It might be cliché to say, but when it comes to branding and marketing, nothing is more important than your story. You’ve probably heard that before, but it bears repeating.
So you’ve decided that you need to get covered by the media. It’s a great way to gain more attention for your website, blog, podcast, product, app, or whatever you’re doing, but unless you know how to connect with journalists and reporters, you’re going to have a tough time getting coverage. You’ve got to put together a compelling story.
So here are four steps you can take to craft a story that will generate more PR opportunities for you.
Step 1: Customize For Relevance
This is the most important thing you can do to get more PR opportunities:
Customize for relevance.
No magazine, newspaper, publication or blog wants to run a piece that doesn’t fit with their theme. Their job is to deliver content to their audience that’s valuable and newsworthy.
So before you even start pitching, you need to ask yourself who you’re trying to appeal to. Who is your target audience?
Here’s the good news:
It’s not hard to learn about the journalists and media people you’re looking to reach out to. That’s what the internet’s for. There are excellent tools like Help A Reporter Out that connect sources (you) with reporters.
So when it comes to customizing, there are basically two things to keep in mind:
- The audience that reads the publication.
- The journalist or media person you’re going to be pitching to.
It does take work to customize your story and your pitch, but the spray and pray approach doesn’t work, so if nothing else, make sure to get this right. If you do, you’ll have a much better chance at getting better PR opportunities. Also see: How To Get People To Promote Your Stuff.
Step 2: Pick An Engaging Topic
It’s hard to make a boring topic interesting, but a lot of people try in vain anyway.
The reality of the situation is that it doesn’t matter how badly you want to promote something if journalists and reporters aren’t engaged with your subject matter.
So you have to think about what the story is. Is the product release the story? Is the next round of funding the story? Odds are, those things aren’t, because nobody really cares.
There are times when you can spin a piece to make it more appealing, or fit a small story into a bigger story, but most of the time these tricks don’t work either.
So what’s the solution?
It’s simple, but it won’t necessarily be easy to hear:
Only submit stories that are newsworthy.
If you have to feel around for a story, chances are there isn’t one there. It’s not easy to accept, but you might have to wait on that press release, and return to the idea once you have something worth talking about.
Think about what’s going to grab the attention of people. Share something they haven’t heard before. Share a discovery that’s unique and surprising. If you do, you’ll find that PR opportunities will start chasing you down.
Step 3: Get The Timing Right
It’s easier said than done to be sure, but every PR person will tell you that you have to get the timing right with your news pieces. If it isn’t timely, it isn’t news at all.
When you put out a press release that misses the mark, journalists, bloggers and media people won’t want to cover it because they’ll assume you have no idea what year it is.
You need to take a look at what’s happening right now. What’s happening in the world? What’s happening in your industry? Can you find a connection between your story and current events?
When you make that all-important connection to things that are happening right now, your story has a much better chance of being considered newsworthy.
So you need to keep an eye on what’s going on. This isn’t going to happen by accident, but if you do it, eventually inspiration will strike. You’ll suddenly see how your story fits in with the bigger picture.
Also be aware of popular topics and local events, in general, and also ones that are specific and relevant to your particular industry.
If you can tie in your story with bigger stories, coverage of your piece is sure to grow.
Step 4: Make It Unique
Yes, your story needs to be unique, but you could also think of this in terms of what makes you unique. What makes you different? How do you stand out from the crowd?
These are the things that make a story come alive. Maybe you grew up overseas. Maybe your business is the first of its kind. Maybe your grandpa accidentally invented a way of doing things that’s become common practice in your industry.
This is a bit of a blanket statement, but even if what you dig up doesn’t connect 100% with your story, if it’s interesting enough, your PR campaign will have a better chance at being successful anyway.
You have to assume that most journalists are getting hundreds of pitches every single day, right? So any competitive advantage you can find is worth leveraging.
Also make note of anything you’ve been the first to do. You could be the first one to hire an overseas worker in your niche, or you could be the first one to use digital marketing in your industry. It doesn’t really matter.
The point is that media people love firsts, so make sure you know your product, service, business, or industry well. That way you’ll always be tuned into what makes you unique.
Final Thoughts
Don’t forget to build media connections. Unfortunately, the days of sending out a press release and waiting for the phone to ring are over. You have to be proactive about reaching out, and you have to lean on your stories instead of your boring press releases to get more PR opportunities.
So get your story in order, find the right timing, and understand what makes you unique. Then, take action. Start pitching to those who have covered stories like yours in the past.
