1. Do you have a good story?
What does it take to get in the media? In principle, it’s pretty simple – a good story. However, it gets a little more complicated when the “good story” is put into a formula.
Basically, a story should have a person or a company that does something special or for whom something special happens. It’s not exciting when things are business as usual. Think about whether your story will actually be exciting to people outside your company.
Examples of stories that often end up in the media
- Significant results
- New research or studies that you are behind
- Big investments
- Customer cases where you can be the expert
- New angles on a hot topic, such as Uber’s farewell to Denmark or the dispute between MobilePay and Nets
You can also try the “grandma trick” on your story. If you have to explain the story to your grandmother, how will you do it? What is important and how will you tell the story in an understandable and exciting way?
It can serve as a guideline for creating a version of your story that is understandable to everyone.
And check the story against journalists’ general news criteria, which you can find here. Remember that the criteria are interpreted differently in each medium – more on that in point 3.
When everything comes together, you have the top story in multiple media on the same day.
2. Do you have pictures?
Photos are crucial! In fact, they’re so crucial that we’ve dedicated an entire blog post to guide you to great press photos. You can read more here.
3. Target your story
Once you have your story in place, it needs to be targeted to each media outlet. A story can have many angles, and it can be beneficial to highlight the angle that is in line with the specific media’s editorial line.
Keep in mind that journalists aren’t here to tell you about your business: they have a mission to inform (and perhaps entertain) their readers, listeners and viewers – in a specific field.
Example: You have received a large investment.
- Business media: Why did you get the investment and what will it be used for?
- Local media: A local is having great success.
- Industry media: Industry news – is your investment special or part of an industry trend?
Think about what it is about your story that is particularly interesting to each media outlet – and make it clear.
4. Which journalist should you contact?
Most media outlets have an editorial email address. Sending the story to them is an option, but often you won’t get a response. If you can instead find the journalist who wants to do the story, you’re in a better position.
You can find the right journalist by reading through the media and seeing who has written similar stories or is writing about your industry.
Once that’s done, all that’s left is to contact the journalist. First with an email explaining your story. Then a phone call to make sure your email doesn’t get lost in the journalist’s inbox. If you can’t find the contact details of the journalist you want to get in touch with, you can call the editorial team and get the information through them.
Most journalists are always on the lookout for good stories, so if you’ve followed our tips, you have a good chance of getting your story picked up.
5. Are you reachable?
Once the journalist has shown interest in your story, it’s important that she can get in touch with you. So it’s a bad idea to send a story and spend two weeks in Tibet or Northern Norway the next day – you need to be available to the journalist, who may be busy and drop a story if it becomes too difficult.
Keep your phone open and be ready to postpone meetings when the journalist returns. The story could be a turning point for your business.
We look forward to reading about you in the newspaper!
PS: With a good basic recipe for getting in the media, we hope your next approach to journalists will be successful. If you don’t want to be in the kitchen, we can help with a quick, filling snack or a 7-course gourmet menu.
Contact us – we’re easy to talk to!
