This isn’t the blog post I originally planned to write.

I originally wrote about the huge jump in local TV news viewership* in March and April due to concerns about living locally with Covid-19.  Single-themed newscasts constrained earned media opportunities, which I proposed was finally over with news stations once again considering strong enterprise stories.

Enter the horrific death of George Floyd, and for obvious reasons, my blog post changed as local newscasts revert back to a single-theme approach, limiting any story angles except those related to this social pandemic.

But what to do if a PR campaign was already pushed back due to COVID-19? Or what do you do if that story pitch, critical to a communications strategy, just got sidelined?

In my opinion, there are three choices from which to choose:  Pitch, postpone or pivot.

Pitch.

If you believe your product or issue launch has relevance to the current discussion or includes a unique enough audience that there will be a positive reception—great, just make sure to ask the tough questions: Why now?  What is the critical tie between this current social pandemic and your campaign?  Is the organization using others’ pain, loss, grief to prop itself up?

If you can’t answer those questions with integrity and authenticity, postpone or pivot.  After all, while your communications tactic might be the single most important thing to your organization right now, it’s likely not the single most important thing in the world. That’s tough to hear but it’s true and you don’t want to be the only person/organization not getting it.

Postpone.

Postponing story pitches, product launches and events is ideal, giving flexibility and optimum ability to execute as planned. But in the off chance that’s not an option, begin the pivot, being mindful of the historical events we are living through.

Pivot.

Here are options to consider:

• Owned Virtual Media – Produce virtual announcements or workshops to an audience of invite-only attendees.
• Owned Media – Announce your news on company blog posts, LinkedIn or e-newsletters.
• Paid Media – Local TV is powerful right now and giving communicators access to a huge variety of demographics. Local print outlets are struggling and looking for ad support so prices are competitive and advertisers are willing to work with buyers to come up with creative ad buys.
• Social Media – Place editorial stories through social posts, knowing that news engagement through Twitter, YouTube, etc. is enjoying strong engagement. Conviva reports local news engagement on Twitter inched towards 200%, YouTube climbed 62% and Instagram 34%.

We know at some point, barring another national or international crisis, the news cycle will open up again.  Thankfully, today we have so many vehicles to communicate to target audiences that there is a way to keep the message moving forward if you take the time necessary to carefully plot next steps.

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*From February to March, adults over 25 spent 30% of their time on TV watching local news.