in: PR (Public Relations)
by: Sabina Hitchen
You can exponentially increase your chances of getting a story out there in the press if you're pitching it to the right people! People who love your niche, love what your type of product or service or expertise does, and who cover stories like yours regularly. If you spend hours pitching the wrong people, they are wasted hours and it's a wasted pitch - no matter how good it is!
To be sure you're not only pitching the right people, but also finding more and more of them to bring you more and more buzz, be sure these strategies are part of your public relations campaign plan!
Monitor the Twitter hashtags of your "world".
What is it you do? What niche are you in? What hashtags are good matches for your offerings? Often reporters chat with the public on Twitter, and often they include hashtags about what they're talking about in those conversations. By researching these hashtags on Twitter you can instantly see (in real time or from past conversations) bloggers, editors and producers who are interested in stories like yours!
Send a Complimentary Non-Pitch Pitch:
Let's say you're reading a blog, newspaper or magazine and you come upon someone who writes about stories, products or services similar to yours. Start reading their work. Write down your thoughts on some of his or her recent stories. Then write a brief and clear email in which you compliment them on a specific story and spend the majority of this email talking about what you liked specifically about their piece. Then mention that you thought since they covered XXX they may be interested in your product/service/expertise. Do not then launch into an entirely new pitch about you, keep it to once sentence referring to what you do and tell them you’d love to share more with them, then ask if you could. Don't forget that the subject line should be clear that you are writing them a compliment about their story. Mention in the subject line that you loved their article on [XXX] and thought they’d like this…Example:
Sarah: Loved Your Article on Baby Chopsticks Last Week, Thought You May Enjoy This Baby Tool as well...
Study Your Competitors' Press Pages:
These press pages are roadmaps for you to lead you to outlets and reporters that have covered products, services and experts similar to yours. Literally go to your competitors' websites, click on their press page, and study those articles: angles, press contacts, style, etc. After you do this, add appropriate contacts to your media list. Do not pitch them the exact story they covered with your competitors, but find a way to work your brand story, product or service into a pitch that is authentic to both your business and the style of story that the reporter, producer or editor clearly enjoys.
Stay on top of "What’s Hot" in your Industry & Who Covers It:
It is your job to be aware of trends and topics that matter in your industry. Sign up or follow news feeds in your industry that do this because this will help you get timely scoop from your niche regularly. Do this via following things from industry newsletters and journals to outlets like The Daily Mail (that shares fun, funky and newsworthy stories on every topic under the sun). This will help you find press worthy stories for which you can proactively pitch related story angles that include you and your business in them.
Then, you can use your regular research and reading of outlets you want to be in (along with hashtag research from tip one above) to see who is covering this type of story, and you can be one of the first people in their inbox with a story they are sure to want to talk about!
The press LOVE covering different angles of hot stories multiple times in a row. If you know the hot story as soon as possible, half of the work is already done and you've got the "bait" to lure reporters, editors and producers to you!
