Press coverage is a powerful amplifier and perhaps more influential than ever, with its critical role at the heart of contemporary SEO.
While there are many occasions in which your organisation may wish to publish a proactive press release, from product launches to partnership announcements, nothing quite gains traction like a well-timed reactive insights-driven press release.
In this blog, we thought we’d share some core insights that will have publishers halting the press to incorporate your insights, your commentary, your brand, and of course, your backlinks.
Process Overview:
Find a Relevant Trend
Find a Relevant Insight
Find a Relevant Publication
…but first, let’s talk shop on how contemporary publications work…
The Great Filter: Will They Click
It’s no secret the majority of online publications need one thing to survive; advertiser revenue. They make money when they have the audience’s attention on their platform. So the most important question is; will the audience click to read beyond this headline?
The answer to that question is the difference between placement on the publication and placement in the bin.
Finding the sweet spot is everything. You need to find the right journalist, at the right publication, with the right audience who may be interested in this type of content, all bound, of course, within the taste of the advertisers.
Finding a Relevant Trend
To send an effective insight-led press release, it’s important to keep your finger on the pulse of the industry and be aware of any relevant trends. This means regularly monitoring industry and adjacent news that could impact your business or customers.
For example, if you’re a performance marketing agency for the education sector, you might want to keep an eye on trends such as:
- Changes to education policy and funding
- Emerging edtech innovations
- Shifts in learning preferences, such as an increased focus on online learning
- Research and data on student outcomes and performance
By staying up-to-date on these trends, you can identify opportunities to offer your own insights and commentary that are relevant and timely. This makes it more likely that publishers will be interested in covering your story, as you can offer a unique perspective that adds value for their audience.
Additionally, staying up to date with trends in conversations across social media can help greatly. Tools such as Tiktok Creative Center have become some of the most insightful free social listening tools available to journalists and public relations executives alike.
Finding a Relevant Insight
Once you’ve identified a relevant trend, the next step is to find a unique insight or perspective that will grab the attention of publishers and their readers. These insights can come from a variety of sources, both internal and external.
Internally, you can look at data in your CRM or conduct your market research to identify trends or patterns that can inform your insights. Additionally, your senior spokespersons or subject matter experts may have unique insights based on their experience and expertise.
Externally, you can use tools like Google Trends to identify spikes in interest online related to your industry or topic. This can help you identify timely insights likely to resonate with publishers and their audiences.
The key is to find an insight that is relevant to the trend you’ve identified and offers a fresh perspective or adds value in some way. This could mean offering a new interpretation of data or research, sharing a unique case study or example, or providing expert commentary on a complex issue.
Ultimately, the goal is to offer interesting and valuable insights to publishers and their readers, which helps position your brand as a thought leader in your industry. By finding and developing these insights, you can create a more compelling and effective press release that is more likely to generate interest and coverage.
Finding a Relevant Publication
Once you’ve identified a trend and developed a unique insight, the final step is to find the right publication to pitch your press release to. This means identifying publications that are likely to be interested in your story and that reach your target audience.
One way to find relevant publications is to use search engines like Google or Bing. You can search for keywords related to your industry or topic, along with terms like “news”, “magazine”, or “publication”. This can help you identify publications that cover your industry or topic and that may be interested in your insights.
Another approach is to use database software like Roxhill or Prowly. These tools allow you to search for publications and journalists by topic, location, and other criteria. They also provide insights into the types of stories that publications and journalists are interested in and contact information for individual journalists.
When selecting publications to pitch to, it’s important to consider factors like the publication’s audience, editorial focus, and tone. You want to choose publications that reach your target audience and have a strong track record of covering similar stories.
Additionally, it’s important to consider the individual journalist or editor you’ll be pitching to. Look for journalists that have covered similar topics in the past or that have expressed an interest in your industry or topic. This can help you tailor your pitch to their specific interests and increase the chances of a successful placement.
By taking the time to research and identify relevant publications, you can increase the chances of your press release being picked up and generating meaningful coverage for your brand.
Conclusion
An insight-led press release is an effective way to generate meaningful coverage for your brand. By following the three-step process of finding a relevant trend, developing a unique insight, and identifying a relevant publication, you can create a press release that grabs the attention of publishers and their audiences.
It’s important to remember that publications are driven by advertiser revenue and their audience’s attention, so finding the sweet spot between relevance and interest is crucial. Additionally, staying up-to-date on industry trends through traditional news sources and social media can help inform your insights and make them more timely and relevant.
Finally, it’s important to take the time to research and identify the right publications and journalists to pitch your press release to. Choosing publications that reach your target audience and tailoring your pitch to the individual journalist’s interests can increase the chances of a successful placement and generate meaningful coverage for your brand.
Using the insights and tips in this article, you can create an effective insight-led press release that positions your brand as a thought leader in your industry and generates meaningful coverage that drives business outcomes.
If you’re looking for help in crafting and distributing insight-led press releases that generate meaningful coverage for your brand in the education or edtech sectors, Magnetic Campus is here to help. Our experienced marketing professionals can work with you to identify relevant trends, develop unique insights, and identify the right publications to pitch your press release to.
Contact us today to learn more about our performance marketing services and how we can help you achieve your marketing goals. Whether you want to increase brand awareness, generate leads, or drive conversions, Magnetic Campus has the expertise and experience to help you succeed.