Sunshine Matters

The VISIT FLORIDA Public Relations team and participating industry Partners kicked off the 2012-13 media missions program in Birmingham and Atlanta the week of Nov. 12. Laura Cassels and Kati Schardl, VISIT FLORIDA Public Relations Representatives, were joined by CVB Partners from Seminole County, Visit Gainesville, Visit Jacksonville and Visit Pensacola on nine desk-side appointments between the two cities.  During the meetings with journalists, travel editors and bloggers, industry Partners pitched the latest news and stories from each of their destinations.  VISIT FLORIDA also shared current updates on Viva Florida 500.

The mission began in Birmingham with appointments at Southern Living, Coastal Living, Cooking with Paula Deen and Cooking Light, as well as a meeting with USA Today columnist and freelancer Larry Bleiberg.  The mission continued in Atlanta with appointments at Collinson Media (Rejuvenate, Connect, Collaborate), Travel Girl magazine, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Atlanta magazine.  Collectively, these media outlets represent more than 6 million potential earned media impressions.

While the key objective of the program is to connect industry Partners with top-tier journalists, editors, travel writers and bloggers from digital publications, newspapers, magazines and broadcast outlets, VISIT FLORIDA also leverages the desk-side opportunities to learn from media first-hand concerning trends and changes taking place in the media industry – and what they are looking for from marketing and PR professionals.  Here are four key takeaways from our mission that tourism businesses can utilize in building successful media relations:

• Digital is the new normal.  While print remains strong in the mix, media outlets are exponentially expanding their digital side.

• Good content is crucial.  Unique and fresh takes on story ideas help your pitches and story ideas stand out in the crowd.  Where expansion into digital is becoming a priority, media contacts are looking for quality video content and images for photo essays.

• One size does not fit all.  The changes in business models mean that staff levels continue to be fluid, and time and resources are being stretched.  Knowing what individual media contacts need and don’t need allows our industry professionals to build productive and mutually-beneficial relationships.

• Make it easy for your media contacts to get the content they need to tell your story.  If your business website does not provide an agile media room, consider providing media access to story ideas with aggregated video and photo assets on a digital press room platform (such as PitchEngine.com).

If you have questions about these takeaway points or the VISIT FLORIDA media missions program, email us at PR@VISITFLORIDA.org.