10 tips for better media relations

Here are ten tips – from journalists - aimed at helping you get their attention and build mutually beneficial connections!

1. Speed up
Journalists are busier than ever, and slow response times drives them crazy. Ask about deadlines and try to meet them. And anything you can do to reduce back and forth (such as having exec availability on-hand) will be appreciated.

2. Articulate your value
Journalists are looking for founders and comms folk that are able to explain what a company is doing, how it makes money, and how it differs from competitors, including those that are better funded and better known than them. Make sure your explanation is clear and concise.

3. Take exclusivity seriously
Original content means just that: content that hasn’t been published elsewhere, and that’s unique to the publication. When pitching a story, give editors time to respond and don’t submit the same lead to multiple publications.

4. Hold the line on embargo times
This isn’t a moral issue, it’s just a practical one. Journalists get hundreds of emails. If they’ve agreed to an embargo time, and you change it, there’s no guarantee they’ll see the updated time. Stick to an embargo time.

5. Ease up on protectionism
Asking for more context about a story or for questions in advance when you receive a media inquiry is fine. Asking for questions in advance when you’ve pitched to a journalist is not. If your exec is nervous enough that this is an issue, consider some practice sessions.

6. Exercise caution on trends
The trend is your friend if you’re first to the party, but within days or hour it can be over. Only send your pitch when the topic is fresh.

7. Focus on the new
A journalist can only write a story once, and isn’t going to write the same story that a rival wrote, so offering commentary that could have fit into a story they or another journalist has already written is a non-starter. Instead offer something new, or something that genuinely builds on what they’ve done.

8. Know your journalist
Keep up to speed with the media outlets and topics your key journalists work at. Getting this wrong signals to the media that you haven’t done your homework. Check first!

9. Choose your channel
Journalists like everyone else, using multiple channels to stay connected e.g. Outlook, WhatsApp etc. Be mindful of how they prefer to use these channels. And mixing up personal and professional is a particular frustration.

10. Slow down
Take the time to test a mass email, to double-check links and the spelling of names, to make sure your pitch is as concise and clear as it can possibly be. Your journalist friends (and your clients) will thank you.

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