When deciding what to pitch to journalists versus what to publish on our own channels, I focus on the content’s lifespan. If it's time-sensitive, like reacting to breaking news or trends, I pitch it to journalists for quicker exposure. For evergreen content—such as how-to guides or thought leadership pieces that provide long-term value—I publish it on our own platforms. This way, we maximize impact while keeping control over ongoing narratives that resonate with our audience over time.
When deciding what content to pitch to journalists versus what to publish on our channels at Gema Sumatra, I focus on two key factors: audience reach and brand control. If a story is likely to have broader appeal or needs the credibility of third-party validation, I pitch it to journalists. For example, this year, we are trying to collaborate with many different media to reach more audiences. So, we use news collaboration to explore bigger opportunities, and it makes sense to leverage media outlets to amplify the message. Journalists add credibility and expand our reach beyond our usual audience. So far, we have partnered with two media to cover more national updates together: Jenggirat.com and Mediaindonesia24.com. On the other hand, I publish more nuanced or brand-specific content on our platforms. These are pieces where I can fully control the narrative, like local business spotlights or deeper dives into topics our audience cares about, such as Sumatra’s cultural heritage. Surprisingly, I’ve found that content with a smaller or niche focus often performs better on our channels. For instance, a story about a small-scale local event gained more traction on our website than through mainstream media, where it might have been overlooked. This allows us to engage directly with a passionate, targeted audience without depending on external validation.
In my role at the explainer video company, I decide what content to pitch to journalists versus publish on our own channels based on newsworthiness and audience reach. For example, if we have a significant industry milestone, like a major partnership or a cutting-edge video innovation, I'll pitch it to relevant media outlets to gain credibility and broader exposure. On the other hand, content like case studies or tips on video marketing strategies is ideal for our own blog, where we can engage directly with our audience and position ourselves as experts. Recently, we pitched a story about our collaboration with a top tech firm, which resulted in media coverage in industry publications, while we shared the behind-the-scenes process on our blog to drive deeper engagement.
When deciding whether to pitch content to journalists or publish it on your channels, consider audience overlap, expertise, timeliness, and depth. If the target audience aligns with a journalist's readership, pitching can boost visibility. If the content requires specialized knowledge, a journalist's credibility can lend weight to your message. For breaking news or time-sensitive topics, pitching to journalists ensures the content reaches a wider audience quickly. If the content is in-depth or requires extensive research, it may be better suited for your channels. For instance, a tech startup's AI tool can be pitched to major publications to increase exposure and credibility.
We pitch to journalists content that is newsworthy and will help build credibility for our brand. Often, the aim is to target new users who have not heard about our shipment tracking products but would be well-placed to integrate them into their business systems. An example of such content is our recent rebranding as we commemorated ten years in business. We pitched this story to journalists, and it was picked up, which helped us announce our rebrand and establish credibility for our brand. The content we publish on our channels includes case studies that tell success stories of clients who have used our shipment tracking to enhance their customers' post-purchase experience. We also publish long-form educational blog posts and SEO content to educate visitors on our website on how to use our platform and improve our search engine rankings.
We'd had the most success with studies that feature proprietary data sets. Annual studies, surveys of industry experts, app data, etc. We'll host the study itself on our site (or our client's), and create an exec summary with the most interesting findings for the media.
What we pitch to journalists versus what we post on our own channel is really a matter of the potential for storytelling and for more general interest. We pitch the story of innovation in our service, but also aim at topics that have a wider relevance than just our customer base. That means changes and trends that might apply to the wider community or to the industry in general. For instance, we created an on-demand delivery service for our cars – think ‘car rental meets rideshare’. When we first started pitching this to journalists, we told the story through the lens of urban mobility, tech innovation in the auto space and the evolution of car rentals in the gig economy. It’s a story that has consequences beyond the company, and can be pitched to tech and business publications that cover topics like what the world will look like five years from now, and next steps in the evolution of car rentals in the gig economy. On our own channels, for example on our Facebook page, it means sharing stories from users who rent our cars, or tips on how to take road trips with our rentals – all intended to warm up our customers to us and create a dedicated community. This dual approach not only increases visibility in media but also builds our own community. This way, we stay top of mind and in touch with our customers. No matter what, we must be both public and personal.