It seems appropriate as I get out the lawnmower for the first time this Spring, that we talk about changing landscapes. Every year, I spend a little more time in the yard; trees are bigger, shrubs have spread and well the grass just isn’t as green as Home Depot says it should be. The landscape of my yard is adapting to surrounding conditions; rain, sun, you get the idea. The media landscape is changing as well.

Gone are the days of huge ad buys in newspapers and on network television. More and more, companies are dialing back those budgets in favor of hip, new social media concepts. Word of Mouth is a tried and true technique to gain customers, if it is done properly. At the 2008 Media Relations Summit this week in San Francisco, we seemed to coin a new phrase, “Word of Mouse.” These days, more people (customers) than ever are surfing the web. Customers are now on sites like MySpace, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. When you have an online WOM conversation, it is now global, rather than simply a recommendation among friends. Media relations strategies must change to help capture those conversations and guide them to your product or service. The strategy: speak directly and honestly to your customer and they can turn into your best evangelist. They will write online posts praising your brand or service. They will tell friends. Those friends will email and text their online groups and all of the sudden, you’ve created new brand champions you never dreamed you could reach.

But the new age of media relations in 2008 isn’t all online. We must manage some of the old with some of the new. Companies must be targeted when they contact the media. Simply blanketing a press release to 1000 of your closest friends (well at least you have their contact information) at local, regional and national media outlets won’t cut it anymore. It seems everyone in PR land has the same idea and music real ringtones | hotlink caller ringtones | nextel ringtones software | download free ringtones t mobile | 24 ctu ringtones | free composer ringtones | crazy frog ringtones | madonna ringtones | verizon wireless ringtones | free get ringtones | ringtones | free nokia ringtones | free cingular cell phone ringtones | free midi ringtones | cell cricket free phone ringtones | boost free mobile ringtones | boost free mobile ringtones | mp3 ringtones | totally free ringtones | caller ringtones | media types aren’t biting on blanket pitches. You must take the time to develop specific pitches to reporters (particularly national reporters – USA Today, Washington Post, NY Times). Find who has been writing about your field. What have they been saying and how can your pitch be adapted directly to the reporter; one on one. Reporters appreciate the individual attention. Targeting one reporter takes additional time and research, but it can pay off big when you land an above the fold story in a national paper.

If this all seems a little too much of a change, don’t worry. If I can trim my trees and shrubs and green up my grass, you too can grasp the changing landscape of media relations. TVG is current on all the latest techniques and industry advances. It’s the reason I go to this conference every year. We stay up on the latest information, so our clients can focus on more important things like running their businesses and dealing with all of the happy new customers they’ll soon see.

Contact us at tvg@vandivergroup.com or send comments to blog@vandivergroup.com.