Understanding these harsh realities of the 2023 media landscape and how press publications are monetised can help you to land wayyyy more coverage.
A quick 𧔠about how news outlets make money and what this means for PRs.
Ready? Letâs go⊠đ
A quick 𧔠about how news outlets make money and what this means for PRs.
Ready? Letâs go⊠đ
1. Pageviews = Pounds (or $)
News outlets (and blogs) are businesses.
And this means they need to make money. Theyâre not covering something because they feel like it, theyâre doing so because they think it can make them money.
Publications earn money via advertising.
News outlets (and blogs) are businesses.
And this means they need to make money. Theyâre not covering something because they feel like it, theyâre doing so because they think it can make them money.
Publications earn money via advertising.
And the more people who see these ads, the more money thatâs made.
Whether the traffic source is Google News, social or wherever is almost irrelevant - itâs as simple as the more pageviews, the better.
If it ainât gonna make money, it ainât getting covered!
Whether the traffic source is Google News, social or wherever is almost irrelevant - itâs as simple as the more pageviews, the better.
If it ainât gonna make money, it ainât getting covered!
Engagement matters and journalists are KPId on this.
An article getting social shares or comments is important, too.
More eyeballs on content and more time on the page = more $.
Help a journalist to hit their own goals (or at least see how they can) and youâre onto a winner.
An article getting social shares or comments is important, too.
More eyeballs on content and more time on the page = more $.
Help a journalist to hit their own goals (or at least see how they can) and youâre onto a winner.
2. Itâs all about the headline
Highly clickable headlines will always win, like it or not.
Think of it this way⊠when did you last click onto an article with a boring headline?
Guessing you canât remember?
People click exciting, intriguing and emotionally-driven headlines.
Highly clickable headlines will always win, like it or not.
Think of it this way⊠when did you last click onto an article with a boring headline?
Guessing you canât remember?
People click exciting, intriguing and emotionally-driven headlines.
Ensure youâre making it really easy for journalists to see these clickable headlines in your stories.
Between your own subject line and your pitch, youâve got plenty of opportunities to show how (and why) your story can generate pageviews. And make money.
Between your own subject line and your pitch, youâve got plenty of opportunities to show how (and why) your story can generate pageviews. And make money.
3. News trades up the chain
Everyone wants to win their share of clicks and pageviews from a story thatâs gaining engagement.
And this means that journalists often use other news outlets as a source of whatâs hot.
You can âtrade news up the chainâ to help control this.
Everyone wants to win their share of clicks and pageviews from a story thatâs gaining engagement.
And this means that journalists often use other news outlets as a source of whatâs hot.
You can âtrade news up the chainâ to help control this.
Donât just target top-tier publications when pitching.
Include lower-levels of the press, too where itâs often easier to land coverage.
Then start trading up.
Get this coverage on the radar of higher up journalists in your follow ups.
Include lower-levels of the press, too where itâs often easier to land coverage.
Then start trading up.
Get this coverage on the radar of higher up journalists in your follow ups.
Iâve also seen this done successfully as a âhave you seen thisâŠâ tip from a Gmail account.
Donât forget, no one wants to miss out.
A variation of trading up is cross-trading headlines.
We often see journalists using a headline thatâs so good we wish weâd thought of it.
Donât forget, no one wants to miss out.
A variation of trading up is cross-trading headlines.
We often see journalists using a headline thatâs so good we wish weâd thought of it.
So use it in your next round of pitches as the subject line.
Youâre taking whatâs clearly working for one publication and selling that into others.
Youâre taking whatâs clearly working for one publication and selling that into others.
The more you know about how the media works, the better you can use this insight to earn more coverage.
Before you write your next pitch, stop and think about how your story aligns to these points and donât forget, news outlets mostly exist to make moneyâŠ
Before you write your next pitch, stop and think about how your story aligns to these points and donât forget, news outlets mostly exist to make moneyâŠ
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