It’s no secret that today’s readers are inundated with headlines from a wide range of news outlets with an even wider range of topics. This media deluge is only promised to grow, so how can you make sure your client’s news floats above the rest of the information flood?

One of the most obvious, but not the easiest, way to raise your client’s news above the noise is to get coverage in a publication that guaranteed to be read by a large audience — and ideally your target audience. To name a few, publications like TechCrunch, The New York Times, Forbes and The Wall Street Journal should have crossed your mind.

Now that you have an idea of where you would like to see your client’s news placed in the world of top-tier media, you have to figure out how to get it there. Getting the attention of top-tier reporters is no easy task, but we have a few tips that might make it easier!

Be Interesting
The best way to secure top-tier placement is to come to reporters with something newsworthy like a groundbreaking product announcement that differentiates your client from the rest of the pack, major funding news from superstar VCs, or partnerships or new hire announcements that can tie your client to bigger industry names. The only challenge with this is these types of announcements are they are few and far between. So what do you do when you have no breaking news but your client is aching for some top-tier media placements?

Write Top-Tier-Worthy Pitches
Reporters get more emails on a daily basis than should legally be allowed. So if you want your client’s news to get noticed, you are not only going to have to be interesting and eye-catching, but also brief. Very brief. Try and catch interest within the first three lines. How? Start with a problem, ideally an expensive and relevant one; suggest a solution to said problem, ideally one that has never been offered or thought of; and then tell why your client can provide that solution. And if none of these three things fit your client or their news explicitly, no worries! You’re in a profession that invented the idea of “spin.” In the words of the great Don Draper, “If you don’t like what they are saying about you, change the conversation.” Make what is happening in the world and in the headlines work for you and your client by inserting them in the conversation creatively and authentically.

Build Relationships With Top-Tier Reporters
This tip takes the most time but it often has the biggest pay off. Having a relationship with a reporter at a top publication is like being able to skip the line at the club and hang out in the VIP section. The better the relationship, the quicker you get a response. Even if it’s a no, you at least won’t be left in unanswered-pitch limbo. While tips on how to build a relationship with reporters could be an entire article on its own, the best approach is the human approach.

Be a Human
This might be counterintuitive, but approach reporters like they are people just like you. Because — surprise — they are! Nothing is less attractive to a busy journalist than a pitch or an email that sounds like it was generated by a robot — unless it was, and this is part of an elaborate AI-focused pitch demonstrating your client’s technology. Show them you are interested in what they write about by sending a short note telling them you liked their recent story and build from there.

Securing top-tier placement is certainly more art than science. Which means it will take practice, and a lot of unanswered pitches, to find out what tips and tricks work best for you and your client.

Want more information on how to pitch your company to get top-tier media coverage? Contact Merritt Group, info@merrittgrp.com, today for more information!

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash