Most reporters don’t want to talk with you. They want to talk with your customers.
The St. Louis Post Dispatch recently featured Stereotaxis on the front page of its weekly health section. The story led with an anecdote:
About eight years ago, John Rhoads of Godfrey began experiencing atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rate that causes poor blood flow to the body.
At first, it wasn’t too bad and prescription drugs helped. But it kept getting worse. The episodes, which left Rhoads weak and tired, became more frequent, sometimes every other day.
“As soon as I felt better, I would have another. I was worn out all the time,” he said. “It makes you feel like you’re going to pass out.”
Finally, on March 26 at Missouri Baptist Medical Center, Rhoads, 74, had a radiofrequency catheter ablation in which energy is used to destroy tissues causing the problem.
The rest of the story is available here.
This is a classic example of the key role that patients play in medical device storytelling. But it goes beyond this one industry.
Customer-to-customer referrals are typically the most powerful. Customer-to-reporter referrals are the same.
Journalists at consumer-facing news organizations in particular are not inclined to interview the company behind the black box. They already know you think the product is great. That’s not news.
In healthcare PR, journalists prefer access to patient stories first, then input from doctors, or other experts if the subject is in a different industry.
They then prefer to speak with activists, clinical associations, or other third-party observers. In order of preference, the company is often last. This is especially true on television. Note the example from Good Morning Virginia’s discussion of the overactive bladder treatment by Uroplasty, and ABC News‘ presentation of Apieron’s technology for the diagnosis and treatment of asthma.
Even with a hard news hook, garnering local television and print media for any service-oriented business often requires the company know its customers well enough to identify those that can bring forward stories made possible with its product.
Social media is another matter entirely, requiring a different level of customer engagement. On that, stay tuned.