Relationship building, follow-ups and writing eye-catching and accurate press releases are important ways to attract media to the story. Another important factor that you might not realize is accurate list pulling for your story. Here are three reasons why accurate list pulling is crucial to getting the results you want:
1. You need to do research before you distribute.
• If you choose the correct beat, it is more likely that the reporter will work with you on the story because it’s relevant to the work they do.
• A serious issue can arise if you pitch the same story to multiple reporters of the same publication. So if you find the correct reporter for the story after you already pitched someone else from that publication, you will find yourself in a conundrum.
• To be informed in the outlets you are pitching, it is essential that you know what kind of stories the reporter covers.
2. Choose the right reporters and build relationships with them to increase the chance that your story will run.
• Having advocates with a strong relationship with reporters is one of the main reasons why brands will spend money for a strong PR team.
• Reporters are much more likely to run the story and to keep a positive angle on it if they trust you as a source and like you.
• Do research outside of media management databases. It is imperative that you know what the reporters have written recently so you can be sure that they are interested in the story before you pitch them.
• Use social media and search engines to research them.
3. Create many varying lists to reach your intended target audience.
• When you have multiple lists, you can divide reporters up based on beats or the audience that reads that reporter or publication.
• Control a broad range of reporters in your repertoire so you create more potential for the kind of positive relationship with reporters listed above.
• Having multiple lists prepared before you pitch a story saves professionals a significant amount of time when pitching a story.
PR professionals are skilled in the ways to promote a story, and this needs to start with the ability to match the story with the best reporter for it.
What do you think the best practices for pitching are?