Be a problem solver
The media is all about giving its audience what they want.
They want to keep their readers, listeners or viewers happy, so they keep coming back for more.
You need to think about how you can help journalists give their audience what they want and be of benefit to them.
One of the best ways to do this is to be a problem solver. Present a journalist with a problem that is relevant to their audience and show them that you are or have the solution.
Know your audience
Before you contact a journalist or a producer, you need to do your research.
Make sure you find out who their target market is, whether it’s an age group or gender or a certain type of person. You need to make sure your target market is the same and your story is suitable.
There’s no point in trying to get a journalist to cover a story aimed at teenage girls when their audience is middle aged men. That’s just a waste of your time and theirs.
Know your media release
If you are sending a media release to a journalist make sure you are familiar with what’s in it.
This may sound obvious, but you’d be amazed by the number of people who don’t know what’s in their media releases.
Remember a journalist will use your media release as the basis for your interview. They’ll formulate their questions based on the information you provide so you need to be familiar with that information.
If you can’t remember what’s in your media release, journalists may think that the information isn’t true.
Keep it brief
Try to keep the length of your email pitch to about three or four sentences and copy and paste a media release into the body of the email. Also add the media release as an attachment.
If they don’t understand the pitch/story in the first read, they never will, so get to the point.
Journalists like to be able to skim read quickly without having to click on anything. Remember they are short on time. Make it easy for them.
If they go ahead with your story the attachment will make it easy to print the media release for future reference.
Be available, ready and helpful
Once a journalist is interested in covering your story, be prepared to drop everything to make it work.
There’s nothing more frustrating from a journalist’s point of view if you present them with a great story but are then impossible to track down for an interview.
Also remember the more information a journalist has, the better the story will be for you. The more work you have done beforehand, the easier it will be for them.
For instance, offer to find an additional spokesperson, case study, extra statistics or more photos. For a TV interview have some suggestions for suitable locations to shoot.
Always provide your website details
When writing a media release or pitching a story to a journalist, make sure you always give details of your website.
When a journalist decides to run a story, they always do their research to find out more information. By providing details of your website and social media accounts, it means that background information on you is easily accessible.
When the story is published, a website link will enable the audience to find out more about you and your business.