Content is king….apparently. That’s what we’re all told anyway, and who am I to argue. What I would argue though, is that it still all comes down to people. And relationships. And that’s why, in this era of multiple digital platforms and a sometimes chaotic landscape, the fundamental principles of media relations matter more than ever. To grow the profile of your business, it is all about relationships.

How many times have you heard the phrase ‘content is king’? As an SME, it’s all about growing your brand, making an impact, turning heads, getting engagement….sounds easy right? Actually doing it in often-crowded markets or sectors is a little trickier.

And in that daunting jigsaw puzzle of social channels, YouTube, TikTok, websites and everything else, a more traditional medium is increasingly being overlooked.

This may be a 44-year-old former newspaper journalist talking, but in my opinion, an equally important piece of that puzzle is still how you work with the print and online media to make sure you’re getting the right eyes on your business.

At Sale Sharks we have a challenge in this respect in that a) we’re sharing our region with some of the biggest football clubs in the world who command plenty of press interest, and b) pretty much every journalist worth his or her salt who covers rugby lives in the south of England.

So what did we do to make sure journalists had a reason to come and visit, and make sure that what we gave them was going to hit the mark in the inter-sport battle for column inches? We opened our doors, we said ‘yes’ even if the story or content idea had its risks, we took time to get to know the journalists personally, and we educated our players on why it was so important to trust us when we asked them to do an interview. And we reaped the benefits.

We identified our local tv and radio as key channels to our supporters and we did the same with them. We opened our doors, and we provided some of the world’s best rugby players whenever they had slots to fill. We went from having no live radio commentaries in a season on BBC Radio Manchester to having all but one of our home games covered. It was all about the relationships we built. Old fashioned media relations.

And this has benefits far beyond simply getting more coverage. Think about crisis management. If your business finds itself in the midst of a crisis, wouldn’t it be nice to have some trusted allies among key media outlets?

I asked the Daily Mail’s rugby correspondent, Chris Foy, to give me his take and he told me: “The modern concept of ‘content’ is misleading. In essence, in there somewhere, it is still about people interacting. The content doesn’t happen if there isn’t an agreement to make it happen and if there isn’t a conversation between people; one or more seeking the content and one or more willingly delivering it.

“Words don’t fall out of the sky, they come from relationships and from sheer human nature; an ability to meet in the middle as interviewer and interviewee – and also meet in the middle as the person requesting access and opportunities, and the person who facilitates.

“All of our best work in the media is done when we have strong connections and bonds; when those we deal with trust us to handle the access they provide or the words they say with care and integrity.

“Media relations all comes down to people. Nothing matters more than establishing a good rapport, reliable communication and essential trust.”

So when you’re thinking about how to grow your profile, grow your brand and maybe find a new audience or customer base, yes, think about your channels, your content and the on-trend social platform. But why not build in some good old fashioned media relations too. Identify where you want to be seen, who you need to be reading about you and who you need to get to know to make that happen. And then make an effort to actually get to know them. Build trust and you’ll get the results.