Four tips for approaching the press

1. Be precise when approaching a journalist

Press lobbying is basically a dialogue, where you and the journalist look for a win-win situation. On the one hand, you want the journalist to mention your company in his medium; on the other hand, the journalist wants you to provide a quality story that is right up his street. This is where your first task comes in: know who you are talking about. It is hugely sloppy if you misspell the journalist's or medium's name, or if the topic does not fit his medium, editorial or target audience (see point three). It is wasted time both for you and, say, the economics editor if you share with him or her a press release about a new slimming method. So prepare well, know who you are approaching and make sure you share relevant information flawlessly. This shows respect and care.

2. Don't try to be a sales driver

It's natural to be excited about your own press release. Indeed, it is necessary to approach the journalist full of enthusiasm. Because if you don't believe in the power of the message yourself, why should your interlocutor? But try to make sure that this enthusiasm does not turn into a sales pitch, full of superlatives like "unique", "groundbreaking" or, to a lesser extent, "interesting". Always go for the win-win outcome and don't be a sales tiger. Does the journalist indicate that the press release - for whatever reason - does not fit? Accept this and thank the person for their time and honest response. Who knows, maybe you can help each other next time.

3. Identify who you want to reach and why

The third tip for successfully approaching the press and getting mentioned in the media is to determine in advance who your target audience is. Who is your news really of interest to? Then you can identify which media are writing for that target group, and finally conclude which specific journalist is targeting them. Here goes: the more specific your topic, the more selective your press lobby. Rather approach a small interested group than a large press list that can do little with your message. Because again: you help each other and you don't do that by forwarding irrelevant information. Have you found the appropriate parties? Then keep in mind that the people you talk to are pretty committed to the subject and may ask critical questions. So make sure you know enough about the topic you are lobbying. It looks tremendously doltish if the 'bringer of new insights' cannot answer simple questions.

4. Keep the journalist's agenda in mind

Finally, point four, where it is important to remember that editors generally receive dozens to hundreds of messages a week. No matter how important your press release is for your company, for the journalist it is one of so many. This means that the author must free up time and space in the editorial schedule even when the interest is high. The trick here is to make it as easy as possible for the journalist. Therefore, make your press release of the highest quality and include relevant images so that the editor has to do as little as possible himself. Does your contact prefer to receive an e-mail? Then draft it exactly according to his or her preferences. Often, the journalist says to 'look at it later' and in most cases this is actually the case. This is why it is advisable to share your message at the beginning of the week so that it can be scheduled later in the week.

Approaching the press is human

Although we often talk about 'the media', 'the press', 'the newspaper' and the various media titles, we can conclude that when approaching the press, you are really dealing with people. These people practice their profession with passion and want to deliver the best quality within their capabilities. It is up to you to support them as much as possible in practising their profession, to give each other a hand. You supply news, they supply you with a stage. Gradually, you get to know the people behind the media and you know exactly how you can help them. Of course, this takes quite some time, a time that we at Mediatic have already bridged. We are therefore happy to help you align your company with the media - uhm - the people behind the media.