In my work with entrepreneurs and start-ups, one of the marketing/communications areas that makes them more confused is media outreach vs. media relations.
I see this very often: even seasoned entrepreneurs with extensive marketing experience struggle to get media outreach right. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
How can you persuade your target journalists and bloggers to write about your business? There is a simple, yet effective, pitching process that we will share.
You can actually pitch journalists over email (in our next post, we’ll show you the exact steps on how to find your target journalists and their verified email addresses in order to scale media outreach for amazing results).
First, let’s understand a few basics: Media outreach versus media relations
Media outreach is the art of pitching information about your product/service to journalists, bloggers and influencers with the purpose of getting press coverage, brand mentions and exposure for your business.
For example, you might pitch your new healthy eating app to a local radio show that covers new businesses.
How different is this from sending news releases? Very different.
For instance, apart from sending a press release to the local newspaper about your app, you can also generate interest in healthy diets on a social media website or sponsor a radio show on healthy eating.
This is Media relations: the relationship-building process with journalists, influencers and bloggers . It is a two-way communication where you not only tell them about your company but also become a credible source for them on subjects related to your niche. It is about working together to build a relationship where you can be the first person to help and provide value This way when you pitch content about your company, they will be willing to listen and write about it.
But there’s a catch… you should ideally pitch after building an initial relationship with the journalist or blogger to get an effective response to your call.
You do media outreach to get backlinks from webmasters, secure guest posts on industry blogs, and get journalists to mention you (or your product) in an article.
However, the way you pitch a webmaster for a backlink is very different from the way you pitch a newspaper editor for a story In the days before the internet, media outreach or PR outreach meant getting journalists from traditional media outlets like the television, newspaper or the radio to write about you. With the internet creating its own tribe of influencers and bloggers, media outreach has expanded to cover blogs and social networking sites like Facebook and other digital media outlets.
A guest post on CEO.com under your name is as much a part of “Media outreach” as a quote from you in a Financial Times article. And it is also better measured.
The benefits of media outreach are obvious: these journalists and influencers can provide invaluable visibility for your company’s story to their audience Your goal in pitching to these people will be to get guest posting slots, get them to include you in an article or to write about your business either directly or tangentially.
The best combination of media outreach and media relations can help you build a positive company image and boost traffic to your website… and sales.
In our next post, we will show you the exact steps on how to find your target journalists and their verified emails or social media accounts in order to scale media outreach for amazing results.
