Top 5 Press Release Best Practices to Get Journalist’s Attention

When it comes to getting the media’s attention, many don’t know where to begin. Whether it’s a business event, anniversary, new hire, or other newsworthy information business owners want the public to know about, getting it to the media isn’t as easy as you think.

A lot of thought and hard work goes into getting news to media outlets. You don’t just send a note to a random person at a media outlet asking them to cover your story and hope he or she says yes. Sorry to break it to you, but they won’t. Getting a story in a news publication involves drafting a high quality press release, doing research, creating a media list, and sending the press release to the proper individuals. So when it comes to getting the attention of journalists, what should you do?

1. Know the Outlet

This involves doing some research. You need to know what your specific news media outlets tend to cover, as well has their timelines. Each media outlet has its own editorial calendar. For example, newspapers tend to accept news stories daily whereas magazines tend to need stories two to four months in advance. Knowing these specifics for whom you want to contact is key. Knowing what they have written about and want to write about is very important as well. Don’t mindlessly send releases to media outlets that have no interest in your story; that not only reflects poorly on your organization, but it also wastes journalist’s precious time.

2. Know the Journalist

This tip also involves crucial research (a lot of it). Some of things to look into when researching journalists include:

• What topics they cover
• What have they recently been writing about
• How do they prefer to get their information
• What does their editorial calendar look like
• What do their social media channels look like
• What publications do they write for (some journalists write for more than one)
• Is their email address personal or a generic

It’s a long list of things to look into, but the information you gather will greatly increase your success of getting a journalist’s attention. One other thing to look for – what is something you can relate to the journalists on. When you approach journalists, don’t just think of it as a one-time email. Try to form a relationship. Doing so makes sending releases in the future easier because they will know you and the type of news you send. Also, if they pick up one story, the chance of them picking up another is greater.

3. Don’t Send the Same Pitch to Multiple Journalists at One Media Outlet

Many times people think sending a press release to more than one contact at a media outlet is a good idea – the more the better, right? Wrong. Send a press release to one person and one person only per media outlet. Reporters and journalists at publications talk to each other frequently – they have meetings where they discuss editorial content. Spamming them all will only cause credibility to be lost and ruin any chance of creating relationships with them.

4. Follow-Up

Once you actually send your press release, don’t simply “set it and forget it.” Following up with a press release actually shows journalists that you are persistent and believe your news is valuable for their readership. Journalists also may not have seen your press release as they receive hundreds of emails a day. In your follow-up email, resend the original email within a couple of days with an additional note saying that you are following up with a pitch you previously sent on X date. Reiterate that if they are interested in your story to contact you. With follow-ups, it is best to send just one (or two if it’s not on a tight deadline) then move on.

5. Show Gratitude

Whether or not your story gets picked, always thank the journalists for their time. Journalists are extremely busy and an expression of gratitude for their time is always appreciated. This step works in your favor of building relationships and establishing a good name for yourself and place of work.

Never underestimate the power of doing your research. It takes some work, but contacting journalists the proper way the first time increases your chances of getting media coverage both now and in the future.