The Situation: A client developing curricula to comply with Common Core State Standards sought to increase recognition of its learning platform among teachers, school district leaders and community members. The aim was to secure extensive coverage of educators’ personal stories in media outlets ranging from small-town newspapers to nationally recognized publications. These outlets were targeted to heighten the client’s visibility in key sales states.
The Results: To achieve news coverage on many platforms in differing geographic locations, C. Blohm & Associates (CB&A) constructed a media relations strategy that featured an educator’s personal story and point of view, leveraging the educator’s unique perspective to gain client recognition. This resulted in extensive client coverage in both local and national publications.
Determining Media Relations Needs & Strategy:
CB&A developed and executed a three-month media relations campaign designed to create interest in the lives of educators by distributing customized news releases to state and local media outlets. Each personalized news release featured the educator’s name, school district, quote and picture as a human-interest story angle to appeal to local education reporters.
Outcomes:
Outreach to reporters, educators and administrators resulted in more than 50 article placements in a wide range of consumer media outlets across the nation. The secured coverage produced more than 1.5 million impressions, raising visibility of the client in targeted states.
National news placements included:
- The Denver Post (Denver, Colo.)
- Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Ill.)
- Pasadena Star-News (Pasadena, Calif.)
- Times and Democrat (Columbia, S.C.)
- Temecula Patch (Temecula, Calif.)
Through a comprehensive media relations strategy, CB&A garnered coverage by using a tailored news outreach plan in key sales states. By sharing human-interest stories and increasing news coverage nationwide, the client gained the visibility necessary to support its sales initiatives.