Earned Media in Your Life Science Content Marketing Strategy
Earned media (coverage in a 3rd party publication) can be a valuable element in the overall marketing strategy for a life science company. And it may not require the services of a dedicated PR agency if you understand what your target publications are looking for and the right way to approach them.
Jennifer Oladipo has covered several industries as a journalist. In this 30 minute interview, she shared her best advice on getting media coverage for your company.
Journalists are under time pressure like everyone else. Be concise in your communications.
Because of the time pressure, there is value in providing resources that help journalists understand the broader business landscape.
Building and maintaining relationships is essential. Jennifer offers specific suggestions for doing this.
It’s helpful to pay attention to the news and point out what’s important or notable to the industry. What does it mean for you, your peers or your customers?
Jennifer explains how your company’s video, infographics and white papers can provide value to journalists.
Enjoy the conversation.
About My Guest …
An award-winning journalist, Jennifer Oladipo founded X Editorial to dig deeper and become a partner with clients, rather than an observer. More than 15 years of journalism and communications for nonprofit and for-profit organizations fostered an ability to understand complex information and ideas, and convey them powerfully to diverse audiences.
The Transcript
This transcript was lightly edited for clarity.
Chris: Today, I’m speaking with Jennifer Oladipo. Jennifer is a business writer with a background in journalism. We’re going to talk about integrating media publications into your content strategy. Jennifer, welcome to Life Science Marketing Radio.
Jennifer: Thanks so much. I’m glad to be here.
Chris: Well, I think this is gonna be really interesting. I’m excited to have you. First of all, tell us a little bit about your background, so the people in the audience understand kind of where all this information is coming from.
Jennifer: So, the quick and dirty is that I’ve basically bounced back and forth between media and journalism and, you know, being inside organizations. Sometimes simultaneously, if I, you know, was freelancing or maybe had a contract with a publication, and it just wasn’t full-time. So, I’ve been on both sides, trying to get something I or my organization was doing into the media and also looking for things, looking for stories and content and things like that, and then most recently, I have started my own venture, kind of wrapping those things together…it’s called X Editorial…and basically taking what I did, what I have done as a business reporter, covering a lot of areas but kind of narrowing down to TAG, life sciences, manufacturing, and a couple of other things, to basically kind of be on the team and help folks get those messages out and create content.
Chris: Nice. So, we’re talking about getting content published in the media…some people would call it “earned media.” Let’s start at the very basics. As a journalist, describe what the challenges are that you face when you’re looking to publish something, because, as we talked about right before we started this, you know, I have this imagination that a journalist gets a topic, they go some research, they write something up, and they publish it, but they don’t necessarily have all the resources that they need for that research at their fingertips. So, tell us a little bit about that.
Jennifer: So, the biggest challenge is kind of everybody’s biggest challenge, and it’s time. That’s what I found, that it was time, and it’s, you know…just for for anyone who hasn’t worked in the media, I mean, you feel pressed. Generally, I think most people do feel pressed and busy, but the deadline never goes away, there’s no pushing it back and “Oh, we’ll do the Tuesday paper on Wednesday, ” or, you know, that we’ll do the 6:00, you know, newscast at 7:30, or… You know, there’s none of that, so, it’s really…when you’re communicating with a journalist, you’re communicating with someone who is really pressed for time. That said, just a quick aside is that if you reach out to someone via telephone or anything, go ahead and just ask ’em first, you know, “Is this a good time?” That’s so appreciated. Because sometimes it’s really, really, really not.
And then the other thing is, just like other folks, there’s just so much information that it’s hard to wade through things, it’s hard to find, you know, novel angles, novel stories. You know, you’re competing with all the other stuff out there, and so you really want something that will get people’s eyeballs and attention, and that can be a difficult thing to find. I think another challenge, too, can be folks just not really understanding what you need as a journalist, so, sometimes, people can be a little impatient and not really understand why something is or is not newsworthy. People get a little, I think, tied to their idea of what a good story is or what the main focus is and sometimes don’t trust either, you know, journalists’ expertise or journalists’, just understanding of what it is they need at that time or when they need it. So that can sometimes be a little bit of a challenge, because then you get things that aren’t necessarily helpful and aren’t, you know, necessarily useful. Does that answer your question?
Chris: Yeah, yeah, no, that’s interesting. So one of the things you said to me that prompted a question I hadn’t thought of is…and I wanna jump right into it, although we might get back to it later, is when you said, “Wading through”…so sometimes, there’s a lot of information, and it made me think, “How can a company help a journalist streamline the wading process?”
Jennifer: That is a great question. One of the things you can do is to be concise. I think there’s a tendency, especially among folks who…you know, some people in your audience may be coming from a more technical background. You know, maybe there, the marketing is the secondary thing that they do, and the, you know, other writing and things that they’ve done has been more technical, and so, you know, you want it all in there, and, you know, you want it to be crystal-clear. Well, when you’re coming into somebody’s inbox, you don’t want it all in there. You really wanna make sure that folks just get the gist of what you want, starting with the subject line. You know, make sure that it’s pretty clear why this should be interested.
One of the other things that you can do as well to help journalists is to provide good resources. A lot of companies are producing content that is based on research, is based on, you know, valuable information. They’ve got some innovative stuff going on, and it’s actually very useful and newsworthy, and that content itself…not your sales materials, necessarily, but the content marketing things you would do that aren’t, you know, self-promotional…those kinds of things can be very helpful. One of the things that we talked about was how, you know, I as a journalist, always looking for new stories, always looking for new angles, and I used what I now understand is content marketing. I didn’t know that at the time, but things like studies, case studies, that sort of thing, that came through. And they were really good, solid information, and timely information.
There are many times where something like that, I got that content with, you know, just a brief explanation of what it was, called them right back, and, boom, they had a story. It was pretty simple, and it was good stuff, and it was, you know, relevant to my audience. You know, I felt like readers would actually get value out of it. And, you know, they got lots of coverage, and they got third-party coverage, so it was, you know, an independent voice saying, “Hey, they’ve done this work, and it’s really valuable. And here’s the link to it, and here’s the background behind it,” and, you know, you can’t pay for that kind of coverage.
Chris: Right, that’s kind of more what I was thinking, is that higher-level, useful-to-anyone sort of information, and even packaging it in a way for a journalist, maybe, “Here are 10 things that are important to think about in this space,” whatever it is. I don’t have a specific example in mind. Something that the journalists could take and then use it to evaluate everything else they’re looking at, and something that the audience, potential customers included, could look at and gain a better understanding of whatever situation they’re in.
Jennifer: Absolutely, and, you know, a list like that, 10 things that there’s some real information in there, you know, it’s very likely that a journalist will call you back to find out. You know, there’s a little bit of luck to it, you know. So it’s good to pay attention to what’s going on in the larger news, good to pay attention to what your target publication or journalist has been writing about. That helps. It’s not 100%, necessarily, but it definitely helps. You know, so, yeah, you mentioned, like, a top 10 list. If it’s something really, you know, some really solid information, where, you know, as a journalist, you’re looking at it, thinking, “I had no idea about this aspect of that industry, that technology, that process, that person”…you know, whatever.
Infographics, too…I mean, those kinds of things often get picked up and just run in totality, you know, and it’s got your organization’s name right there at the bottom and maybe just a little bit of editorial from the journalist, but, you know, there’s so much interest in visuals these days. So something like that can just get picked right up and slapped in the newspaper. But it becomes a news story, you know, by the process of, you know, being evaluated by a journalist and deemed, “Yes, you know, this is timely, this is novel,” whatever it is that they find useful about it. So that’s something to consider also. It doesn’t have to necessarily be a really big, dense, meaty piece of information.
Chris: I like that. One of my first episodes…I used to think that the primary way…and I know there are people who do think this, and I’m not saying it’s wrong, but, the value of infographics is certainly in having your audience members share them, because it’s an easy thing to share. But on one of my first podcasts, I spoke to Danny Ashton …and his company does nothing but make infographics…and his whole thing was, the way they make it work for companies is that, it goes out through the media. And they target, they specifically know what media are looking for that kind of information, and that’s…and hugely valuable, which I really hadn’t thought of as, kind of, the primary distribution channel for infographics and to get return on them.
Jennifer: Yeah, that’s interesting. Somebody, that’s a smart person there who decided to build a whole business model around it, because those things…and, you know, the other thing is, I mean, journalists are just as visually, you know, respond to the same things as everyone else. And so, you’re reading your own writing, you’re reading other people’s things, you’re reading emails, and then you go, “Ooh, a picture,” and your brain is just going to give that, you know, a few more beats of time, just…you know, we’re visual creatures, so, that’s definitely something to consider. And they don’t need to be big and involved. You know, they don’t need to be insane. The other good thing is that, as media organizations…you know, they’re doing a lot of sharing on social media, too, so they’re…have the same goals, to stop people in their tracks and get those eyeballs. So, there’s a chance that something like that is going to be shared fairly widely, because, you know, they can put it on Twitter and Facebook and, you know, get a lot of their own, you know, retweets and hits and that sort of thing.
Chris: All right, because they want traffic back to their publications as well.
Jennifer: Exactly.
Chris: Are there some other things you recommend companies do to increase their chances of getting their content picked up, and do we still need to rely on PR firms to make that happen, or…let’s take those in two steps.
Jennifer: Yeah, I’ll answer the PR question first, because I think it’s a little bit shorter. And, you know, it honestly depends on the size of your organization and your resources, I think. I mean, obviously, this is, you know, part of what I do. But I really do believe that, if you can find a dedicated staff person who can not only do that media engagement but be available to follow up, that’s kind of the key. So you don’t want someone who’s just, you know, putting things out there. You really want someone who is given the time and the bandwidth to be responsive and to just keep up with what’s going on out there. I think that…again, depending on the size of the company and what you’re doing…you know, if you’ve just kind of got one product or just a couple of products, and you’re at that point, you know, I’m not sure that that would really be necessary. You know, you could just build up relationships on your own with things like trade publications, with your local media who want to cover, you know, successful organizations or innovative businesses, and, you know, some choice national media.
And so, I think that leads into the answer to your first question is, you know, what can folks do, whether or not they’re relying on PR. Really, being picky is one of the best things you can do for yourself and for yourself and for the end receiver. Because, one of the worst things, one of the most annoying things, is when you get an email, and, you know, it’s just this shotgun thing. You don’t whether another dozen or another hundred journalists got it, and it’s pitching something that has nothing to do with what you cover, or what your publication covers, or anything like that. That’s just kind of a pain, and folks who do that often enough, you remember who they are, so you don’t even…you won’t even open the email, and it’s just a bad way to go. And it’s a waste of…well, I guess, just sending a click, it doesn’t take much more time, but, you know, your time is better spent really just finding out who is interested in what you do and who’s already writing about it or who’s connected with those audiences, so that you can explain to them, you know, your readers, your viewers, they’re interested in this kind of thing. You know, so that you…just do a little bit of homework to show that you understand what it is they do and whom it is they do it for. That’s a huge thing.
And, you know, so you do want to be kind of tailored and thinking about it really in terms of relationship-building. You know, because going back to that time-crunch thing that I mentioned, when you’re a journalist, and you’re sitting at your desk, and you’re looking for something, or you’re trying to find another angle, or you’re trying to find another piece of information even, about something that you’re already writing about, who’s gonna come to mind? Someone whom you’ve engaged with most recently, you know, just like the rest of us. Someone you have some kind of relationship with, a name you know, and, you know, have some trust in. So, reaching out even before you really have a story to just say, “Hey, I see what you’re doing. This is what we do. Love to keep in touch.”
Reaching out on social media is great. Not necessarily to pitch your stories, but just to retweet, to re-post, to give a thumbs-up or a high-five when there’s something you like, to give an opinion, you know, something knowledgeable. Those kinds of things go a long way when the clock is ticking and you’re like, “Oh, man, you know, I need someone who can, you know…who is it that knows something about this little bit of a thing?” And you go back in your emails, and you’re like, “Oh, that, you know, that person who posted that stuff on LinkedIn or responded to this,” and you just, you know, pick up the phone and call. And that happens a lot, just because you’re already a known entity.
Chris: I really like all of that. First of all, if you’re sending something to a dozen, and certainly to a hundred, journals, you’re already not starting with a good strategy, because you’re really trying to check a box that “we got something published somewhere.” It’s not possible that you’re publishing it, if it does get picked up, that it’s going into the right place, if it’s one out of a hundred, right?
Jennifer: Yeah.
Chris: And then the whole idea of building those relationships and not poisoning the well by doing that the first time…because maybe now, the next time, you go, “Oh, now I have a really good idea. I want to send this to that person,” and they look at your email, and they say, “Oh, that was the person who sent us the spam last time. I’m not even going to open it.” So, that hurts.
Jennifer: Yeah, if you mess and send some spam, just wait a while before you send your next pitch, to give people time to forget. But it’s true, it’s true. I mean, we joke about those things, because you just, you know who those people are. It’s kind of like the telemarketers, you know? I don’t know if you’ve had that. “Hi, I’m Rachel, from Cardholder Services,” but, you know…
Chris: She calls here a lot, actually.
Jennifer: Yeah, people know exactly what you’re saying, because it’s the same basic idea. You get that same feeling, you know, as a journalist, when someone’s in your inbox, you know, with something that just has nothing to do with you, and they’re just hoping that somehow…I don’t know, that you’re gullible enough or tired enough to think it’s news or think it’s valuable? It’s that same feeling. So, you don’t want to be the person who puts that out there and then tries to, you know, piggyback your message on top of that.
Chris: Right, and I like the idea of actually building that relationship and taking a long-term view that, if this journal or publication is the right thing for our story now, we should be looking at talking to them on a regular basis about anything and providing them useful things, even that might not be directly related to our business and being that resource so that, when they’re looking, they come to you, and then…
Jennifer: Absolutely. I think one good example of that is industry news, right? So, when I was a business reporter, I covered, you know, manufacturing, which is, okay, one sector, but then you’ve got, you know, advanced materials, you’ve got cars, you’ve got textiles, you’ve got, you know, a bunch of different stuff, electronics, so, medical devices. So, then, I can’t keep up with all the news in all of those areas, you know? And so, even helping journalists do that, just saying, “Hey, you know, here’s a new regulation we’re gonna have to deal with.” Or even better, you know, “Here’s how we and our peers are responding to a certain regulation.” Or, “Here is something that happened that maybe didn’t get a lot of attention, but it’s, you know, kind of a quiet thing that’s gonna have a big impact on our industry. You know, just a heads-up, just a link, check out this article in a trade publication or in the New York Times ,” you know, that kind of thing. That’s huge. It’s quick. It doesn’t take a lot of time. It shows that you actually care about helping someone produce good journalism. And that kind of thing goes a long way, because it’s what we’re looking for from sources. That’s why you have sources, so that they can, you know, be your eyes and ears and help you understand what’s important to the folks out there.
Chris: Fantastic. Let’s shift gears a little bit, or maybe move to a different topic. Well, it’s still the same topic, different angle. How do companies incorporate a media strategy into their content marketing?
Jennifer: Yeah, that’s a great one. So, now I’m putting my other hat on, and it’s…really, you wanna look at it…you know, for folks who are really kind of unfamiliar, maybe kind of new to doing their marketing…you wanna look at it the same way, or in a similar way, as how you look at your customers. So, when it comes to your customers, what do you want to know, right? You want to know what they’re buying, how they’re buying, what’s their process, how do you reach them, are they, you know, are they best at trade shows, are they best with direct mail…you know, whatever it is. So, you really wanna have specific people in mind when you’re building a product and you’re selling it to folks.
Same thing with your messaging. So you’ve already kind of got what you’re doing with your content, and now, think about…I would think about the media organizations, also, almost as personalities? You know, some folks use profiles or avatars or, you know, different terms for that, but you kind of, you’re really thinking about, “Okay, who is a good fit for what we do, for who we need to talk to, and for what we have to provide?” So, thinking about whether that is a trade journal, whether that is a mainstream media source, or a specialized media source…so, for instance, it could be media channels focused specifically on health, you know. It could be a health website. You also want to think about actual individual people, like bloggers, influencers, those sorts of people, when you’re…and I’m actually, you know, sort of including bloggers when I talk about, kind of, the needs out there and the stuff in your inbox and that sort of thing, because it’s a very similar situation. And so also just thinking about them as individual people for whom you want to produce something valuable. Is that making sense?
Chris: Absolutely, yeah.
Jennifer: And when…so you’re talking about incorporating into your content strategy. So, that also means, then, you’re thinking, “Okay, this is a trade journal,” or “this is an…edgy blog,” or “this is a…national newspaper,” or “this is a newsletter,” you know. Then you want to think about what exactly, then, the best kind of content is for those folks. Now, we talked about maybe sending out a white paper or something like that. You know, no one’s going to reprint your white paper, so that…maybe parts of that could come in. It’s probably more likely going to prompt someone to pick up the phone and ask you to, you know, digest it.
But when you’re talking about smaller, other types of content, such as thought leadership pieces, opinion pieces, guest editorials, guest blogs, those infographics or top-tens, that sort of thing, you know, you want to be really, really specific to the medium. Because, you can take pieces and re-shift them, and, you know, you can take pieces of your white paper and turn it into a top 10 list or a…even have someone on staff turn it into some helpful video, you know. Video is huge. I didn’t even mention that, I don’t think. You know, take someone, have someone take a piece of that and turn it into a couple minutes of video that’s explaining a trend or a technology or on issues on the stuff I referenced before. So, just really thinking about, “Okay, this is who I think wants this. Now, what is it that they produce, and how is it that their audience consumes things?” And I think those two things will really get you very far.
So…and early on in your planning process. So this is not something you wanna do, you know, after you’ve decided, “We’re gonna do 10 blogs, and we’re gonna, you know, do some case studies and some white papers, and we’re gonna do these marketing materials.” You want that to be on the front end of your conversation so that you know where everything goes. And it also will just, you know, help you maximize your time and the resources that you’re putting into your content, so that you can know, “Oh, okay, this could maybe be spun out a couple of different ways,” or “this could be sent to four or five different types of markets” kind of thing.
Chris: We think the same way about that, like, the whole thing about planning to re-purpose. So, it’s at the front end, when you’re deciding what to make, is the easiest time to figure out, “How can we use that in many different ways?” I’m always telling people, it’s really hard to go back to an existing piece of content and say, “What else could we do with this?” And…
Jennifer: You know, something that just came to mind, too, is that, I mean, why not go ahead, and let, you know, your journalist contact know, you know, “We’ve got this white paper, but we’ve also got a podcast that we’ve done about it,” or “we’ve got some video as well.” You know, let ’em know if you’ve done that work. Because you just never necessarily know exactly what’s going on in that newsroom and what it is they need, and it could just fill a need that, you know, you’re not aware of, or spark some ideas there on the other end of how the content could be used.
Chris: That’s really helpful. Let’s…so you mentioned white papers. So let’s finish up on this. So, you said they’re not going to publish your white paper in its entirety, but a lot of companies might publish white papers that they would publish on LinkedIn or send out to their mailing list or offer on a website for download. So what’s the best way to use those, package those, or pitch those, and how would they be used on the other side by a journalist?
Jennifer: Yeah, so what I’ve…what’s worked best for me, and the ones that I’ve responded to the most, are when you get…you know, you get an email with a link to the executive summary. So, at the very least, you want that. Because that’s what your journalist is going to take the time to look into. If it’s, you know, if they have to open up a bajillion-page PDF…you know, even if it’s interesting, even if they want to, it may end up being, “Oh, I’ll take a look at this later,” and then, who knows what happens later? So, you could even, you know, your one page executive summary, sending it as an attachment…and a link, as well, because, you know, sometimes attachments drop off, or they fall through, or whatever…that kind of thing would be a very effective way, and it says, “Hey,” you know, and with a brief message about a couple of the really important or interesting insights that are in the paper, and something that says, you know, “Just thought you’d like to know,” and the contact information, who’s available for follow-up. Because, you don’t, you don’t know that…I mean, I’ve picked up the phone immediately upon receiving something, just because the timing was right, and I needed something, and an email came through, and it looked like something good, and I picked the phone right up. So, you know, you wanna make sure that they are able to follow up as soon as that information gets out.
And…so let me just recap that really quick. You know, quick email that says one or two of the most important highlights of the information that’s in there, and that email could have an attachment to an executive summary…one page, no more than a page…and I’d also include a link, as well, just to be sure that, you know, they’re getting it as many ways as they can, and nothing kind of… You know, so if your link is wonky or something, there’s an attachment. If your attachment doesn’t work, there’s a link. Just something where people can respond and check it out very quickly, “Okay, what have they got to say?”
Chris: I like that, and really, if you think about it…or as I’m thinking about it. It’s not necessarily obvious to me. You don’t need to get your white paper published, right? What you need is your white paper to be mentioned, so that in a context that will make people go want to look at it, right?
Jennifer: Yes, yes.
Chris: And in fact, you’d rather have people come to your site to look at your white paper than to have it fully published in a journal, when someone could read it and go, “Okay, I’m done”…
Jennifer: Yeah, exactly, yeah…
Chris: …”I don’t need to go there.”
Jennifer: Yeah, unless you just did such a great job that, you know, they’re just thirsty for more information…yeah, no, you don’t want that. And the other thing, too, is that, you know, the media organizations are going to be, you know, sharing your link and sending it out, they’re going to, you know, have that link. They…I mean, they’ll want the initial trackback to be to their sites, but they still want to be useful when users get there, and so that would mean including the link to the full white paper. But the other thing that might happen is, that they may just actually not have any interest in your white paper but in you as an expert, and that’s pretty valuable, as well, especially when you talk about that relationship-building I was mentioning earlier and that sort of thing. So, you may not necessarily…the ROI on that white paper may not be that it’s more larger distribution for your white paper. It may be that you have positioned yourself as an expert in the eyes of someone in the media who covers what you do. And that’s super-valuable. Because, you know, that person will come back to you looking for ideas. That person will be responsive to the other little things that you send. And that person may very well just, you know, pick up the phone and quote you, maybe, about the topic but, you know, not necessarily reference the paper. It just kinda depends on the audience.
Chris: Well, that’s all super-helpful, and I certainly wouldn’t have thought of that. So, Jennifer, this has been a wonderful conversation, filled with a lot of nuggets that I think my audience is going to be able to use. Where can people go to find out more about you and what you’re doing?
Jennifer: So, my website is xeditorial.com…just, letter “X”. And I’m on Twitter, @jenoladipo, which is J-E-N-O-L-A-D-I-P-O. But, X Editorial’s kind of the quickest, easiest-to-spell way to do that. And, thanks for having me. This was great. I really enjoyed it.
Chris: Oh, my pleasure. So I’ll put a link and your Twitter handle up in the show notes, and, yeah, thank you so much for educating us on what I think are really practical ways to get that earned media and make it a part of your overall content strategy.
