Put yourself in a busy journalist’s shoes. It’s 1 am the day before your big deadline and you had a lightbulb moment where you realized you need to add another tidbit to round out your story. You know your editor is going to want that tidbit to come from a credible source. A quick scan through your contact list brings up nothing so you turn to good old Google.
You find a potential source only to discover a few clicks in to their site that the only way to get the information you really need is to contact their media relations person. Fat chance of getting a response at 1 o’clock in the morning so you move onto the next potential source. This time you are lucky enough to find detailed product descriptions, a quote from the inventor himself AND downloadable high resolution product photos!
The reality is that you never know when journalists will need information or how quickly they will need it. Often they won’t even bother to contact your media relations person and instead pull facts directly from your web site, hoping that information is accurate and not outdated. That’s why you need to build an online media room that does the job of a media relations person for you (day or night).
How to Create Self-Serve Stories to Get Free Publicity
Let’s go back to our night owl journalist scenario and discuss how we could have turned that late-night inspiration to our advantage. Besides making it super-duper easy for the media to find the information they are looking for, it helps to give them a few handy extras to either help along their story or plant seeds for future stories. The simplest way to do this is with self-serve stories.
#1: Pick Evergreen Topics — Think of your press releases as your venue for sharing company news, and your tips sheets as your resources for journalists. Choose topics that don’t become stale or outdated quickly and direct journalists to them from your media room landing page.
#2: Include Relevant Details — Pretend like your tips sheet is an interview with a journalist and answer the most common questions people ask about the topic — give examples, share facts and figures, highlight your unique insights!
#3: Make It Scannable — Remember that your late-night journalist visitor is likely in a rush so break the tips into short bullet points so journalists can quickly scan down the page to find what they are looking for. A well-organized media room that links to more information will make you a friend to the media.
#4: Quote Your CEO — Give your journalist visitor a list of quotes from your CEO to pull into their article. Make the quotes engaging soundbites that reflect the spirit of your company. Be sure to also include his or her full bio, correct title and of course, a downloadable high resolution photo.
#5: Suggest Other Story Ideas — Take this opportunity to pitch your journalist visitor on related story ideas. This can be as simple as including a list of story ideas at the bottom of your tips sheet. Often journalists will come up with their own particular spin, but the purpose is to plant the seed while they are in your media room.
#6: Highlight Key Expertise — Tell journalists what other topics you or your executive is capable of being an expert source for. This is a key part of media relations as journalists tend to go back to their favorite sources again and again. Most often a simple list of expert topics at the bottom of your expert bio will do the trick.
#7: Make It Easy to Contact You — Don’t forget to make it easy to find your contact information in case they have additional questions or would like to arrange an interview.
Don’t forget that your media room isn’t a “Build it and they will come” thing. You need to drive journalists to your site which is the next topic in this series! Stay tuned!