Generating buzz through earned media coverage begins with finding the right journalists to cover your brand’s story and various news updates.
Earned media results from media outreach and is the fastest-growing form of marketing. In the simplest sense, earned media refers to any material written about you or your brand that you haven’t paid for or created yourself.
Keep in mind that journalists get multiple pitches and requests every day. In fact, a recent study estimates that journalists have more than 300 emails waiting for them each morning.
Check out our eight tips to write a press release that gets noticed, and dive deeper into the difference between a media pitch and a press release.
But regardless of how great your media pitch, press release or both are, if you’re directing them to the wrong journalist, you’re not going to get the media coverage you’re aiming for.
The following are four ways to find the right journalists to cover your brand. You can then add everyone you find to a standing media list.
Consider your target audience
Just like with any other digital marketing tactic, you must keep your target audience in mind. If you’re clear on who you’re trying to reach, you’ll have a better direction of the journalists (and their beat coverages) that you want to connect with.
In addition, you can locate media consumption habits through various data published by several research organizations. That also can help you fine-tune your media search.
Check out our seven tips to help you determine your target audience.
Start searching locally
While national media coverage is a top goal for many brands, don’t underestimate the power of local journalists.
You can locate individual journalist names through:
- Newsletters
- Regional publications
- Social media
- Google searches (including with relevant keywords)
- Media databases, such as Muckrack
Remember to exhaust all local publications and media outlets in your area. To narrow down to the best journalists to potentially cover your brand, look for news stories on related topics and take note of the byline, which should include both the journalist’s name and preferred contact information.
Of course, while you should begin locally, once you exhaust those possibilities, it never hurts to expand nationally.
Target the individual journalists, not the publications
It’s a common mistake for marketers to email their media pitches and/or press releases to the generic email address for an entire publication.
Consider these generic publication email addresses the black hole of media outreach. It’s very easy to assume that these inboxes are high volume, and you can easily get lost in the shuffle.
Make the effort to dig beyond the generic publication contact information.
Look at who’s covering your competitors
Performing a basic competitive analysis can uncover a wealth of information, including which journalists are covering your competition.
If they’re interested enough to cover them, then they’re the journalists you should be reaching out to.
While a simple Google News search is a great way to find this, check out these 16 tools to make your competitive analysis easier.
Once you identify the right journalists to potentially cover your brand through earned media coverage, consider leveling up your digital marketing with DailyStory. Features include automating various marketing tasks, dynamic audience segmentation and more. Schedule your free demo with us today.
