Securing press and media coverage is a great way to increase brand awareness, build credibility, generate public interest and attract potential customers. Sounds nice right? To inform how an individual or small business might get press without the help of an agency, we tapped Kat Jones, founder of Motiv PR. With nearly 18 years of media experience, both in-house and on the agency side, Kat shares the importance of relationship-building and common mistakes to avoid when navigating media.
The Step By Step Approach To Securing Coverage
- Do your research. Even prior to launching your brand or business, you should begin to research coverage within your industry. What outlets are covering news in your field? Who are the writers and editors at these publications that gravitate toward your business news? From here, curate a list of the top 10-20 publications writing where you want to be featured and build a contact list of key people to establish a connection with. This connection shouldn’t be driven by wanting to get coverage – this is simply relationship-building.
- Be genuine. As you begin outreach to start a relationship with these contacts, be genuine. Personalization goes beyond just addressing by name – your outreach should reflect the research done. Thoroughly read through and review what they have written – make it about them and genuinely care about what they write about. “The media is inundated so you really have to make them care about what you’re sharing with them, and a part of that is building relationships,” shares Kat.
- Have a reason. Crunchbase recently released an article that there are more seed companies in the pipeline than ever before. The competition is steep and the attention span of consumers and editors is limited. As you begin to craft your pitch, you must have a “why” – simply launching your company is no longer news. You also need to consider your audience beyond the writer you’re looking to solicit. The reporter who you established a relationship with also has to advocate to their editor. The editor is looking for relevance to the audience. Think about your reasoning through these three lenses: reporter, editor, and audience.
- Leverage your relationships. Once you’ve solidified what you want to share (and that very important why) revisit your pre-built relationships to seed the story and offer exclusivity to entice the editor. Not only does an offer of exclusivity make it clear you’re providing value, but also ensures you get one quality article.
- Follow up. If you haven’t heard back, follow up to confirm receipt and offer additional things of value including valuable quotes and other media that might make the story more compelling. If you haven’t heard back after the second follow-up, let it be.
Creating a Press Release
Press releases are valuable after your relationships have been established and connections have been made. Do the leg work before and leverage your press release only after you know you have an interest, so you can time it accordingly. Must haves for your press release:
- Assets: Beyond the story, include multimedia (assets, imagery, visuals, video, etc.). These should be high quality and add value to your narrative.
- Data: Prove what you're doing is special. Leverage statistics, survey results, market research findings, and customer testimonials, to add credibility, provide evidence to support claims, and make your story more compelling.
- Quotes: Bring the information to life, add credibility, and provide a human element to your story by leveraging quotes from individuals who have authority, and expertise, or are directly involved in the news or topic being covered.
Quick Tips on Distributing Your Press Release
- If you have offered any of our pre-built relationships exclusivity, allow a 1-2 hour window before distributing further (depending on what was promised to the reporter). Don't give up if you don't get coverage right away. Keep pitching your brand to journalists and publications.
- Services like Muck Rack are great ways to personalize emails that are sent to a larger distribution list.
- The newswire can be a steep investment (between $2-5K) but is an option to help you reach a wide audience. It's essential to complement your distribution efforts with other outreach strategies, such as maintaining direct relationships with journalists.
- Don't be afraid to get creative with your pitch. Think outside the box and come up with a way to make your brand stand out. Personalization continues to be vital – the pitch should be tailored to the specific journalist or publication that you are targeting.
- Be patient. It takes time to build relationships with journalists and publications. Don't expect to get coverage overnight.
Common Mistakes & Final Recommendations
- Be flexible with personalization and receptive to feedback. If you’re not securing interest in your story, you have the right to respectfully ask for feedback. With emphasis on respectfully, ask what it was about your narrative that an editor didn’t gravitate toward so you can continue to refine it. Remember that you’re so close to the work you do, it’s also worthwhile to talk to people within the industry to gauge the feedback they are getting.
- Your brand must have a solid foundation and a north star. It should be extremely clear what your brand is and why people should care about it. Take a step back and write it as if you’re telling someone for the first time who has no knowledge of this. For just a second, remove the emotion from your work and write through the lens of sharing with someone who has no context of what you’re talking about. Explain it concisely and make them care.
- And finally, keep going. It is and will be very common to receive no’s or perhaps radio silence. Be okay with continuing to hustle.