Let's talk about the biggest mistakes you're making when you reach out to the media to get your brand featured.
1. You’re Reaching Out To The Wrong Person
Image via Fractl
They don't care about what you do or what you have to offer because it isn't what they actually cover as a part of the job. Journalists can get over 100 pitches a day, so if you send your pitch to the wrong person, there's no guarantee that it's going to be forwarded on to the correct person.
When I was an editor and I got pitches that were irrelevant to me, when I forwarded them to my co-workers, half the time they told me not to bother because they knew that if the pitch was coming from somebody who hadn't taken the time to research the correct person to send it to, the pitch itself was also likely irrelevant.
2. Your Pitch Is Way Too Basic
It doesn't stand out enough for them to want to dive deeper into your product or offering, and it isn't compelling enough that it will appeal to their audience.
You need to craft a pitch that immediately gets their attention, and that clearly indicates how featuring your brand will benefit their audience. And it should include only the necessary details, as well as a media kit so they can easily get more information on you if they need to.
3. Your Pitch Isn't Customized
This is one of the main reasons that pitches are rejected. When you put your brand in front of the media because you want them to cover you, you have to make sure that you're doing it in a way that matches
- What they do
- How they report
- And their style
You need to show them how you fit into what they're already doing. If you don't do this, i.e. customize your pitch from start to finish, then you're really just doing yourself a disservice.
Image via Fractl
4. You’re Not Demonstrating Your Value
Simply placing your products or service in front of journalists and telling them to feature you doesn't work, unless it's rare, unique or trendy enough that it seems like it could go viral.
And pushing features or taking a hard-selling approach doesn't work either. You need to put your brand in front of them in a compelling way that shows what you bring to the table and why their audience will love you.
5. You're Treating The Whole Thing Like A Transaction
This has the potential to be a wonderful and long-term collaboration, where you show up, bring value and invite them to participate in a dialogue with you. And it's a dialogue that their audience will love too, so it's an easy sell!
If you approach it this way instead, it's a completely different experience, which is what you want. You want it to be a different experience because you want to stand out and you want it to be a long term collaboration.
What It Looks Like When Your Brand Makes The Newsstands
Why You Should Take A 'Big Picture' Approach
You want to be their go-to person when they have questions or when they're looking for somebody to feature in your industry. That's the goal. The goal is to have a long-term relationship with them, as opposed to just one-off features. This is what I teach my Queens in The Brand Impact Program™.
I teach them this process from start to finish, including how to get media contact information, how to find the right person, and ultimately how to leverage your press when you do get it…
I’ve taken the whole process, absolutely everything, and turned it into a step-by-step system to make it as easy and seamless as possible.
Because once you have the process down and you're feeding your information and stories about your brand to your journalists and contacts on the one end, so you get features out on the other, end it's golden.
How To Get Publicity For Your Business
If you want press features and publicity so you can reach more people and have a bigger impact, take a look at my free case study video, "How To Get Publicity Without Breaking The Bank." It breaks down the strategy that we use.
ABOUT BLACK GIRL PR™
Black Girl PR™ is a Black-owned consulting firm, focused on serving Black womxn across the diaspora and in Africa. This award-winning firm specializes in helping Black womxn in ecommerce get publicity and media coverage, so they reach more people and have a bigger impact.