Reporters desire expert sources to reference when writing their articles, and one of the best ways to connect to them is by sharing your authority through a blog. Oftentimes, journalists will pitch ideas to publications in which they need expert sources to verify their takes, have access to reliable information, or experts to source, and will search the internet in order to locate that authoritative content. Creating a content rich blog, which includes valuable data, additional expert sources, links to video, and your contact information, and then updating it regularly, you can make yourself and business readily discoverable to reporters. By using your blog, not only as a promotional apparatus, but as a valued resource, you can create respect and authority within your makerspace, which in turn, will connect you to reporters.
Successfully connecting with reporters entails being at the right place when they are looking for sources. You need to be as visible as possible on the platforms they rely on, if you want to gain their attention. You can improve your chances by using these platforms to consistently share your expertise or unique opinions on the subjects your target reporters work on. Your wording on these posts as well as your profile description should include searchable keywords that journalists are most likely to use when they are seeking someone with your expertise. This way, search engines lead them directly to your profile. You should also make a deliberate effort to comment on and share their posts. This strategy will significantly boost your visibility and make you memorable enough to be included in their upcoming articles, should they consider your input and expertise valuable enough.
Reporters love getting noticed. They want their articles read and discussed. If you convey to them that you’re making time to read their stories because you trust their reporting, you are sure to get their attention. Let them know by telling them you enjoyed reading one of their latest stories. Pull something specific from it - a quote from a source, the lede, the kicker - and tell them why you liked it. After that, you can jump into your pitch.
Part of an effective strategy of connecting with a reporter is understanding what their goals are and then focusing on those, rather than solely on what you wish to accomplish. Reporters search for ways to create a communication connection using the interest of their audience, which can vary based on the type of publication they are writing for, and the hot topics of the day. Therefore, when designing your pitch, do not think in terms of getting your information to them, but rather, how you can incorporate your business narrative into a broader metric of what their audience desires. Providing them with relevant data, touching on pertinent topics, taking an angle on a story that drives their audience, and performing much of the legwork that relieves some of the reporter’s burden, is an effective way to interest them in your pitch, and drive further engagement.
There's a lot of good reporting going on in your local media publication. Set a news reminder for terms that are relevant to your business. When a new article is published, read it, and decide whether or not you can provide relevant commentary. If so, reach out to the journalist or the editorial team and offer to write an op-ed or contribute to their next article. Reporters always appreciate having sources they can contact and will keep you in mind if you have the expertise.
I have a rule of Three R’s: Research, Research, and Research. You can start off by looking into their LinkedIn and website if they have one. Get an understanding of their journey by going through their experience. See what direction they’re heading in, their motivations, what posts they share or like to understand what matters to them. Have a look at their social media. Do they use Twitter more often or Instagram? What does their communication on these platforms tell you? Then you want to have a look at the reporter's writing style and the type of content they gravitate towards within their specialty. You need to get both into their work and psychology to find a unique connection with them and ace your approach. With enough practice, this rule won't take up much of your time.
Honor reporters’ boundaries. Networking with reporters through professional and social sites like LinkedIn helps you establish relationships and offer reporters insights. However, reporters have assignments and deadlines. Reach out with personalized messages, especially if you know a reporter is working on a piece that would benefit from your expertise, but avoid sending mass emails. Honoring boundaries builds healthy relationships and benefits both parties.
One of the best ways we've found to connect properly with reporters is to follow them on Twitter, and over a period of few days start to like and interact with their content. For example, replying to their tweets and liking their activity, but doing so in a way that is as natural as possible. Once they've replied a few times, we then reach out to them directly to let them know we're working with clients who can help with their upcoming articles or content requirements (as we follow journalists relevant to the niches of our clients). This approach works well because it's not just a random pitch to a journalist from an irrelevant site.
Clearly illustrate your value to them. When connecting with reporters, it is important to state your qualifications, title, and company you represent. This info is essential to establish yourself as an authority in your industry and/or potential reliable source in the future. Reporters constantly seek leads that can best help them complete their stories. Leverage your skills, qualifications, and experience into healthy and mutually beneficial working relationships.
Share aspects that are uniquely you. When you are able to be a little personal, to show what aspects of who you are generate your the style and mission of your business, reporters will be able to generate more of a report with you. Additionally, this helps you create more trust with readers, and better demonstrate why your business stands out.
Connect and engage with reporters on social media. It's a great way to get their attention and can help increase the chances that they'll write about your story. Twitter is a particularly useful platform for this, as most reporters tend to use Twitter consistently. You can also use Twitter to build relationships with reporters by following them and interacting with their tweets.
Pick up the phone and make a connection. Reporters are inundated with emails, so if you want to build a professional relationship with one, give them a call. Let them know they can use you as an extra resource for their articles related to your industry. Or, if you have a compelling story to share, give them the scoop first. If you want to connect with reporters, you have to make the first move.
Utilizing HARO and LinkedIn are great ways to help connect with reporters. After you are mentioned in an article using Terkel or HARO, reach out to the writer on LinkedIn saying a quick thank you. Then, you are able to build a relationship from there.
Creating unordinary events will put you in the media spotlight. Also, if you can relate your story to current events, you will have a better chance of connecting with a reporter. For example, in the event of a bad economy, come up with a way to solve the problem, such as lowering the prices of your products. Such decisions will get people talking, and as a result, reporters will want to contact you to hear your story. This is because reporters read trending blogs regularly to get story ideas and find experts to interview for their reports.
It's helpful to list a press contact on websites and social media pages. This makes it easy for reporters to contact the brand instead of digging around for an email address. This also helps organize the business in a more effective way than one person handling communications and professional relationships in their inbox. On every contact page or social media bio, add a press email so reporters can easily identify a source.
An effective way of connecting with reporters for us here at LuckLuckGo is to reach out to them via HARO and social media. For the former, we browse for the best-fit reporter topic requests on HARO and give timely responses. As for the latter, we've embraced cold pitching on social media platforms to exploit the potential in that channel. Our strategy combines a myriad of techniques to ensure that our connection requests to reporters are accepted and mutually beneficial to either side. One of them is to audit the target query posed by the reporter in a HARO pitch to help us arrive at the right answer that offers value that we can opine as a brand. For social media, it is about scouting reporters who have an interest in closely-related subject matters as our business
The best way to connect with reporters is to review your pitches, trim the fat and speak like a real person. Reporters want quotes from people who can explain their topics to the common reader and, if you get too wordy or try to sound too intellectual, you're shooting yourself in the foot. Use words that you would use to speak to your friend. Additionally, people think that reporters are looking for you to write the article for them and this isn't the case. My biggest tip for connecting with them is to be direct with answering their question and not babble to fill space. Additionally, reporters want to hear your passion through the response and not feel like a robot is just sending out pitch after pitch to gain some backlinks.
You can connect with reporters through Help A Reporter Out (HARO) by responding to requests for quotes. The most important thing about responding to queries through HARO is that you need to respond as quickly as possible. This doesn’t just mean getting your responses submitted before the deadline. You need to respond as soon as you can to increase your chances of getting your response read by the writer. Many times, journalists need a specific amount of quotes and once they have enough they stop reading submissions. So getting your thoughts to them quickly can help you be included in their piece.
Focus on a single idea: the topic you want to talk about in that medium. Don't tell them about your life or your company's entire history. Keep in mind that they have limited time to serve you, and you should take advantage of it. Highlight something striking related to the topic you are talking about, arouse their curiosity, and, if you can, provide some statistical data, media journalists love numbers!
Co-Founder & CEO at Hoist
Answered 4 years ago
A reporter is a busy person, so be frank, honest, and to-the-point. I’ve found reporters appreciate people who make their lives easier and give them valuable information and usable quotes–and it isn’t hard to build a solid relationship with them just by being helpful. As someone who’s very busy myself, I get along well with their no-nonsense approach, and it’s great to have a connection based on forthcoming conversations and raw facts.