Traditional PR for Healthcare
In today’s world, businesses have more ways to reach the public than ever before, from influencer marketing to collaborating with popular bloggers. Gone are the days when traditional media had control over the entire public relations (PR) landscape. But even in a world full of ways to reach the public, traditional PR and media still offer value for healthcare practices.
What Is Traditional PR?
Traditional PR is an umbrella term for conventional approaches to public relations. It can include securing earned placements in the media, or news stories, or it can include developing robust community partnership strategies. It can even include thought leadership and seeking out appropriate speaking engagements. When it comes down to it, as long as it helps your reputation, traditional PR is limitless!
When people think of traditional PR, they often think of news stories, or earned placements. “Media” and “press” are two terms often used interchangeably to refer to traditional news outlets, though they increasingly refer to online news sources as well. An earned placement means that it is free, but the journalist writing the story has complete control over the content. Typically, you do not get to review the story before it publishes. Traditional media placements include stories in newspaper, magazines, radio programs, and in today’s era, online stories and even podcast guest spots.
Even as we become a more digital society, these traditional outlets still matter. According to a 2021 study, Americans consume 347 minutes of traditional media a day, with many turning on the local news at night or the radio during their commute to and from work.
Benefits of Traditional PR
These days, Americans consume about 470 minutes of digital media per day…more than they do traditional media. But if more Americans are consuming digital media, why should you focus on media relations and traditional PR? It offers a couple unique benefits:
- Reach local audiences — While social media or advertising campaigns can be targeted to specific geographical regions, this is often a longer process which requires digital advertising, local SEO, and knowledge on how to target specific locations on social media. Local media stories are a powerful way to quickly reach a large local audience.
- Share your story in an authentic way — Even though there are many ways to tell your story digitally, it’s powerful to have your story covered by the media. Those relationships allow you to share your value with your community in a more authentic way than hashtags and search engine optimization. Traditional PR can be a great reputation management tool within your local community as well.
- Reach older audiences —Americans over the age of 50 are more likely to watch live television, buy a newspaper, or listen to radio than younger generations. If your healthcare practice serves people in older age demographics, you can use traditional PR to better communicate with them.
Creating a Traditional Media Strategy
If you’re interested in getting traditional press coverage for your healthcare company, it’s best to plan your PR. If you have news you want to share, you can look up the contact information of reporters for local media outlets you want to target and craft an email pitching a story to them. It’s best to pitch individual reporters rather than a mass group, and you should never email journalists from different news organizations together in the same email.
If you’re looking for a more strategic and effective traditional PR or media relations strategy, it might be best to reach out to a marketing or PR agency like Fogg Media.
While there are benefits of traditional PR, a comprehensive PR and marketing strategy should include both digital and traditional channels. If you’re looking for a holistic strategy which pays attention to both, Fogg Media offers a starter package for healthcare professionals looking for a well-rounded marketing strategy. This program includes:
- Mobile-friendly WordPress website, designed for healthcare practices
- Website migration
- Online reputation clean-up of social media accounts and Google My Business directory listing
- Google Analytics set-up
- 6 custom pages or articles written for search (SEO)
- 5 hours of creative services for logo design/clean up, rack card advertisements, etc.
- Access to print and promotional products at wholesale costs
