Press releases – some of our best tips for getting media coverage.
Getting media coverage is not a simple task and it all begins (and could end) with your press release. Here are some of the best tips to help you successfully distribute your press releases and help you secure some media coverage for your company.
Is it newsworthy? Thinking that anyone and everyone should be interested in your service/product is a great way to get the journalist annoyed. Ragan has a great way to determine if your press releases are newsworthy or not; here are two of the most important things to always keep in mind:
- Localization – If your business is based in and only services the west coast, the Miami Herald or Denver Post would not be interested in your story. In that situation you are better off targeting publications that are more localized, like the San Francisco Chronicle and the Seattle Times.
- Timeliness – “If your story has a time element to it, you need to act fast.” This goes for press releases that are time sensitive due to an event being held on a certain date or due to a seasonality aspect (Mother’s Day, holidays, etc.)
Understand your audience. We are not talking about finding your target audience here. At this stage, your business should already know that information. By saying, “understanding your audience,” we mean really get to know them. What publications are they reading? What trends are they following? Doing research on the media outlets your audience is keeping up with will help you understand that publication’s journalists much better. This leads to better-customized pitches that can improve your chances of getting media coverage.
Think outside the box. Emails are a great tool to use when sending out press releases. But what other online resources are you using? A recent study showed that more and more journalists are actually relying on Twitter as a form of getting information. Research To Action has some fantastic tips to research and engage a journalist on Twitter. Reaching out via social media is a great way to build or start your relationships with reporters and improve your chances of getting media coverage the next time you send out a press release.
Have you had to send out a press release to a journalist before? What methods did you try to get some media coverage? Were you successful?
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