When it comes to reaching out to journalists and building relationships, research and the right approach is everything – after all, nobody wants their outreach email to stand out for the all the wrong reasons! Hana Bednarova, of Bednar Communications, details her top tips for writing a killer outreach email that’ll not only get opened, but get you those all important replies.
• Make it personal – research your contact, their company, their style, and likes/dislikes. It’s not simply about getting the journalist’s name correct – it’s about making it relevant to them, their publication, and most importantly, their readers.
• Don’t use a template – because as much as you think it’s a great template, your journalist will be able to sniff it from a mile off!
• Mention their audience – journalists care first and foremost about what their readers will enjoy. Telling them their readers are, for example, ‘mainly high earners, female, aged 35-50’, and why your piece is relevant to them, will not only show you’ve done your research but will increase the chances of your article being picked up.
• Take notes – creating a little black book of your contacts, their likes (e.g. likes all info in a Dropbox file), dislikes (e.g. dislikes research pieces, prefers exclusives), will only help you when you next come to send out an article or press release, and referencing this will help you become more memorable, and help start the beginning of your working relationship.
• Follow up – around 2-3 days afterwards, and if you can, offer them something else – such as additional photos, a case study, a map – especially if, (after all your research), you’ve found they particularly like case study pieces.
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