Different from paid media, where each message is carefully curated and placed, earned press remains one of the most creditworthy forms of exposure. Earned press coverage can spread across TV, newspapers, magazines and even social media.
Attention from a reputable source can increase your business’s visibility to your community and bring it to new competitive global markets. It also establishes it as a trusted entity within your industry. Essentially, you are borrowing credibility from a source that is renowned for its news.
Topics that are considered newsworthy for your small business are:
- Awards and recognitions your business has received.
- Milestones such as anniversaries, expanding locations, or increasing staff.
- Community involvement like charity drives, events, partnering with other businesses.
- People stories like a founder’s story and customer testimonials.
In order for your business to be featured in the news, you have to pitch your story straight to reporters. Most of us don’t have a reporter on speed dial; it requires research and patience on your end. Here are a few tips to help you secure press coverage for your small business.
Tips to Earn Press Coverage for Small Businesses
Know your angle. Why is your story newsworthy? Keep your pitch short, clear, and concise. If you are pitching via email, try to keep it no longer than five sentences long. Journalists are always on deadline, so if you can hook them in without taking too much of their time, you’ve got a story!
Do your own research. Have you noticed a shift in your industry or a common question your customers have? If you are able to provide accurate quantitative results, you’re demonstrating public interest and making the journalist’s job easier.
Look into who you’re talking to. Don’t just blindly pitch any journalist or reporter. Look for stories similar to yours and pitch to the staff who wrote it. Similar topics to yours written in the last six months are more likely to get picked up. The last thing you want is for your compelling restaurant story to sit in a sports writer’s inbox.
Start local. Local news focuses on community specific issues, while national news covers topics and trends on a broader scale. Media outlets want stories that are relevant to their audiences. Your small business is an example of hyper-local content that could be valuable information for the people in your community. Start there, and revisit the idea of pitching to national media when your business has been published a few times.
Always follow up. Journalists don’t reply to every single email, don’t take it personally. Get into the habit of following up when you send any pitches out. Following up pushes your pitch to the top of their inbox and top of their mind. Follow up every week, persistence is key in this situation. If your story is timely, follow up at a shorter frequency.
Remember, securing press coverage is earned. Be consistent, timely, relevant, and patient!