Entrepreneurs and business owners long to acquire more significant publicity and brand visibility. Marketing teams everywhere brainstorm a wide range of creative tactics to increase the brand’s presence in the public eye. One trusted way of doing so is getting coverage by a renowned journalist. Just the thought of appearing on a news channel as an expert can make one smile involuntarily. It sets you on a pedestal from which your competitors cannot make you descend. So, how do you get featured in news interviews and fulfill your dreams? This article breaks down the major steps involved in it.
1. Ask Yourself – Are You Truly Unique?
The media landscape today is oversaturated. Look around. How many content creators, influencers, and Top Voices on social media platforms can you spot? The answer will be ‘many.’ In such a competitive landscape, what are you doing to show that your services are truly different?
Your uniqueness can come out in the form of expert insights, unique data, or a fresh take on what is already being circulated. Build your special reputation and your brand’s worth online so your audience craves to hear your views. Your media pitching techniques to see yourself on the news will not be fruitful until you clearly identify your uniqueness.
2. Build Rapport with Media Persons
Let us be honest. To get coverage on a new channel, you will need the assistance of a journalist(s). So, essentially, you are asking them for a favor. Would you ask a stranger for a favor? No. That is exactly the case here.
You must build relationships and networks with media persons like journalists and reporters who cover stories and feature business owners in your niche. When you establish a personal connection with a journalist, it becomes easy to enlighten them about your expertise. Thus, they will contact you whenever they have a new assignment. You can use these suggestions:
a. Follow media persons on Twitter and be a part of their conversations.
b. Connect with them on LinkedIn and probe about the stories they prefer to be pitched for.
c. Connect with a journalist in person if they are local. The best way to do so is by attending trade shows, conferences, and similar events.
d. Respond quickly to media inquiries. Keep the journalists updated and highlight your professionalism and respect for their deadlines.
PRO TIP: Use the latest media monitoring tools to discover the journalists and media outlets covering your or your competitor’s brand and build meaningful relationships with them.
3. Keep Your Website Ripe for Media Attention
When you are spending so much time cultivating relationships with media persons, ignoring the face of your business will do you no good. We are talking about your website. Keep it user-friendly with an insightful About page that will enable media persons to understand your philosophy, what distinguishes you, and your achievements so far.
Make your website a minefield of blogs and articles regarding your domain. The journalist should feel as if luck has fallen into their laps while exploring your website. A great way to do so is by researching what your competition is publishing. Do you know that nearly 90% of Fortune 500 Companies take advantage of competitive intelligence to gain an edge?
Go through the popular posts of your rivals, identify their weaknesses, and add your creative touch. Your distinct opinions and solutions should reflect your brand mission and align with your audience’s needs and interests.
4. Create a Personalized Pitch to Get Featured in News Interviews
Now comes the part that many business owners or marketing professionals have mixed feelings about. This is because journalists are often known for rejecting innumerable pitches. You cannot blame them. Considering that many of them get up to 21 or more pitches every day, it only makes sense to be selective.
Now, what does being selective mean?
Journalists cover your stories for news when they deem you to be a recognized expert in your field. They want your story to have original research and evidence that validates it. Also, if your pitch is not relevant to their area of interest, they will reject it without a second glance.
Yes. It may sound a bit harsh, but it is worth it to see your news interview on a top-tier TV channel or a publication. Your work will become a lot easier when you review the recent works of the journalists in your network and gain a sense of what they cover and their writing styles.
5. Use Proven Media Pitching Techniques
Journalists do not answer more than 3.3% of pitches! How do you make yours come into this coveted category? The answer: using the correct techniques to pitch. This is a chance to weave your luck. So, use the proven ways to impress a journalist.
a. Create a solid subject line that grabs attention faster than you say this word. Do not worry so much about the character or word count. Instead, use eye-opening stats, thought-provoking queries, or contrarian ideas to enrich it.
b. The most magical pitches are 200 words long and are personalized to the reporter’s coverage area. If it has some bullet points, that will make your idea crystal clear.
c. Use terms like report, investigation, study, research, or success story. These words will impart authority.
d. Imagine you are authoring a book. Use formats like ‘Many people struggle endlessly with this [fill in the problem], ‘Usually, people solve it by resorting to [fill in the solution], ‘This conventional method does not work in most cases because [fill in the reason], and ‘99% of the time, this method leads to [fill in what happens].
e. Your pitch should have the most riveting facts. Populate it with unnecessary details, and you will lose the interest of the reporter.
f. Have a lede paragraph. It describes your story’s who, where, what, when, and how.
g. Avoid over-explanation through graphs and tables. Put a few of them along with selected external links. The links will allow the journalist to study credible sources related to your story.
h. Include a clear call to action (CTA). This will keep your pitch in the journalist’s mind.
6. Have a Follow-Up Schedule
After sending your pitch, try to relax for a day. Let the reporter analyze your idea. You may feel quite anxious at this time. However, sending too many follow-up emails will only frustrate the journalist. Send the first follow-up email after three to four days as a gentle reminder of your pitch. Schedule the next email after a week.
7. Be a Part of Local Events
You can land a TV news interview by being a part of local events. Activities and events that are a part of charity or volunteering organizations are often eye-opening. They showcase human vulnerabilities and immediately attract people’s attention. As a consequence, reporters and media persons are always happy to cover them and interview important personalities linked to them.
However, it is crucial to connect with the media outlets your target audience consumes. Be thorough with the kind of content on them and the relevant journalists. For instance, many local broadcast news channels have assignment editors. They decide the news agenda for the day and are the ideal people for pitching news stories.
Final Words
Getting featured in news interviews requires thoughtful planning and approach. It cannot happen overnight or in a few weeks. You need to consistently forge relationships with media persons, invest in enhancing your own credibility, and pose yourself as an authority figure. If you follow these steps, creating a pitch and getting a response to it will not be a distant dream. Be dedicated to your efforts and you will soon see your voice spread far and wide. Startup10X specializes in securing news interviews for you, ensuring your story reaches a broader audience. We excel in crafting compelling narratives that capture media attention, amplifying your visibility and credibility. Our proven strategies guarantee impactful coverage, helping you stand out in a competitive market.
