Building a solid media list can be tedious, but is worth its weight in gold.
So you’ve got your Virtual Press Kit, High-Res Photos and Pitch ready to go. What do you do next? Obviously, before you can contact the media you need their contact information. You need a media list.
What is a media list? It’s exactly what it sounds like: a list of media you plan to contact. A completed list includes the name of the journalist, the outlet they work for, contact information and any other important notes like preferred method of contact, best time of day to reach them or their own personal comments for pitching them.
Media list building is one of the most tedious, yet important, media relations activities; without a solid list, your efforts to try to secure editorial coverage are completely wasted.
So how do you build a solid media list?
- Personally, I think the best standard program to use when building a media list is Microsoft Excel. This will help you organize all the data you collect into columns like: Name, Media Outlet, Email Address, Phone Number and Notes. Plus Excel allows you to have a separate worksheet for each segment of media such as “Women’s Magazines” and “Mommy Bloggers.”
- Start by making a list of outlets you think your pitch is appropriate for, such as Women’s Magazines or Blogs. You can do a simple Google search to get the names of publications you might not have heard of before that would still be appropriate.
- Comb through the website to determine if it’s a good fit. Read through articles, look at their about page. If it’s a good fit, add the outlet to your list.
- While you’re there, look to see who wrote the articles that would best fit your product or service. Is there contact information posted? If possible, add their email address and phone number to your list. Add any additional comments you’re able to find, like “Susie writes about eyeliner” or “Steve prefers to be contacted via email.”
- We always recommend pitching via email as it’s less intrusive and reporters tend to prefer it to phone pitching. That being said, if all you can find is the main office number, give the receptionist a call and ask for the reporter’s email address. If they transfer you or give you their phone number instead, tell the journalist you have a story idea you wanted to send more information about via email, and ask what address is best to reach them. Remember – you’re asking them for a favor, so be sure you are polite and courteous on the phone, even if they aren’t. “Please” and “thank you” can go a long way.
Spend a little bit of time regularly to fill out your list. Investing 30 minutes here or there will be just as effective as a few hours once a month, although the smaller chunks of time will keep you more sane!
Photo Credit: kylemac