view online:
How to Get Press: 10 Ways to Keep the Ink Flowing, by Amy Dean, President of Keyword Communication (
keywordcommunication.com)
In this dried up traditional media market, the most seasoned media relations professionals are sweating their skills. If you’re finding that pitching the media is harder than it used to be, try the following tips to help keep the ink flowing.
1. Ditch the Mile-long Media Lists
Nothing will prompt a reporter to open an email faster than the word “exclusive” in the subject line. Reporters are fighting for their jobs. Without sources, a reporter is just a writer. An exclusive gives them an edge over the other guy. But, bear in mind that your boss and/or clients might cringe at the notion of limiting outreach. When shrinking your list, be sure to manage expectations.
2. Conduct Real-time Research
Even the best media database services are having a hard time keeping up with who is covering what. As the number of staff at media outlets shrinks, the number of beats per reporter expands. That is why I find the natural language processing search embedded in the Meltwater Press database so intriguing. Within the system, you can use keywords related to the list that you are building to search the topics that reporters are actually writing about, rather than relying on fixed profiles that become outdated faster than ever.
3. Make your Pitch Seasonal
Mainstream media outlets are trying to appeal to the widest audience possible. For the most part, holidays unite us all. Look at the calendar and tie your expertise or product to a timely celebration. Get creative. For example, if you’re promoting a labor and employment law firm, and Father’s Day is around the corner, distribute a media pitch about whether or not employers understand the importance of offering paternity leave.
4. Help Bear the Burden with a Byline
Media outlets are stretched to the max. Many are operating with skeleton crews. Offering to write a byline on a topic that is important, but is not being covered because there’s not enough man power, is a surefire way to get ink.
5. Break-in with Breaking News
It’s not as easy as it used to be to ride the wave of breaking news to position your client as an expert. When there’s less space to be had, stories often run without any third-party experts quoted at all. And, before the story has time to gain momentum, the media is on to something else. But, the bigger the story, and the harder it is for the general public to understand, the more space outlets are willing to allot for experts. If you have an expert who can speak to the next big news story, hit it hard and fast.
6. Follow Reporters on Twitter
Reporters are news and information junkies. As such, they flock to Twitter. Increasingly reporters are tweeting requests for sources. If you have a reporter in your sights, set up a Tweetdeck column on their feed and watch for opportunities to serve up your stories and experts.
7. Be a Twitter Wingman
Twitter is providing an unprecedented opportunity for anyone to build meaningful relationships with reporters. To remind the reporters who I target that my sources are available for comment, I like to retweet their tweets, especially ones with links to their stories. I stay top of their mental Rolodex while helping them drive traffic to their content. Much better than an annoying phone call during deadline hours any day.
8. Check-in with Reporters Without an Agenda
The amount of information flying around the internet is dizzying. When I run across a story that I know one of the reporters who I target will be interested in, I send it to them. They are grateful to get the information they might have missed and appreciate there was no strings attached to it. They will remember you fondly the next time you want something.
9. Intersect Business and Consumer Angles
If you’re promoting a business to business company, approach the media with an angle that has a consumer bent. Media outlets are casting as wide a net as possible to boost readership and increase advertising dollars. Getting a straight b2b story in a mainstream business publication is harder than it used to be. Cherry-pick the b2b topics that will also interest consumers to increase your hit rate.
10. Write a Blog
A blog is a great way to showcase your client’s expertise and/or story ideas to traditional media. If your client has launched a blog, let reporters know that a new resource is available to them. If you’re lucky, they will subscribe and reference the content in their articles.