Category: How-Tos
How to pitch your story to the aerospace news media
Enhance your media coverage with personalized pitches to relevant media. Pitch delivery methods vary. Some journalists like email, others prefer a phone call. Test the waters and see what works best, using this how-to list as a strong foundation for your content and approach and will guide you on how to pitch your story to the aerospace news media.
1. Be picky
Only pitch your very best stories. They need to be substantial with specifics and supporting data. A great, truly newsworthy story won’t require a hard sell.
2. Make it personal
Start with relationships. Get to know reporters and editors and understand what they each need and want. Tailor and personalize your pitch to every individual. If your story fits their publication and readership it will be smooth sailing.
3. Think it through
Find and focus on an angle each editor will care about. Perhaps you can suggest a new dimension to a topic he or she has covered in the past, or find a way to add context to your story by linking it to a hot topic or industry trend that affects more readers.
4. Make it brief
Get to the point in the first sentence of a written pitch. Grab them and quickly explain what you have in mind and why they should care.
5. Don’t waste their time
Editors want content, not fancy formatting or cutesy promotions. Give them everything they need, including images, and make it simple to access and open. Most journalists hate attachments, so don’t use them.
For a user-friendly PR pitch template, download BDN’s exclusive Aerospace & Defense PR Toolkit. You’ll also find insider tips, checklists, infographics, and so much more! Everything you need for better media coverage is just a click away.
Be a better Aerospace Writer
A good aerospace writer can write about most anything, and make it look easy. But becoming a good writer is hard work. In my experience, anyone with a background in journalism has a head start into being a better aerospace writer.
I was a small town newspaper reporter but thought I was a pretty big deal to land such a prized position right out of college. My editor was an old school journalist who quickly cut me down to size. Her harsh critiques brought me to tears at least once a week. It was an invaluable training ground for a future business communicator. Here’s some of what I learned from my work as a journalist.
1. A little natural talent does not make you a good writer. That happens over time, not overnight. The more you write, the better you’ll get. If you have a “mean” editor it will probably happen faster.
2. Having a large vocabulary or the ability to effortlessly put words on paper does not make you a good writer. Editing is everything. Mark Twain said it well: “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead. “ Put your ego aside and don’t fall in love with your own words.
3. Good writers don’t wait for inspiration to strike. Deadlines are serious business to a journalist. Give yourself a deadline and start typing. Get out of your own head, get the words on paper, then edit, edit, edit.
4. Master the basics. No one will take you seriously or read your inspired prose if the grammar is bad. It shouldn’t have to be said, but spelling, punctuation and composition still matter. Refer to Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style. Written in 1918, it’s the only reference you really need.
5. Think like a journalist. Write about the most important thing first. Have a central idea or message, and organize everything around that. Whether you are writing a news story, a business letter, or an ad, capturing the essence of your subject matter and communicating it in a compelling way is what it’s all about.
I close with a plug for reading – it’s integral to great writing – and a quote from author Stephen King. “While it is impossible to make a competent writer out of a bad writer, and while it is equally impossible to make a great writer out of a good one, it is possible, with lots of hard work, dedication, and timely help, to make a good writer out of a merely competent one.”
To master the art of news release writing, download BDN’s exclusive Aerospace & Defense PR Toolkit. You’ll find insider tips, checklists, and a “Build a Better Aerospace News Release” infographic. Everything you need for better media coverage is just a click away.
How To Be a PR Expert: An AP Style Guide for Aerospace
When doing business in Japan, it is customary to present your business card formally, using two hands and facing your colleague.
In China, always present a small gift from your hometown or country.
When working with people from other countries and backgrounds, most business people are aware of different cultural norms, and we adjust our behavior accordingly.
It’s the polite and respectful thing to do.
The same holds true for PR professionals dealing with the news media. Journalists have their own norms, standards and language. They write in Associated Press (AP) Style, so good PR people do, too.
BDN Aerospace Marketing follows AP Style for all press releases out of respect to the editors and journalists we are asking to consider our news. We want them to recognize and respect us for knowing and following their guidelines. Plus, following AP Style means editors can use more of our news release verbatim and make it more likely they will pick up our stories.
Sometimes our use of AP Style creates questions and confusion with our clients. They notice details that are inconsistent with typical business writing, things like having some job titles in lowercase and others in uppercase, or writing datelines in a way that isn’t consistent with U.S. Post Office nomenclature.
Want to know if 3-D is hyphenated or if aviator can be used to describe a man or woman? The AP Stylebook has the answer. At more than 500 pages, it may make a non-journalist’s head spin, but anyone involved in PR should buy a book, study, and refer to it often.
The AP Stylebook is constantly evolving, but remains the definitive resource for writers. It’s a great way to maintain professionalism and a standard style in your organization, and is a good quick reference for basic rules of grammar, punctuation and usage.
It’s available in print, online or via an app for smartphones: www.apstylebook.com
Order yours today, and don’t send out another release until you know the difference between a date line and a dateline. It’s the polite and respectful thing to do.
For a comprehensive “Go-To Guide to AP Style for Aerospace,” download BDN’s exclusive PR Toolkit. You’ll also find insider tips, checklists, infographics, and so much more! Everything you need for better media coverage is just a click away.
Ask an Editor: 10 Secrets to PR Success
By Matt Thurber, Senior Editor, AIN Publications
You’ve got news! But how do you get the word out?
Although there are fewer print magazines now serving the aviation market, a seemingly infinite number of online products are hungry for content, and all of these publications–whether print or Web or e-newsletters or blogs or Facebook posts or Tweets–need constant care and feeding. It’s enough to drive a company’s public relations department crazy.
As a publisher on all of the above outlets–and more–AIN Publications knows what it’s like to be on the receiving end of the onslaught of press releases, announcements, and updates from companies inside and outside the industry segments that we cover. While we can’t speak for our competitors in the publishing business, perhaps some insight into how the process works at AIN might help your company in its public relations efforts. This will also help your company avoid common errors that cause us to click the delete button as soon as your press release hits our inboxes.
Incidentally, we know that many companies can’t afford a full-time public relations (PR) person and that the job often gets handed off to the marketing department, but marketing is not PR, and vice versa. There are plenty of independent professional PR agents available who not only know the aviation market but also are very familiar with the publishers that serve this market. If at all possible, hire a pro; the results will be well worthwhile and this will also free up your valuable time to develop new products, sell like crazy, and serve your customers.
- Know your audience. Do some research to learn what publications your target market reads. When you get the inevitable call from a publication’s salesperson, make them work by asking for a detailed breakdown of the readership. Study the publications, print and online, to get a feel for what they cover and who they serve.
- Do not blanket email non-pertinent publishers. Nothing wastes more of our time then weeding through non-pertinent press releases. We receive releases about subjects that have nothing to do with our primary coverage areas. Whoever is sending these is wasting your money and also annoying potential partners in getting your company’s news out to readers.
- Get to know the editors. We’re human. We like to talk to people and learn about what’s going on. Don’t be afraid to look us up on the magazine masthead, call us, and ask about what we find interesting, what we’re working on now, and if we have any future projects that might need information that your company can provide. However…
- Don’t inundate the editors. We receive tons of press releases, announcements, invitations, etc., every day. Rest assured that we probably have received it. Feel free to check with a followup email to see if we did receive the original. However, if your release is not pertinent to our audience or if we are not able to use the information in your release, we might not respond. We just don’t have time to respond to every query.
- Please don’t ask to review the article prior to publication. AIN is a news organization, and like a major metropolitan newspaper we don’t share our product before it is published (although other publishers may allow this). Here’s a tip: we often place stories online before they appear in print, so keep an eye out and you might be the first to see the story with your company mentioned. And this leads to…
- Use your own clipping service. We’re sorry, but we don’t have time to alert you when an article that includes news about your company appears in one of our publications. By the time the article appears, we’re already working on the next 10 to 20 and more stories we each write every month.
- Please alerts us to any mistakes. As mentioned, we are human and we do occasionally make errors. The sooner you let us know, the sooner we can add a correction in the next print issue or e-newsletter and correct the story online.
- Help us get it right. If you are worried about the accuracy of quotes during an interview with your company’s executives, feel free to ask that the interview be recorded. Or record it yourself and provide a transcript to the writer. A company did this for me once, and it made my job much easier. Keep in mind that in many states, permission is required from at least one party in order to record a conversation.
- Know the publisher’s needs. Here’s another insider tip: AIN publishes print magazines at many air shows and conferences all over the world. Our need for content ramps up considerably well before each show, and this is an opportune time to get your story published. You can view AIN’s show schedule and a lot more at AINonline.com, then click on the “Advertise” link then “Media Kit.” The earlier you work with us for show coverage, the better your chances of getting in the magazine and online.
- Do something newsworthy. This is what it’s all about. No doubt your news is super-important, and of course it is to your company. What gets on the front page must be newsworthy, of wide import to our industry, and compelling. This doesn’t mean there isn’t room for your news somewhere else in the monthly AIN, our e-newsletters, at a show or online. Be realistic with your expectations, work with us, and we’ll do our best to get the word out.
For more tips on PR, download BDN’s PR Tool Kit here!
Less Is More: The Importance Of a Quality Press Release
This is something we hear from prospective clients fairly regularly, and generally, it is the worst possible thing they could be doing.
After 25+ years involved in aerospace marketing, much of it spent supporting media relations efforts, this statement makes me cringe. Because, with a few exceptions, doing more press releases is a bad idea.
The desire to do more press releases is really just a desire for a quick fix that will get clients noticed and acknowledged by the news media – to receive editorial coverage of some kind. And if you just want to see your news release recycled on an online news site, this approach will work for you.
But getting meaningful, credible coverage cannot be accomplished by blanketing editors with news releases. Like the little boy who cried wolf, they will become immune to your efforts and may not notice you when you have something that would actually be of interest.
Instead, I suggest striving for fewer, higher quality press releases full of relevant information, along with high-quality, high-resolution photos. At the same time, build relationships with the editors who cover your industry. Don’t waste their time with nonnews (“We Have a New Website!) or daily missives about your newest STC.
Demonstrate that you value their time and respect their work and shift gears from more press releases to more meaningful information, and the coverage will take care of itself.
Learn the best practices behind the most successful Aerospace & Defense PR in BDN’s new PR Toolkit, coming soon.
How To Write A Stronger Value Proposition
I opened an excellent business aviation magazine this morning to an OEM ad touting the company’s “Fifty Years of Passion.” A few pages later I came across another full-page ad explaining, “Excellence Defines Our Company. Passion Makes It Fly.” Yawn. The ads are boring and probably ineffective because they lack a clear and compelling value proposition. Passion is not a value proposition. It’s great that anyone is passionate about their own products and services, but do any of us really care? I’m a lot more interested in specific outcomes and benefits. How will I benefit from using your product or service? Will it help me win new customers or improve profits? If so, I may want to know more, but only if you can grab my attention and show how you are really different and better.
How many times have you seen the same messages about Innovative Solutions or Commitment to Quality? It’s the ad copy equivalent of yadda, yadda, yadda. These one-size-fits-all statements lack specificity and credibility and fail to make the value proposition come alive. They are so generic they could apply to virtually anyone. Before you spend $10,000 or more to place an ad, consider these questions. Is it specific and credible in its claims or promises? Does it clearly appeal to the key factors that drive your customer’s decision making? Does it make a compelling case for why a customer should do business with you and not your competition? Will it capture the hearts and minds of your audience? If you can’t honestly answer yes to these four simple questions, your ad is not ready for prime time. Save your $10K, go back to the drawing board and make some marketing magic.
Photography Tips For Aviation Photographers
Photographing helicopters air-to-air with sharp details while also having the rotor blades suitably blurred is a challenge for any photographer. The aircraft holding you (the photographer) is often cramped, bumpy, and vibrating, while the aircraft you are trying to capture is also moving, sometimes because of turbulence, sometimes because of mismatches in speed or altitude or pilot comfort levels. Here are some quick tips for capturing great shots in these challenging conditions. Since you have to use a shutter speed that allows the blades to blur (if they aren’t blurred, the aircraft will look like it’s about to fall out of the sky), your main challenge is to keep the camera steady during each exposure.
When you’re shooting on the ground, you might lean against a lamp post or building when your shutter speeds need to be slow. In an aircraft, you don’t want to lean against the door frame or seat or anything, really, because those structures are being vibrated by the engine and rotors and air flow around the aircraft. So touch the aircraft as little as possible — let your body absorb as much of the vibration and jiggles as possible. And speaking of air flow, unless your airspeed is extremely low (which is possible in a helo), keep your lens out of the slipstream just outside the door or window. Even if you can’t see the vibration through your viewfinder, your lens was not designed to slip cleanly through the air, so it will not be at rest if it’s out there. This applies to lens hoods, too. Keep them out of the wind, or take them off (and stow them securely).
Next, if you have stabilization features in your camera or lens, try using them; they should help. But review some shots carefully to be sure the features aren’t making things worse. Sometimes the systems will be trying to move the sensor or lens elements or whatever, during the time the shutter is open, and the result is more blurring. A gyroscopic stabilizer can be a big help, not only by functioning as intended — countering unwanted motion in the camera with opposing motion induced by the gyro — but merely by being heavy they tend to dampen smaller motions caused by vibrations. These systems add weight and complexity, with batteries and cables, and that extra weight can be awkward and compounded by G-forces during maneuvers, but they can seriously increase your percentage of good shots. Finally, shoot a lot — digits are cheap, while aircraft operations are not — and check your results closely when you have a lull in the action, such as when the subject aircraft is maneuvering away from you. Zoom in on the display on the back of the camera to make sure your settings and technique are achieving the desired effects. And if you are not getting sharp details in the subject aircraft with suitably blurred blades, improve your technique or go ahead and increase your shutter speed. Coming back with usable, if not ideal, imagery is better than coming back with nothing but blurry ones. Oh, and fly safe. Listen to your pilots, ask them for what you’d like, but accept what they’re willing to do. No image is worth injury or death.
Aerospace Advertising: How to Grab Attention
No matter the stated goals of an ad, to be effective it must accomplish three things — capture the viewer’s attention, communicate the desired facts or attitudes, and cause the viewer to feel how what they’ve learned is important and desirable and how a future with the advertised product or service or position will be a better future for them.
See, understand, feel.
If the ad does not grab attention, if it is skipped over, ignored, or even actively avoided, there will be no step two.
How can you grab attention? Graphics are often the tool of choice — a photo or illustration that draws the eye, colors that stand out (bold, subtle, different, non-existent), a composition that causes a pause. But a sufficiently bold (in design or sentiment) headline can perform the same function.
Once grabbed, the viewer’s attention must be rewarded. There should be an appropriate connection between what caused the pause and the next level of engagement. While there is often descriptive or narrative copy, it is not a requirement and might even be a crutch, supporting an otherwise pointless or uninteresting message. An image might communicate all that is required. Or text might be unaccompanied by other graphics. Or somewhere in between.
Remember, the point of all the effort to write, design, and otherwise produce this bit of commercial art must be a change in perception. Such changes are greatest when the ad supports the brand image that is developed across all media and touch points, and leads to the viewer believing that their future will be better with the product or service communicated in the ad. It’s as simple as that.
Simple to state, perhaps, but not simple to execute.
Perhaps the first step is easily judged — does the ad stop the viewer long enough to allow for step two? This requires evaluating the ad not just in itself, but also in context. How does the ad fit with, or stand out from, the editorial, graphics, layout, and other advertising that surround it and otherwise comprise its milieu? Other parts of the magazine? Other ads in that market space? The general graphic sensibility of the times?
And if it stops the viewer, does the ad impart important information? Does it communicate why this product/service/action is superior to others on offer or, perhaps even better, why the offer has no competition and is desirable in and of itself?
But most importantly, does the information transform a viewer’s vision of their future? Does it make the viewer feel? That is the ultimate and singularly relevant question.
So, whether you are creating or judging an ad, be honest with yourself — does it make the viewer see, understand, and feel? If it does, it is working.
If it doesn’t, it’s a waste of money.
Technical Tip: Photography Resolution
Resolution matters.
We dislike having to tell clients that the photos they have sent us are not large enough to work for the intended use. Here’s a very basic guide that may help.
For typical press releases, a photo/file of 5” x 7” @ 300ppi is sufficient.
Photos for printing with stories in magazines, for creation of advertisements, or for brochures should be 300ppi at the size they will be used, or larger. Photography for trade show graphic panels should be as large as you can get them – and usually that’s not really enough resolution to adequately support the finished size. If you can manage 100ppi at the size used on the panel, that’s just right.
Files may be RGB .jpg files if saved at the highest quality setting. Your printer will want CMYK, but those don’t compress well and the file size is larger for the same image.
Photos downloaded from the web after a Google search are generally not of high enough quality to be used for anything more than a placeholder, and are usually copyrighted and cannot be used commercially without permission.
Marketing Tips: How Large Does A Logo Need To Be?
Anyone in our business hears this request a lot. There’s even a song parody devoted to this very subject: www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fwV-dI0DxM
Why is this so common? Sometimes when clients look at designs, they are focused on the things that are important to them, or what they think will be important to their bosses, like the logo. It’s understandable that they want their branding to be emphasized, but it’s more important to consider the viewpoint of their customers and prospective customers. It’s not about what you care about that matters. What do your customers care about?
Prospects really want to know what you do and what’s in it for them if they do business with you. Everything else is secondary. This is why your messages should first focus on the things that are important to them, and follow-up with information about the company. A larger logo may actually be distracting, and is a dead giveaway that you are a small company or have a small company mentality.
One more thing: Consider how a smaller logo may enhance your brand. Do you want to project an image of refined professionalism and quiet confidence? As the undisputed experts in your field, you don’t need to scream your message — you can quietly and confidently state your case.