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Marcie Mangan, Director of Public Relations at Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C., joins us today to discuss getting your law firm into the news. Marcie has experience working in a newsroom and has seen tens of thousands of press releases.
This podcast covers what journalists are looking for, how to email them, and how to increase your chances of getting mentioned in the news.
Be sure to check out Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard P.C.‘s outstanding podcast “Beating Goliath: A Plaintiff’s Pursuit of Justice” here: https://www.salvilaw.com/podcast/ or on Apple Podcasts here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/beating-goliath/id1570444521.
See all episodes or subscribe to the Personal Injury Marketing Minute here: https://optimizemyfirm.com/podcasts/.
Transcription:
Lindsey:
Welcome to the Personal Injury Marketing Minute where we quickly cover the hot topics in the legal marketing world. As far as SEO goes, having a story covered by the news can help boost your SEO standings. News coverage can also build community rapport and offer organic marketing opportunities. So, how do you get a story covered in the news? It’s more complex than submitting a press release about your latest super lawyers award. You are competing against hundreds, if not thousands of news stories, all vying for viewer interest. In today’s attention-based economy, news outlets are going to select the most relevant and engaging stories for their audience. Joining us today is Marcie Mangan, a PR expert working for Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard, a medical malpractice and personal injury law firm in Chicago. Thank you for joining us.
Marcie:
Thank you so much for having me.
Lindsey:
Well, Marcie, let’s start with a little bit about your background. You started out working in news outlets like CBS and Fox. Can you expand a bit on your professional experience?
Marcie:
Yes. So, while I was in college, I actually majored in broadcast journalism. So, the goal back in college was to become a news reporter or news anchor, and I had an internship at the CBS station in Indianapolis because I went to Butler University which is in Indiana. And after college, I ended up getting a job offer from WISH-TV to work the assignment desk and write articles for their website, and while I really did want to focus on being on air, it was a job offer after college. So, I took them up on it, and I ended up working there for almost two years, and then I moved closer to home and worked at the FOX 32 station here in Chicago where I focused on doing social media, writing for the website, doing a little bit of assignment desk work, and I did a little bit of on air work there as well.
I really loved working in news, but it’s super exciting, every day is truly different, but those hours can really get to you. I was getting up at like 3:00 in the morning, and working holidays, working weekends, and there were a lot of things I was missing out on. So, I was just ready for a lifestyle change, and two years after working at FOX 32, I ended up looking for jobs in PR, and randomly applied to this law firm in Chicago and here I am at Salvi, Schostok & Pritchard six and a half years later.
What are newsrooms and reporters looking to cover?
Lindsey:
That’s great. That’s great that you were able to take that experience working in the newsroom and especially at the assignment desk, looking at all of the different pitches that were coming through and press releases. I’m sure you saw your fair share of different stories from across the board coming through. And so, from your experience there, what did you find that reporters were looking for when they chose to cover certain stories?
Marcie:
Sure.
Lindsey:
There is a lot of competition among them and only so much time to tell the news.
Marcie:
Definitely. So, if anyone’s ever worked in a newsroom, you know that your email is constantly going off. There’s probably two emails coming in per second, especially in major news markets like Chicago or Indianapolis or any sort of big city. There are so many events and stories to cover that you are literally sifting through stories or potential stories all day. So, the assignment desk is dedicated to sifting through all that and then assigning the major stories to a reporter to cover, and I would say the biggest thing is if you can find a way that your expertise or your story fits into the news of the day, I think that’s the easiest way to get coverage.
So, an example of that is a few years ago, this is still happening, but a few years ago, it was almost every day you would hear about someone being injured on a roller coaster at an amusement park or a water slide, and it became this major issue and it was a major news story. So, I pitched one of our attorneys here at the firm who had handled a case where a little boy was injured on a small rollercoaster at a fair or something like that, and he was able to go on the news and explain how rides are regulated here in Illinois and offer advice to people if you are injured, or how do you determine if a ride is safe to go on, and what do you do if you are unfortunately injured in one of those accidents. So, that was just a way of using the news of the day or something that’s relevant and tying your expertise into that.
On top of that, I think there are so many interesting stories that come into a personal injury law firm that attorneys may overlook because I think a lot of attorneys are wired to think that your most interesting case is your biggest, most lucrative case, and I don’t think that’s always the case when it comes to the news. So, you may have a client who has a really interesting human interest aspect, or it was a really unique accident, like there was something that happened at the dentist or at the doctor that you’re able to share the story and pitch it as you are helping this from happening to someone else in the future, and I think we can get more into that.
But another thing that sticks out is if you have visuals, that’s always really helpful. Photos and video, they may not even need to take the time to interview you, and they may just take the photos that you send and turn your press release into a news article for the website, and then that’s guaranteed coverage right there. And then also there are just so many poorly written news or press releases out there. You would be surprised how many do not have contact information or information on the time or the place that either a press conference or an event is happening. So, I think as long as you are communicative and you have all of your information readily available, that puts you ahead of the game as well.
Getting attention at the assignment desk:
Lindsey:
Those tips and ideas are so helpful. Thinking about law firms that we work with, and every single law firm that we work with either has a client with a story that’s relatable. It would be so easy to comb through the news and find ways that you can help people out with problems that seem to be prevalent in the community. So, those are all absolutely very, very helpful. And then you talked a little bit about press releases, and when looking at a press release, it can be kind of an overwhelming experience. You try to find templates, you try to find resources to be able to piece together a story, or to piece together a press release that’s going to get media attention. Where should lawyers be starting as they start to draft that press release in a way that’s going to get the attention of somebody over at the assignment desk?
Marcie:
Sure. So, even if you don’t have a dedicated PR person at your firm, I think it’s very doable for your firm to create a media strategy when you identify something that you want to pitch the news or is newsworthy in your market. I think starting with just opening a word document and making a title that’s bold, and writing a press release giving specific details, such as the date of the injury, the name of the people involved, who is involved in the lawsuit, if you’ve filed, provide a quote, I think that’s really important because even if they’re not able to take the time to interview you, they can pull your quote out and write an article. But just try to be as clean as possible, and just take whatever you wrote and copy and paste it into an email that is formatted nicely. You don’t need to create an account on Cision or Meltwater or these websites that distribute the press release for you. You can literally send an email from your desk and create relationships with reporters in your market.
Creating relationships with reporters:
Lindsey:
And so, should lawyers be looking to create relationships directly with the reporters? Because I know a lot of people do go through the Cision or PR Newswire and submit out the press releases. What’s the best way to get in touch with the right reporter at the right news outlet?
Marcie:
That’s a great question because I think while those websites are great for mass distribution, I know that they have an SEO benefit and they’re good for back links. As far as creating relationships, the absolute best way to create a relationship with a reporter is to email them directly and not send out a mass email. I have noticed in my experience when I’ve sent emails and said, “Hi, Cindy, I have this story you may be interested in. I saw you covered something similar last week. Here’s my case, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.” I think that comes off much more personal, and you’re much more likely to get a response either way and create that relationship, rather than if you’re just to send a press release and BCC a bunch of people.
I think there’s a higher risk of them just deleting it or not emailing you back and forth, and then in the future, they’re not remembering your name because I’ve also had an outcome where I’ve emailed a reporter specifically about a story, and they don’t cover it that day, or they don’t cover that story specifically, but then they will reach out over the next few weeks or months and say, “Hey, I think I remember you guys cover personal injury or you guys do dog bite cases. There was this major dog bite story. Can you guys weigh in on this?” So, even just having them remember your name and what kind of law that you practice is huge. So, always try to make those personal relationships and reach out directly to a reporter when you can, and it doesn’t-
Lindsey:
That’s great step.
Marcie:
Sorry. And it doesn’t have to go through the reporter. You can even look up who the assignment editor is at a certain TV station or the editor of a newspaper and go directly to them and then they can assign a story out.
Timing your PR:
Lindsey:
That’s interesting. I had no idea how news networks work or assignment desks work. So, that’s really helpful to understand a little bit more about the process and helping our lawyers, our listeners get a competitive edge when it comes to actually getting to the assignment desk and getting past the initial scroll. Does time sensitivity play a part at all in terms of which stories get assigned out?
Marcie:
Yes. I’m so glad you asked that because one thing I did want to mention is that you should never ever send a press release or a story pitch during a major news event, unless you are directly related to that or can provide a meaningful connection to that story. If there is severe weather, nothing is getting on the news except for severe weather. I mean, even national news, when there is a major supreme court hearing or something like that, chances are you’re not really going to get coverage that day. So, I would say hold off a day because a lot of times in our line of work, we do have the luxury of being able to say, “Okay, well, we just filed this yesterday. We could hold it till the next day and hold a press conference.”
If your story you’re pitching directly involves a specific lawsuit where a plaintiff is involved, if you are able to offer that client as an interview, that’s huge because a lot of times reporters would rather talk to the actual victim of what happened than an attorney, unfortunately, and I know we would all love to get our attorneys on the news, but a lot of times getting the client with them is the way to get your attorney mentioned or your firm mentioned.
Lindsey:
Right, although I know we work with a lot of attorneys who are a little camera shy as well. So, maybe pushing out the client be like, “You’re a better face of this operation.” Well, and I want to go back to a piece or a bit that you talked about here a second ago, talking about stories and having compelling stories. I know that you guys have a podcast that does tell compelling stories. Can you tell me a little bit about that?
Marcie:
Yes. So, last year, it took probably about a year for us to launch our podcast after brainstorming which direction we wanted to go with it, and we decided the best way to go was to tell the stories of our clients who are resilient. They have overcome a catastrophic injury or loss and have come out on top because of great legal work that is being done. So, we create a podcast and it’s called Beating Goliath: A Plaintiff’s Pursuit of Justice which is available anywhere you get your podcasts. We have one batch of episodes out now. We are working on our next batch currently.
And the one we have out now is about an army veteran named Tom who was horrifically injured while he was working on tearing down a trade show that was happening at Chicago’s McCormick Place, and he almost lost his foot, and he just had a very long road to recovery, and he ended up getting a $15 million jury verdict which then was appealed and resulted in a 19.5 million settlement with interest and all that. So, it was a really great story, and he’s such an amazing person that we were able to help. So, even if you’re not a lawyer who’s looking for trial advice, just hearing Tom’s story is so compelling and inspiring because there are so many things I think we complain about day to day that you realize are so insignificant in the grand scheme of things. So, definitely, it’s worth checking out, and I think if you’re an attorney, there is some excellent trial advice from some of our attorneys here at the firm, Patrick Salvi and Patrick Salvi Jr.
Lindsey:
That’s great, and of course, being able to have that story that you can tell, that you can share, and I’m sure that it’s gotten some media attention for you guys as well being able to share not only something that is horrific, but something that at the end of the day is uplifting and that people can latch onto as an inspiration.
Marcie:
Yes.
Beating Goliath: A Plaintiff’s Pursuit of Justice:
Lindsey:
That’s a great story to tell. Well, we’ll be sure to put the link to your podcast in our comments section so that everybody can go check that out. And Marcie, thank you again so much for joining us today. It has been a pleasure, and we’ve gotten some great information about how to stand out and compete at the PR desk.
Marcie:
Thank you so much for having me.
