*This post is part of Bailey Gardiner’s Public Relations Tactics series, which highlights tools and best practices to ensure a successful public relations campaign. The series will run weekly.

Working on the public relations team at Bailey Gardiner requires being a Jack (or more likely Jane) of all trades. However, there’s one aspect of traditional pr that will always be a staple at this public relations firm: building solid relationships with media members.  It’s not easy (our clients wouldn’t pay us if it were) and it can be easily overstepped; especially with the multitude of closings, reorganizations, and layoffs recently. Yet, it can be one of the most important weapons in an agency’s arsenal of public relations tactics.

Here are four basics for effectively building media relationships.

• Research: Whether it’s your first day as an Account Coordinator or your first day with a new client, you have to figure out who the big players are. I don’t mean pulling their name from a database with facts about how they cover “regional travel.” Do some of the legwork. Read their articles, follow them on Twitter, think about their areas of interest. Learn the basics, especially if they cover a topic you anticipate pitching frequently. This will come in especially handy when you get them on the phone.
• Think before you pitch: Part of an effective public relations plan isn’t just hard hitting phone calls and magically crafted subject lines, it’s being able to look for the newsworthy and interesting angles that your client has to offer and helping them continue to produce them over time. It might not be the most interesting client, but YOU are the one pitching them. If your pitch is boring, awful, or too long, you could start burning a bridge you need. If your pitch is interesting, you approach the appropriate person, and you cater to their needs, the media will begin to trust and respect you. An assignment editor for a major news desk here in San Diego once told me he could identify a local public relations person by the sound of her voice. Media members do pay attention, for better or for worse.

• Be genuine: Ever since that time in 8th grade when your BFF passed the boy you liked a note in math class you’ve known that people can be, well, fake. And no one likes that. If you’re genuinely interested in what a reporter writes about, who their audience is, and what their needs are, it will show. It doesn’t mean they won’t yell at you for calling them on their deadline, but it will help you form good relationships and skills throughout your public relations career.
• Remember life pre-Facebook: We LOVE social media here at Bailey Gardiner, and we talk about it a ton, but meeting someone face-to-face can have a big impact. Attend local tweet ups, awards events, or whatever is happening in your area. Have a drink and relax. Talk about something besides what makes your event visually appealing to a news camera. Just make sure you remember their name and their kids’ names and where they went to college. Oh and after you meet them, keep in touch.