Media Relations for Craft Chocolate Makers: Ongoing Communication
by David Nilsen
Welcome to our Media Relations for Craft Chocolate Makers series! As a food and beverage journalist, I have communicated with thousands of breweries, distilleries, restaurants, chocolate makers, and other businesses, and I’ve seen ones who maximize their relationships with media members and outlets, and ones who are leaving opportunities on the table. Additionally, my wife and business partner, Melinda Guerra, is a freelance PR professional helping brands tell their stories and connect with media. In this series, the two of us will be sharing what we’ve learned over our careers to help craft chocolate companies of any size identify their stories, communicate them to media members and outlets, gain new customers, and keep the ones you have curious.
In part 1 of this series, we talked about why media relations is so important no matter the size of your chocolate business, and why you need to have a strategy for it.
In part 2, we talked about identifying stories and creating a story list.
In part 3, we looked at how to begin building a media list, and how to specifically build a list of industry-specific media.
In part 4, we talked about press releases: What they are, when to send them, to whom to send them, what to include, and—just as importantly—the inverse of all those: when not to send them, what not to include, etc.
In this post, we’re going to talk about fostering ongoing relationships with members of the media, and how informal communication can be used to share story ideas and keep them informed of what you have going on so they can cover your stories.
I want to talk a little bit about how stories come together for me as a freelancer, so you have a little better idea of how this half of that relationship operates. Sometimes stories are assigned to us, and sometimes they come to us whole, but most of the time, we’re looking at a massive pile of ideas and trying to see which ones have the pieces they need for moving forward. Single producer stories happen, but aren’t super common. More often, we’re assembling multiple sources for a story, and that takes research.
I am a maker of lists. I have spreadsheets and lists with hundreds of story ideas. Some are just beginning seeds of stories. Some have sources attached to them. When a story catches my curiosity, I begin making notes to go with it, and jotting down ideas for sources. Unless there’s a timeliness angle, I casually add notes and sources to an idea until I have what I need. When a story idea is ready, I craft it into a pitch and send it to an editor. A similar process works for podcasters and bloggers who are planning content.
When we talked about press releases, we were primarily looking at news stories. These are timely announcements that have a call to action associated with them. When it comes to earned media coverage, these are longer-lifespan stories that we hope will hook a reader or listener or viewer’s curiosity. We can be more patient in developing these types of stories.
This is where having an ongoing relationship with media members comes in handy for both parties.
In a previous entry, Melinda and I discussed how to make contact with media members. When you do that, you’re keeping it personal and brief, and it can always be helpful to share what you’ve appreciated about their work. If you read an article and enjoyed it, drop that journalist a line and let them know.
Once that communication is initiated, you now have an open line of dialogue, and you can send along low-pressure story ideas going forward. Press releases can be great, and don’t have to be intimidating, but they have limited applications. What do you do with all those story ideas you created on your story list we talked about a few episodes back?
As a freelance journalist, one thing I wish more folks in food and beverage felt comfortable doing is sending me informal communication letting me know about their story ideas, what’s coming down the road, etc. These can take 60 seconds to write, and less than that to read.
The first time you do this after establishing communication with a media member, you can select a handful—maybe 4-6—high level story ideas that might get their attention. Going forward, you can share more as they come up, or just include others from your list periodically.
Some of the same guidelines we discussed around sending press releases apply here, like keeping things brief, but once we know each other, I’d love for more chocolate makers, brewers, and other producers to send me ideas as they have them.
Doing this is a much easier lift for you, and it provides me what I need for my work: story ideas. In our conversation about press releases, Melinda and I talked about the fact you won’t get a response to most of your press releases, and that’s okay. Similarly, I won’t be able to use most of these ideas you send me. But most of them are not time-sensitive in any way. They might give me an idea for a story that I develop over time and include you in, or fit a story I’m already working on.
I know it might feel unprofessional to do it this way, and it is important to already have a relationship in place with a journalist, but I would love to see more places doing this. This also applies to working with those grassroots media members within craft chocolate we talked about a couple episodes ago: the bloggers and podcasters and content creators who have small but dedicated followings.
So introduce yourself if you don’t already have a relationship with a journalist, editor, reporter, or producer. Tell us a little about what you do in as efficient and succinct a way as possible. I know I’ve said it multiple times, but reach out when you liked a story we covered. You’re rarely going to have more goodwill than when you’re sincerely complimenting someone or expressing appreciation for their work. If they’re geographically close to you, it is entirely appropriate to invite them for a tour of your factory or shop, provided no strings or expectations are attached.
Here’s the thing: there are thousands of businesses in the craft chocolate world, including makers, cacao farms, cacao brokers, chocolate shops, and others. Those of us who want to cover the industry, and those who might be interested in doing so but don’t know about it, can’t tell the stories we don’t know about. We aren’t ignoring great stories sitting in front of us. We need your help to let us know what’s going on.
In summary, begin relationships with media members, and then feel free to send more informal communication about story ideas, things you have going on or coming up, etc. Still be respectful of this fellow professional’s time, but don’t feel pressure to be hyper professional and formal in that kind of ongoing communication. We need stories, you have stories. We just need you to let us know about them.
Media Relations for Craft Chocolate Makers series
Podcast Episodes
Why You Need a Media Plan
Identifying Your Company’s Stories
How to Build and Manage a Media List
How to Write and Send a Press Release
How to Maintain Media Relationships and Communicate New Stories
How to Get Started, and Common Pitfalls
Blog Posts
Why You Need a Media Plan
How to Identify Your Stories
How to Build a Media List
Industry and Unexpected Outlets for Your Media List
How to Write and Send a Press Release
How to Maintain Media Relationships and Communicate New Stories (you’re reading it!)
How to Get Started, and Common Pitfalls