Getting Media To Tell Your Story

by Infinity Concepts | Apr 18, 2017 | Branding, Media, Public Relations

If you’ve been working hard to pitch your organization’s story to a media outlet and you haven’t had much luck, there may be a way to get your organization noticed and build a valued relationship with the outlet at the same time.

It requires offering up unique content that you have not used before, and giving it to the outlet with no strings attached. So, how do you do that? It’s tough to give up content and not ask for a reciprocal interview or coverage in return, but that’s exactly what you need to do.

Let’s look at some tips to get started and how to approach pitching the story.

Create content the media will want
In most instances, the media will not pick up a fluff piece singing the praises of your organization. So, how do you get them to run content that you have produced without setting off warning flares, and still telling your story? Give them content THEY will value.

The best way to do this is cover something TOPICAL — and make your organization a PART of the story, not the entire story. One example is a To-Do List, or a helpful set of instructions or tips for improvement in a specific area.

The three keys are:
• Finding an interesting and relevant topic that fits the media outlet
• Integrating your organization’s goal
• Delivering the content at the appropriate time

Sacrifice the details
In order to ensure they will run your content you are going to have to make some sacrifices. Your entire story won’t be told. As a matter of fact, you are probably just going to be able to offer an extremely high level of who you are. But, the content will not have the feel of a direct sale or promotion, so it will appear to be more genuine.

Include a link to your website, or to a specific piece of content (video, PDF, feature, etc.) that tells the full story. Also, be sure to include a brief bio on the author. This is another opportunity to educate the readers on your organization.

Follow it up
So, you’ve gotten some outlets to run your story. Great! Now, you’ve established a relationship with them, they trust your content, and now is your chance to sell them on a bigger story.

Even if you don’t have a great story to tell now, continue to cultivate that relationship for when you do have a story that perfectly fits their outlet.

When you create and present content that is valuable and helpful to the outlet’s readers, it is a win-win: you are then able to get your organization’s name in front of a strong target audience, and the outlet provides its readers with valuable and helpful information.