Media relations is a vital skill for any business or organization that wants to get exposure, credibility, and trust from their target audience. But how do you find and pitch to the right media contacts for your niche or industry? Here are some tips to help you succeed in your media outreach efforts.
Before you start looking for media contacts, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and who you want to reach with your story. What is your unique value proposition, your key message, and your call to action? Who are your ideal customers, clients, or stakeholders, and what are their pain points, interests, and preferences? Having a well-defined goal and audience will help you narrow down your media list and tailor your pitch accordingly.
Knowing your contact's audience is also a key part here. As a former trade journalist, I know that journalists in the trade press are going to be writing to a more educated audience - they will have deeper questions to ask, really want to know what's new, how things work at a deeper level, etc. Dealing with mainstream media, their audience are going to be more localised - how does this product/technology/trend impact me? My job? My local community, or a cause I care a lot about? That's the key part of narrowing your pitch.
Recent examples include a client who is a third gen automotive recycling business owner. He developed an award winning cloud based app to streamline efficiency in operations for his industry. (SaaS)Auto Recycling World, American Recycler, Washington and Richmond Biz Journals are a few successful placements thus far, due to a perfect audience fit.
Once you have your goal and audience in mind, you need to do some research to find the most relevant and influential media outlets and journalists for your niche or industry. You can use tools like Google News, Cision, Muck Rack, or HARO to search for media sources by topic, keyword, location, or niche. You can also check out their social media profiles, blogs, podcasts, or newsletters to get a sense of their style, tone, and coverage. Then, you need to segment your media list into categories based on their reach, relevance, and relationship. For example, you can have tiers like A-list, B-list, and C-list, or local, regional, and national media.
I'd use care not to spam out the same pitch to hundreds of journalists at once. The media databases allow you to do this - but journalists LOATHE it. It says to them that you didn't spend time doing your research and customizing your pitch. Doesn't make it seem very "special," does it? Instead, know the journalists you're pitching. Craft a pitch with a particular journalist in mind. Tailor it to their audience. That will help you be more successful in securing earned media coverage.
It is important to verify that any media contact provided through a database service actuallu covers what you are pitching. It is imperative to read their recent pieces and to review their social. Follow them before you pitch and keep notes on what you see them covering and the tone of their coverage. Be sure to interact with their social posts - don't just lurk. Utilize the information you glean to personalize the pitch.
I'd also add: once you've identified your target media list - make sure you've thoroughly researched those media outlets, and ensure it's not a mass one size fits all approach. Eg who's your ideal media's target audience and what sort of stories would interest them, is there a particular 'story treatment' that the particular media outlet would make your story stand out from the other pitches. As a former BBC journalist, I lost count of the number of PRs would get in contact saying "I've got a great story for the Today Programme" - but when you listened to their pitch, you could tell they've never listened to the programme, otherwise they would know that we've never cover that kind of story!
Building your media list will be the most time-consuming part of the pitch. You can start with research tools like Cision or Muck Rack, but those programs are not always 100% accurate. To ensure the reliability and accuracy of the list, you'll need to cross-check the reporter or media outlet. Do a Google search for recent coverage, use Twitter to confirm their beat or reporting area, and see if they've appeared on any podcasts or written about their profession (more common for top-tier media) for insight on how they like to be pitched or contacted. A media list should tiers, or can be broken out geographically and by size: local, regional, state, national and trade.
Read the publications you pitch. Read articles by the reporters you plan to pitch and make sure their beat is a fit. Watch the TV news programs you plan to target. Many people throw spaghetti at the wall and hope it sticks. That is not a good strategy. It's spamming. Building a strong media list takes a lot of time. There are no shortcuts.
After you have your segmented media list, you need to craft your pitch and send it to the right media contacts. Your pitch should be concise, compelling, and customized to each media outlet and journalist. You should include a catchy subject line, a brief introduction, a hook that explains why your story is newsworthy and relevant to their audience, a summary of your key points and supporting facts, and a clear call to action. You should also attach any relevant materials like press releases, images, or videos. Then, you need to follow up with your media contacts until you get a response. You can use tools like Mailtrack, Boomerang, or Yesware to track your emails and schedule your follow-ups. You should also be polite, respectful, and flexible when communicating with your media contacts.
As a former tv producer, my most valuable piece of advice is make it easy for your media contacts to use your content. Don’t just pitch an idea. Provide as much relevant content in the pitch as possible. Write a script (with intro and tag). Provide a link to edited video. Create mock full screens for producers as guidelines. Make sure you provide super content for each piece of video. Most newsrooms are understaffed and you have a much better chance of your pitch being accepted if producers can literally cut and paste content. Writing news content for broadcast ad/or print from a lengthy email is hard…especially if you have to verify and research. Provide relevant contact info at the start of the pitch email AND again at the end.
One strategy is to think about building your pitch like a story. You've often heard you have to think like a journalist, but sometimes it helps to go a step further and give them the themes/start of an article. Do you have images or b-roll to include with your pitch? Did you share a list of timely or impactful topics that can be used as insight for an article? Do you already have quotes and helpful information from a subject matter expert? Proactively including some assets for the reporter/media contact your pitching may increase your chances of getting a response.
Getting media coverage is not a one-time event, but a long-term process that requires building and maintaining relationships with your media contacts. You should always thank them for their interest, feedback, or coverage, and provide them with any additional information or assistance they may need. You should also keep in touch with them regularly, share their content, comment on their posts, or send them relevant news or updates. You should also be open to feedback, criticism, or suggestions, and learn from your successes and failures. By building and maintaining relationships with your media contacts, you can increase your chances of getting more coverage, referrals, or opportunities in the future.
One of the best tools in finding and building new media relationships is to regularly search for and engage with stories relevant to your area of focus. Setting up search alerts through platforms like Muck Rack or Google can send relevant stories straight to your inbox. Even googling keywords consistently and using Google's "tools" function can allow you to find stories from a specific time range. From there, you can connect with reporters of interest by emailing or engaging with them on social media regarding their stories. Showing genuine interest in their work and showing that you took the time to read it is an almost surefire way to catch a reporter's attention and build a relationship.
As one who is more or less in the media business, I always tell folks to do something unusual. Look for fun activities around your business that might get others who may not be clients to take notice. "Normal" business is not news. One other thing: if you have some facts and figures that would be of general interest -- not just inside baseball -- let the media know about them.
Building and maintaining relationships with media contacts can take on many forms and change over time depending on the industry you are working on - even within an industry. In addition to the the "normal business/relationship practices" detailed in this section, you may find it helpful to reach out and offer subject matter support, invite media to one-on-one or small group engagements with company leadership and/or patients (in the healthcare/biopharma sector) and check-in between news cycles or "big news" to offer a service to them. You will soon find that communications really do flow both ways.