How to Make Sure You’re Targeting the Right Journalists
Journalists can play a significant role in the success of your company. You ideally have two strategies, which also ideally support your big overarching business goals. One strategy is your press and public relations strategy. It sits under the big umbrella of your marketing strategy.
The other strategy is your media relations strategy. What? You didn’t know you needed a media relations strategy? You do. It sits under the umbrella of your marketing strategy as well, and if you want to leverage the power of the media – and we’re talking about a larger reach, more credibility, more brand exposure, and ultimately bigger sales and profits – then you do want the media’s help.
How do they help? The media helps by telling your story. You work hard to create a brand story. You create and market products or services, and your brand story is part of why people buy from you. Press releases are strategic tools to appeal to the media and to get them to tell your story.
In a press release, you make an announcement, something newsworthy like a new product that improves your customer’s life, like new research, new information, or something noteworthy that your company is doing. When the media picks up that information and shares it with their readers, either online or in print, then your audience grows.
A media strategy helps you connect with the right journalists. We’re talking about the journalists who:
- are interested in your story.
- cover your type of company, your niche products, your niche services.
- appeal to your audience.
So how do you target those journalists?
- Research
Get online and start digging. Search for content using keywords that your audience uses. Take note of blogs, articles, and social media posts. Who wrote them? What else do they write about? Who do they write for? The second phase of research is to identify every single newspaper, magazine, and journal that covers your industry. Make a list.
Then dig a little deeper and look at who writes for those periodicals? Take note of the journalists who specifically cover information in your industry or niche. (Note: This is a step that you can outsource. An assistant, someone on your marketing team or an outside service provider can do this research for you.)
- Alerts
Set up Google alerts for your industry. Visit https://www.google.com/alerts and set up alerts that notify you when a press release or news article is published about your industry. For example, if you sell massage supplies then you might create alerts for your competition, for keywords like “massage supplies” and other popular keywords. You can fine tune your alerts so you only get notifications for “news.” Keep a list of the journalists you come across.
- Read
Pay attention to the journalists that write the most relevant articles in your industry. These are likely the best media representatives to add to your media outreach list.
Once you have a good list of people to target, you’ll want to start your media outreach strategy. This involves more research, quality planning, and strategic implementation. It’s worth it. The media can help you grow your business quickly.
Call us today to speak to one of our PR specialists: 1-800-713-7278
