Few things in the PR world inspire as much adulation as landing the coveted tier one coverage hit. But with the global media landscape changing so rapidly, has the traditional definition of tier one coverage changed? What does it even mean any more and does it still carry the same weight it once did? In this blog post, we’ll dive a little deeper into what defines tier one coverage, why it matters and how to attain it.

Defining a Tier One Coverage Hit

Before we get into the weeds of outreach and strategy, let’s first define what actually constitutes tier one coverage. Traditionally, this has been categorised as any media outlet that commands a certain clout of audience size, engagement, credibility and influence. Think of national newspapers, radio and broadcast mediums. In recent years, however, the line between tier one and tier two media has become increasingly grey, with social and alternative media achieving greater audience engagement than television and radio. However, looking at media through the lens of corporate reputation management, let’s define a tier one outlet as any media publication or broadcast outlet that has a large audience and an established reputation for quality journalism. These typically go through layers of approvals to ensure credibility, thus earning the moniker “tier one.”

Landing Tier One Coverage

Engaging tier one outlets can be nerve wracking but when done right, can provide an invaluable opportunity for corporations to stay in control of their messaging and communicate with a massive and diverse audience. But with such high stakes, landing that all important tier one feature isn’t easy and requires a careful strategic approach.

The first and step is to identify a sufficiently newsworthy angle to pitch. It’s not always obvious which hook could inspire media attention, but it’s the job of your PR representation to identify and craft a compelling story to tell. Consider the trending news topics and how your messaging could tie into the national conversation. A spokesperson with solid media training should be able to speak to industry trends with poise and authority. This drastically increases the probability of securing tier one coverage.

Once a strong angle has been identified, the other pieces of the puzzle must fall into place. Some industries such as lifestyle or fashion naturally lend themselves to stories that have visual appeal, but this isn’t the case for most corporations and industries. In order to create interesting and compelling stories out of dry topics such as financial services or enterprise technology, focusing on the additional elements is key. Visual backdrops, filming locations, leveraging real life case studies and framing the story in an engaging and relatable way can all help in getting “dry” stories over the line.  

Speaking of case studies, this can be the ace up your sleeve to land tier one coverage when the current angle lacks the sex appeal to pique mainstream media interest. Case studies bring the story to life and make it relatable to audiences, given the all the right elements are in place. These can include things like interviewing relevant stakeholders, finding the right visual collateral to support the story and identifying the right opportunity in the news cycle to pitch the case study.

Ultimately, securing tier one coverage can be possible for any organisation but only when the essential elements of strategy, storytelling, visual collateral, spokesperson prowess and timing all come together in the right way.

To learn more about how to achieve tier one coverage for your business, contact us at christopher@pearscroftcommunications.com.au