On building PR newsrooms and media relationships
A Media Pros(e) Q&A with Sr. PR Manager Andrew Hickey
When I started Media Pros(e), the idea was to share strategic media tips for PR pros, beyond the typical how-to for beginners.
…and while I have a whole arsenal of tips to continue sharing, I won’t ever claim to be an expert in everything, which is why I’m really excited to start a new series where I interview media relations professionals who are killing it in the real world.
To start this series, I interviewed Andrew Hickey, Sr. PR Manager for Scott’s Cheap Flights. Last month, Andrew shared this on LinkedIn:
The idea of building upon media for success hit home for me, and Andrew was gracious enough to accept my invitation to be the first Q&A on MediaPros(e). Check out our conversation below…
Your career has been all over the map … talk to me about how long you’ve been doing media relations, and how you got to where you are now as the PR Manager of Scott’s Cheap Flights.
I was an early adopter of social media, when it was still the Wild West of figuring out how and how it could work for businesses. By focusing on creating best practices, I started creating my brand. Being in NYC helped me to meet other people who were also trying to make a career out of it, and being very on top of social trends, was good for my career.
However, I really wanted to figure out how to get into the travel industry, and thought that social media might be the way in. It was, and I spent several years working as a Social Media Manager for a large tour operator. After a few years of working within large companies, I struck out on my own, still focused on social media, where I came to work with Scott’s first part-time.
Okay, that brings us to your current company – was media relations part of your
original job?
No, I was still mainly focused on social media, even when I joined the team full-time, but after a few years, I saw an opportunity to help grow the brand.
Scott’s had success with PR early on – it’s what grew the newsletter from a few hundred to a few thousand—but they didn’t have someone fully devoted to it. So, seeing the potential, I went to my manager and suggested exploring this by learning media relations on the job, and they agreed to give it a shot.
I love that. I also learned on the job. How did this shift go?
I got some media placements within the first few months, but, looking back now, my pitches in 2019 were not fantastic … far too promotional.
Then, I remember Scott telling me that what journalists love more than anything else is someone doing their homework for them.
So, I started to change my approach a bit. I developed pitches that were topical with data and information, and once I started giving them that type of content and pitching Scott’s as a trusted travel source, journalists got excited. Around the same time, I realized how important building trust with journalists was
Flash forward to now, and we are basically running a mini newsroom with multiple interviews daily.
Building that relationship with reporters was important for building the Scott’s public relations platform.
Yeah, I mean, getting consistent national and local media opportunities is not something we were doing three years ago. We had some freelancers working on it, but really needed to focus on it full-time to build the relationships.
When we were first asked to be on Good Morning America (GMA), we got that opportunity because I had friended a transportation producer in DC with a few segments. He eventually moved over to ABC. When that happened, I sent him a congratulatory email – not with the expectation of getting anything in return, and we continued to keep in contact. Eight months later, this same producer DMed me – because we had already worked together in DC, he knew he could trust me and my experts—so he vouched for us and asked for Scott to be interviewed in the next two hours.
It was an amazing moment, but it was a long time in the making. It was also not a friendship that focused on “what can you do for me.” Since then, we’ve been on GMA eight times to the point that they come to us when there is breaking news.
I love this media relations snowball effect you are showcasing. Media begets media, and sometimes there is a process to build that up. That can be a big challenge for some media relations professionals.
Yeah. I’m in a fortunate spot because the company I work for has the patience to let me build the relationships. They are realistic about the goals that are set, and understand the value that when we get on it.
I still have a wish list of media placements I’m hoping to secure, and know it takes time. We’re always building up and up and up.
The fun part is going into Google Analytics after we get these big media placements and seeing the rollercoaster of visitors that come to the site because of the work we are doing.
And that gets us to the Today Show hit last month
Yeah, so there was a producer there who I pitched every week for more than a year, and she always responded with a “thanks!” but, there was never any interest in what I was pitching. I wasn’t sure if she was actually interested in what I was sharing, or just being polite.
Finally, I pitched the exact right topic and the right time, and she responded by saying they absolutely loved it and were just talking about the topic.
…and again, after that first placement, we’ve been able to grow that relationship into more media opportunities.
Final question: What has been your favorite media placement so far?
Kelly and Ryan. It’s not even because it’s one of the biggest. That came about because an ABC producer I pitched regularly forwarded it on to the Kelly & Ryan producer for a travel week segment they were planning in March 2021 – right when people were finally starting to think about travel.
At that point we had been doing Zoom interviews for so long, that this was just an overall fun experience to finally be back in a studio. There was also a lot of back and forth – the interview was supposed to be in March, then they were going to cut it, then it was back on – finally, it ran in May, which was even better than expected because it came out a day after Scott’s book was published.
On top of that … Scott just nailed this interview. It was this moment that instantaneously showcased the power of television when I started getting bombarded with people calling and texting after the saw Scott’s interview who I didn’t even realize watched the show.
A big thank you Andrew for joining Media Pros(e) … if you have a case study or interesting media relations story to share, please respond to this email.
Tool of the week: TVEyes
Because Scott’s Cheap Flights is on TV so often, having a good broadcast monitoring tool is key.
One of my favorites is TVEyes. I usually describe it as “a google for broadcast news.” The platform lets you search by day, hour, minute, channel … or more broad terms.
There are email push notifications when your key terms run, and you can create short-term links of the clips, or download them for your records as long as you need.
P.S. for Muckrack users there is a TVEyes add-on option, which can help with reporting.
Cool Links for Cool Pros
Share your own webinar, conference, article, etc. by replying to this email
Webinar: Ready Pivot Pitch: The ‘New Normal’ Playbook for Earning Media Hits (11/17)
2021 Media Relations Survey: Pitching the Media, How Do You Measure Up?
Tweet Thread: How Do you Explain Syndication Value to Clients?