Ask a company what media success looks like, and you can almost script the answer.
The New York Times. The Wall Street Journal. CNN. The Today Show.
I’ve asked that question hundreds of times, and the answer rarely changes. Occasionally, a more seasoned in-house communications executive will point to a trade publication like STAT, Endpoints News or Becker’s Hospital Review. But most people reach for the biggest mastheads they can think of because, to them, those names signal success.
Here’s the problem: they’re naming the outlet, not the reader.
A front-page feature in a top-tier publication can be incredibly valuable. It can build visibility, credibility and momentum, but only if it reaches the audience you’re trying to influence. If it misses that audience, the feature is like delivering the best speech of your career in a world-class auditorium to the wrong crowd. Prestige creates visibility. The right audience creates impact.
Before deciding where you want coverage, ask the right question: Who must know about your innovation?
Investors, clinicians, hospital executives, researchers and patients all consume media differently. The right publication depends on the audience you’re trying to influence, not the prestige of the logo at the top of the page.
So ask yourself an honest question. Do you want that publication because your audience reads it, or because its name looks good in the deck? One reaches the people who matter most to your business. The other only looks like it did.
Start with the audience.
The right publications will follow.
