At one time or another, almost all organizations seek media coverage. Most businesses, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies strive hard for positive media attention. Whether with in-house PR staff or a PR agency, they use many avenues to gain media coverage, ranging from news releases to promotional stunts. Passive approaches can succeed if done correctly, while some situations call for more aggressive direct approaches.
In a post on how journalists find experts, PR coach Debbie Leven suggests 10 ways to gain the attention of journalists. Here are some of the best:
Improve your website. Reporters typically turn to search engines to research stories and find sources. Display your expertise and add information to your website tailored to the media.
Secure online coverage. In a self-perpetuating cycle, online coverage leads to coverage in print and broadcast media. The more online visibility you have, the more journalists will notice you and then seek you. That’s why it’s important to write blog posts on relevant subjects and to write guest posts and opinion pieces.
Journalist databases. Two main databases that journalists use for sourcing experts include Expert Sources and Find a TV Expert. You can place profiles on them for a fee. Also, the Women’s Room lists women experts in promote more gender balance of experts featured in the media.
Direct approach. Track what journalists and bloggers covering your niche report on. Identify who is writing articles that offer you an opportunity for favorable media coverage. Contact them directly with a tailored approach if you think you have something that will interest them or could provide a valuable insight or comment.
Associations. Reporters often ask professional and business associations and special interest groups for experts who are knowledgeable and articulate about particular topic. Being active in associations in your niche can pay media coverage dividends.
Other Ways to Win Media Coverage
These are more strategies for obtaining journalists’ attention.
Construct an online corporate newsroom. Surveys show that corporate media centers are essential to provide journalists quick access to information they seek. After the home page of the corporation’s website, the online newsroom is most important online resource for journalists researching an organization. The best corporate newsrooms contain links to past media coverage, company press releases, executive bios, photos and videos.
Email messages. When employing the direct approach, email press releases and story pitches. Surveys show that journalists prefer to receive pitches via email as opposed to social media. Use a descriptive subject line and kept messages concise. “Since writers need to get through so many emails during the day, and yet are still human (even though sometimes they seem super-human to us), they don’t have time to read through a wall of text,” notes Ayelet Noff at TNW News. (Note: Don’t attach your press release to an email, especially if you are unknown to the recipient. Recipients won’t open attachments for fear of viruses or phishing. In your email pitch, provide a link to the news release on your website or include the news release copy in the email after the pitch.)
Include multimedia. Many journalists are more likely to read and publish a news release if it includes multimedia elements, such as photos, logos, audio and video files, research shows. Visuals also encourage the publication’s audience to open the article.
Respond quickly. When news breaks, reporters typically seek experts to explain a news event or issue in layman’s terms. They need to find an expert quickly. The PR team that quickly pitches experts to reporters typically wins the media coverage. The secret is to train your spokespeople and prepare your responses beforehand, as much as possible.
Monitor the media. By monitoring media coverage in your niche, including mentions of your company and products, competitors and issues in your industry, you can identify media relations opportunities. Subscription monitoring services organize media clips in an online database, and some provide customizable dashboards and media measurement data that can reveal important insights. The services also provide better coverage than manual searching and save staff time by automating the search function across all media.
Bottom Line: Many different approaches can be used to attract the attention of journalists and secure favorable media coverage. Carefully putting the basics in place and building relationships with journalists are the fundamental requirements. Providing publications information or commentary that is relevant and useful to their audiences is the ultimate “secret” to gain the attention of journalists.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
