There’s a TV show about that?

A friend of mine told me about a new show she’s started watching and it’s going to sound fake, but I looked it up and I promise it’s real.

Tanked is about competitive aquarium design. Did you know there was a world of competitive aquarium design? Because I admit, I did not. I’ve seen shows focusing on the cutthroat world of fashion design, house flipping and professional baking, but I was unaware of the fish tank design niche.

Of course my first thought was, who would watch this, and why? Well, my friend for one, (who to protect her from teasing by everyone but me shall remain nameless).

And the why of it doesn’t really matter, except that people are connecting and relating to more and more niche topics when it comes to TV shows.

This is instructive to us as PR folks because the same trend carries over to media outlets. More and more people are passing over mainstream outlets and spending time on niche outlets with content catered just to them.

That content may be specific to readers of a particular hobby, profession, sports team affiliation, or dietary habit. There are as many niche outlets as there are types of people. Which makes things harder for lazy PR pros, but much easier for those of us willing to do some research.

Of course outlets like the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal are still relevant and will be for many more years. But it’s no longer enough to pitch your story to a “mainstream” media outlet and assume it is reaching your target audience. Those who continue to do this will remain puzzled why they are not achieving the results they expected and used to get.

Those who take the time to get to know their target audience – not the reporters but the actual people they want to reach – will find themselves creating a whole new media list.

Keep your list up-to-date by identifying the outlets that matter most to your audience now, not just the ones that worked two years ago or sound impressive. Once you dive into this, you’ll be surprised to find outlets you’ve been missing that are a great fit for your client or company. And the good news is, many other PR pros have overlooked these same outlets, making your path to placements a lot less difficult.  

And once you’ve completed your stellar media list, treat yourself to a night of binge-watching Tanked. I hear it’s a great show.