{"id":139439,"date":"2022-05-23T10:50:47","date_gmt":"2022-05-23T09:50:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/?p=139439"},"modified":"2022-05-25T10:19:28","modified_gmt":"2022-05-25T09:19:28","slug":"how-to-start-your-media-outreach-to-gain-coverage-without-annoying-journalists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/blog\/how-to-start-your-media-outreach-to-gain-coverage-without-annoying-journalists\/","title":{"rendered":"How to start your media outreach to gain coverage\u2026 without annoying journalists"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Contact with the media is an intrinsic part of public relations \u2013 if you want attention for your brand, your client or yourself, you\u2019re going to want to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/blog\/category\/how-to-pitch-to\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">get in touch with journalists<\/a>. And journalists, a busy bunch with non-stop deadlines, need content constantly. Reaching out to them with something they\u2019ll find useful should be easy and very welcomed, right? <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/resources\/white-papers\/how-to-pitch-journalists\/\">Download our white paper How to pitch to journalists.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Well, yes \u2013 if you follow these steps. Because, if you take a chance on an early noughties-era \u2018spray and pray\u2019, fingers-crossed-someone-can-use-this, approach instead\u2026<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Do not \u2018float things to the top of my inbox.\u2019 I\u2019d rather PRs just said \u2018why are you ignoring my release on tartan jubilee eggs?\u2019<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Flic Everett (@fliceverett) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/fliceverett\/status\/1527265209055854592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 19, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u2026you won\u2019t get the reaction you\u2019re hoping for. Or the coverage. Or any kudos. In fact, you may just get your email address and phone number blocked.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s how to reach out to the media to get better results (and no angry sub-tweets about your latest pitch, either):<\/p>\n<h3>1. Sector(s): what media should you be targeting?<\/h3>\n<p>\u2018I want to be featured on the front page of the Daily Mail, or [insert any big daily paper here]\u2019 might be a request from an overly-enthusiastic client or boss, but that\u2019s not realistic, or appropriate for many campaigns (sorry, stakeholder). Journalists only want to hear about topics relevant to their beat that will aid them in turning news and\/or features around, to deadline.<\/p>\n<p>Which media do you want to target? National press, broadcast, regional, consumer magazines, podcasts? Your campaign won\u2019t be right for all of them, but a perfect fit for some. After you decide on formats relevant to your campaign, narrow the television programmes or regional papers, for example, down by their focus. Tech, retail, finance, or maybe Brighton-specific? Build a list of outlets with your media database of choice (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/pr-software\/media-database\/?clid=main_nav\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">naturally, our choice is Vuelio<\/a>) to start:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-139491 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/screenshot.jpg\" alt=\"Screenshot of Vuelio outlet search\" width=\"760\" height=\"430\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/screenshot.jpg 760w, https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/screenshot-300x170.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/screenshot-705x399.jpg 705w, https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/screenshot-500x283.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 760px) 100vw, 760px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Big outlets with high readerships\/viewerships are tempting, but are they right for your campaign? Check out niche media as well \u2013 their focus is likely to be more specific, with engaged and interested audiences.<\/p>\n<h3>2. Journalists: which ones are definitely writing about your sector(s)?<\/h3>\n<p>You\u2019ve started with the sectors you want to target, but the outlets you\u2019ve picked to pitch to won\u2019t be 100% filled with journalists ready to write about what you\u2019re offering. Have a retail product to pitch? Not every writer on Retail Week will want to hear about it, for example.<\/p>\n<p>Take the time to check out job titles as well as patches for specific journalists \u2013 if it\u2019s an outlet with a big editorial team, the Editor-in-Chief isn\u2019t going to want to hear from PRs. A journalist with \u2018feature\u2019 in their title might. Being specific and strategic is what\u2019s required here \u2013 journalists won\u2019t appreciate this step being skipped.<\/p>\n<p>Where job titles don\u2019t offer enough information, patch will \u2013 this is also really useful with freelancers, who are likely to have a myriad of different subjects they write about, that may change by week. Checking their beat \u2013 either on a media database, their social media profiles, or the top of their byline &#8211; will tell you what they write about, and maybe even include specific instruction on what they\u2019d want to receive from PRs, how and when. If this information has been put out there by the journalist you want to contact in an easily-found place, ignore it at your peril.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, you could also use a recent article search, like we have in Vuelio. It shows you which journalists have recently covered the topics your story incorporates and makes pitching more likely to lead to success.<\/p>\n<h3>3. Are your \u2018must-have\u2019 outlets and journalists actually accepting PR contributions?<\/h3>\n<p>Not all media or journalists use PR contributions \u2013 it\u2019s a sad fact. Products, event details and interview opportunities aren\u2019t useful for everyone. If a journalist or publication doesn\u2019t use PR contributions \u2013 or does, but already has contacts they work with, and doesn\u2019t want anything unsolicited \u2013 they will have noted that information somewhere, so look out for it. As with patch, it will be included in their details on a media database, social media, or a \u2018Contact Me\u2019 or \u2018About Us\u2019 page.<\/p>\n<p>If \u2018no PR contributions\u2019 has been made explicit, don\u2019t take the chance anyway \u2013 it would be a miracle if it worked out (and you won\u2019t get a miracle on this one, trust us).<\/p>\n<h3>4. Have you considered other ways of connecting?<\/h3>\n<p>The alternative to media outreach is putting yourself in the position for the interested media to reach out to you. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/blog\/6-reasons-to-stop-searching-journorequest-and-start-using-the-journalist-enquiry-service\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#JournoRequest hashtag on Twitter<\/a> is one you will likely have seen and searched, and there are also groups on Facebook where PRs can mingle with journalists open to their contributions in \u2018pitching hours\u2019, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/No1FreelanceMediaWomen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">No. 1 Freelance Media Women<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>For requests from UK media to your inbox, there\u2019s the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/pr-software\/journalist-enquiry-service\/?clid=main_nav\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ResponseSoruce Journalist Enquiry Service<\/a>, and you can find lots of information for getting the most from it here:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/blog\/how-to-respond-to-journalist-enquiries\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How to respond to journalist enquiries<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/blog\/how-to-tackle-vague-requests-from-journalists\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">How to tackle vague requests from journalists<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Whether you\u2019re reaching out, or putting yourself out there as a PR to connect with journalists, build these steps into your approach. Because the worst thing you can do with a journalist when pitching? Trying to save yourself time by wasting theirs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For getting starting with effective media outreach, start finding relevant contacts with the Vuelio Media Database \u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/pr-software\/media-database\/?clid=main_nav\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">book a demo here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Want to receive journalist enquiries straight through to your inbox? <a href=\"https:\/\/www.responsesource.com\/pr\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Try the ResponseSource Journalist Enquiry Service<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Contact with the media is an intrinsic part of public relations \u2013 if you want attention for your brand, your client or yourself, you\u2019re going to want to get in touch with journalists. And journalists, &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":423,"featured_media":139446,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7272,3725,3729,7238],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139439"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/423"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139439"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":144180,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139439\/revisions\/144180"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/139446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vuelio.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}