beyond your initial collaboration too.

launching a new product or brand

As you prepare to launch a major campaign for your business, whether it’s around a product launch or rebrand, allocating budget towards a well-crafted collaboration can help to create a buzz and drive engagement from prospective customers, providing multi-channel exposure that reinforces your key marketing message.

Driving the conversation

The benefit of a paid partnership is your opportunity to maintain an element of creative control. You should work in collaboration with the publishing team to ensure that - while the story being delivered reflects their own editorial guidelines, has a news hook and is relevant for their readers - you still have final sign off on the core message and call to action.

Backlinks to your website or engagement with your social media channels can also be effective here, boosting salience in a way that feels authentic.

What does a successful media partnership look like?

Getting a media partnership right requires a well-crafted strategy to ensure mutual benefit for both parties. To increase your chance of success, follow these key steps:

1. Define your goals:
   It may sound obvious, but ensure you are clear on what you want to achieve from a partnership, and define your desired outcomes. Do you want to increase brand awareness, promote a specific message, or increase engagement? This first step is key to guiding exactly what content is created, and where.

2. Choose the right partner:
   Once you have a clear, concise message that reflects the mission of your campaign, and you know the exact audience you want to target, take time to research the different partnership opportunities available to ensure the campaign aligns with your objectives.
   Avoid getting caught up in vanity metrics - while it might be tempting to work with an outlet that boasts an impressive circulation on paper, the most worthwhile partnerships can often come from publications that have a smaller, but more engaged audience.

3. Have a strong call to action:
   To make the most of your partnership, ensure the content that you are providing is engaging and demonstrates how your product or service can provide the solution to a reader’s problem. It may be case studies to demonstrate the impact in action, or a call for change on a specific industry issue.

4. Maximise your investment:
   Negotiate editorial opportunities early doors by researching your chosen media outlet’s content platforms. Perhaps they also host a regular podcast series that your spokesperson can feature on, or a guest column that they can contribute to.

   Understanding these options and agreeing deliverables as part of the package will ensure the partnership delivers maximum value.

Media partnership:

Case study

Acting as the national PR agency for doorset manufacturer, JELD-WEN UK, we managed a media partnership with the well-respected social housing publication, Inside Housing, to survey its readers and better understand the level of safety and security in multi-occupancy properties.

The strategic campaign was designed to highlight how the first line of defence for a home starts at the front door, with JELD-WEN calling for the procurement of better quality products to increase protection against break-ins.

Survey findings were published in an in-depth report, in print and online as a featured article, with supporting commentary from other industry experts to add real-life context to the story.

32 pieces of promotional content relating to the campaign were shared across the Inside Housing website and social channels, resulting in 34,187 engagements and generating 13 genuine leads for the sales team.

A strategic advantage

As a leading B2B and B2C PR agency, we work with clients across a range of sectors to ensure media partnerships are used to complement the efforts of their PR campaigns, so that they can deliver real value and maximise returns.

Get in touch to see how we can work together to boost your business PR strategy.