The news industry is moving quickly and that has taken a hit on what used to be a publication mainstay—the editorial calendar. Don’t get us wrong—ed cals still hold a strong role in helping publications plan their content and for vendors to create a pitch to vie for editorial coverage. However, many topics today are now audience- and breaking-news driven. Planned content is now more responsive to readership needs vs. the historic monthly (or even yearly) editorial planning that used to take place. There has been a sea change with how publications gather their insight and often these ed cals are morphing into sponsored content.
It’s getting increasingly difficult to capture attention for non-paid contributed articles, and out-of-the-box thinking is critical. Here are some ideas:
- Capitalize on trends—What’s going on in the national/world news that might be relevant to your company RIGHT NOW? What topics could your company share some Thought Leadership on? Get creative—you might not have major product news, but can you pitch some growth milestones that align with an industry trend? Do you have new customers or partners that match this trend? Vertical markets, like healthcare or retail, are hot right now; what content do you have that would be interesting to these markets?
- Take advantage of real-time ed cals—HAROs, Profnet and Qwoted are just a few examples of assets that journalists use to post their topics and find potential contributors. Even if the reporter does not use your information, save the content so that you can leverage it for future media and contributed opportunities. This way you save time by not having to tap into your executives every time a new opportunity arises.
- Comment on articles—See an article posted that would have been a good fit for your company? Have your executives respond in the comments section of an article, linking back to company website. Editors do read these and might take advantage of the opportunity to reach out to you, either immediately or for a future article.
- Take Advantage of Twitter—Monitor Twitter for relevant hashtags to your key markets. Start following key reporters if you haven’t already. Do a daily check for reporters you want to engage with to see what they’re tweeting about—oftentimes they will tweet that they’re looking for sources on XYZ–something you’d never find in an editorial calendar.
- Follow the freelancers—An increasing number of publications are relying on freelancers to fill their content requirements. Many of these freelancers have a list of stories that they are working on for different publications and some even have a Facebook page or an email list to which they reach out when they are looking for sources. Don’t be afraid to contact these freelancers to ask what they are working on and to be added to these lists.
- Track Competitors—Who is covering your competitors? Reach out to them regarding their recent articles. You should not say, “why didn’t you cover my company as part of your story?” but you can say, “I notice you covered XXX and I thought it would make for good timing for an intro conversation on XYZ.” Make sure your Google alerts are set up to competitors so it’s easy to aggregate this info as it happens. For past articles, you of course need to research. Sometimes a pitch just needs to be “Hi XXX, what are you working on editorially where my company may be a fit?” Often this is a lot easier, much more direct vs a long-winded pitch. Be armed before you call or email: what were they writing about last year at this time? Maybe they’d like to revisit the topic?
- Use your tools—MuckRack, Agility, and of course, Calysto PR Vibes, are all good sources to see whose beats have changed, who was newly appointed, etc. so you can send a congratulations email and again, ask what they’re working on and introduce your company.
As publications morph, being able to pitch beyond the ed cal is growing increasingly difficult. These tips will help you finding new ways that work for you to help your company get the attention it deserves. Want more tips on reaching out to the media and analysts that can move your market? Contact Calysto.