We know you have an amazing organization with a true story. Perhaps you’ve even had some local media coverage success. But how can you crack the code to national media coverage and land the interview of a lifetime? Check out this list to make sure you’re ready for the bigtime opportunity of national coverage.
- Know your lane. Going back to your organization’s mission and goal, understand exactly what your business is aiming to accomplish takes precedence when thinking about your strategy for national media coverage. Identify the top three to five national media outlets that are in your lane. Start there.
- Use a catchy subject line to your pitch. Really get into why your story is memorable, timely, relevant and of interest to their viewers straight from the subject line. Put on the shoes of the producer or editor which whom you’re pitching to. Don’t make the subject line about you; make it about your story that is of interest to them.
- Make your pitch scannable. Producers of national media outlets receive thousands, sometimes even hundreds of thousands of pitches per day. This is an overwhelming feat for anyone to imagine; so making sure your pitch is written so that it is scannable, or very easily read, is important. You can accomplish this by ensuring the first few sentences are clear and to the point. If you need more room to elaborate on your important topic, so be it, but make sure the first paragraph is the utmost attention-grabber.
- Never sell. For national media coverage, sending your very best sales points usually won’t make the cut. We know your organization might have the best, fastest, highest quality, or outstanding service, but think about the story that needs to be told. Sending a number of sales stats as your lead pitch will not make the cut in the national media coverage arena. You must have relevance, impact and innovation, and most importantly, a true story.
- Do your homework. Really watch, read, and fully understand the media that you are sending your story to prior to your pitch. Make each pitch completely custom to whom you’re pitching. This makes one of the biggest differences in landing your coveted national media coverage. Using the same pitch, or email, for major media outlets most likely won’t get the results you’re seeking. Doing your homework will pay off bigtime in the end and get you closer to understanding the types of interviews they enjoy booking!
- Close the deal. Before you hit the send button on your pitch, know what you’re offering to the media. We understand the story enough is seemingly of interest to achieve a national interview; however, considering if you’re offering images, video, or additional elements to aid in putting the entire package together is not only helpful, it’s professional.
Is your organization struggling to land national media coverage? We help businesses achieve the awareness they deserve for doing great things. We understand how frustrating it is to know you have a truly amazing story, but just not be able to get it out to the right people to pick it up. We’ve helped hundreds of businesses around the nation with this same problem. Let our PR professionals help guide, craft, and land the interview your business deserves so that you can obtain the awareness and in turn revenue, you’ve been seeking.
info@nspublicrelations.com