When you’re trying to put together a marketing campaign for your new business, one of the things that can make or break the results is the level of media coverage that you get. If you get bad media coverage and you get bad PR, your efforts can go in the bin. But if you cover all the bases, you’ll have a much better chance at success.

So how do you ensure that you get both good coverage and publicity? The answer is simple – you need a PR agency. Look around at all the companies that you work with and ask them what they do to help your efforts. They should be able to provide you with a full range of services that will be able to take care of any number of different aspects that you need to consider.

You should always be kept in the loop, obviously. However, there’s nothing like being kept informed about developments in your industry. For example, if you’re a small business owner, you probably know next to nothing about the latest trends in mobile technology. But a PR agency can keep you informed. They can tell you what the latest news is and which apps are doing particularly well.

Media coverage can be highly subjective – it depends on who you talk to. For example, it’s perfectly acceptable to be told that you’re “a pretty boy” by a media outlet when you’re anything but. A PR agency will understand this. They’ll tell you to tone it down a bit if you want your interview requested by a major publication – they’ll get you more coverage for your money if you don’t. It’s their job to play the media and keep you informed, not to promote themselves.

As far as the actual product or service goes, this all comes down to the reputation of the company. How friendly and approachable are they? What kind of social media presence do they have? Do people talk positively about them? If they do, that’s great – those are the guys you should follow on Twitter.

Another thing to take into account is whether the company has an active PR campaign – they need to be actively promoting themselves and their services. While having a few well-known outlets as co-publishers isn’t bad, you want to see a concerted effort from the PR agency and the company. Having media coverage gives you an opportunity to gauge how well they’re doing to get the word out.

Once you’ve decided on the organization you want to follow up with, you’ll want to get a basic list of contacts. These contact details could include press releases, blogs, and Facebook posts. If you have any questions, ask them right away. It can be difficult to find the right tone of voice when communicating with these people – it’s better to make sure that they know that you mean business before you start. Make sure they know your goals and how they fit into your strategy first.

The best way to get started is to create a short list of organizations you admire or that seem to fit your mold. Then call them. Find out more about how their coverage fits into your overall goals for media coverage and get to know them. Before you know it, you’ll be able to build a great working relationship with an organization that could be a great fit for your future projects.

Another aspect of media coverage is being aware of the audience you’ll be targeting. Knowing who you’d like to target is important because that’s how you balance your approach. For example, if you have a focus on women, then you wouldn’t want to write about men or sports. In order to be successful, you must know who your audience is and what they want to read about.

Lastly, understand how your media sources will pay for your coverage. You might think that any organization that would be interested in paying for your coverage is going to be willing to do so, but often times that isn’t true. You should shop around and see how much each source will charge for the amount of coverage you’re requesting. Sometimes, it makes sense to go with the organization that will allow you the most creative control of the content you get – it could be the cheapest – but you never want to compromise the quality of your story for a low price.

Getting media coverage can be intimidating, but remember that it’s a part of your business. It’s not an all-encompassing part that you’re responsible for, but it can make a big impact on your company’s reputation and the way people think about you. So be sure to get the coverage that you need and allow your media sources, to give you content that you can control. This can only help your business grow!