A successful media engagement strategy boils down to one factor: more cowbell.

In other words, “be louder and stand out,” says Vanessa Coria, vice president of communications at $2.9 billion asset Chartway Federal Credit Union in Virginia Beach, Va. “You’ve got to get your name out there and create awareness of your brand and credit union.”

Public relations allows credit unions to present their unique value proposition, share their story, and demonstrate how they differ from other financial institutions, says Coria, who addressed America’s Credit Unions’ 2024 Marketing & Business Development Council Conference Monday in Las Vegas.

She offers six steps for mapping out a media plan:

1. Set clear objectives, such as a product launch or a brand introduction.
2. Identify target audiences and key stakeholders, whether they’re broadcast, print, or other outlets.
3. Conduct research and analysis, and create a media list.
4. Map out storylines for each audience, including key messaging for each. “Identify your key messages, and give the media information that will resonate,” Coria says.
5. Identify tactics for each storyline, such as press releases, social media posts, media kits, video, high-resolution photographs, and bylined case studies. “Consider a press conference if you have something big enough and different enough to attract attention,” she says.
6. Create a timeline and content distribution plan. Coria keeps a document with key messages developed in concert with the marketing department.

“When doing media outreach, you need to be relentless,” she says. “Come up with a well-thought-out pitch and follow up. Be the person they want to contact because they know you’ll do all the legwork. They don’t have time—there aren’t as many of them as there are of us.

“Big or small, you can reach the media. The more you do it, the better you get at it.”