Why I doubt quantity ever beats quality
...And how getting featured in multiple outlets can end up causing problems
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A few weeks ago I snuck into the world’s biggest digital PR and marketing conference, BrightonSEO, to find out what the PR world was saying about how to pitch to journalists.
What really struck me was how much emphasis there was on pitching with the aim of getting a brand mentioned in as many different outlets as possible - regardless of the quality of the coverage, the quality of those outlets, or whether the audience was relevant to the brands in question.
Digital PRs were encouraged to write “page-ready” press releases which could be copied and pasted by online journalists directly onto news websites, complete with links to a brand’s website.
Now, clearly, there are some benefits to this strategy. Getting lots of links on media sites can boost a company’s ranking in search results. It might even drive more traffic to their website temporarily. And it might look very impressive if a PR can go back to their client and say: “Look, we got you in all these titles”.
But does it actually mean anything?
I’ll be honest that, as a journalist, I found these talks pretty frustrating to listen to. Not just because I fear these tactics threaten independent journalism (that’s a whole other story), but because I know from experience that you can get positive, quality PR for a brand - which translates to boosted reputation and sales - without resorting to these “mass coverage” strategies.
(The same totally applies to freelance journalism pitches too.)
Here are my thoughts on why quantity doesn’t trump quality - and what tactics to try instead:
A scattergun approach won’t reach the right people
Yes, you can ping out press release emails to any journalist who cover the topic area of your/your client’s brand, and hope something will stick. And sometimes releases will get used. But that kind of scattergun coverage may not translate into real customers in the real world (which is why anyone does PR in the first place, right?).
Take, for example, one case that was highlighted at the conference as a successful pitch placement: a gym based in Coventry which was featured and linked to in an Irish national news publication.
Now, getting that link on a major news site might mean the company now appears higher in Google search results. But you’d be very lucky if any of the Irish readers of that publication ended up joining that gym...
If the only reason you’re seeking publicity is to get backlinks (more on these here), then great. But if you’re reading this, I assume it’s because you’re interested in getting featured in the media for lots of reasons, like raising your profile or generating more interest in a business.
Any business which relies on people walking into it and buying something, relies on local word-of-mouth - which absolutely can be boosted by local press coverage. If that article had instead been tailored for a smaller, local website, then it could have helped raise the company’s profile in its local area, reaching its ideal customers.
So what should I do?
Tailor pitches to target local press in areas where your customers live. Local readers love gossip about people in their area, so you could pitch a personal story about what inspired the foundation of the business, for example.
I’ve previously shared how you can pitch a personal story without selling your soul.
Interested readers are the perfect customers
Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but my personal view is that nothing elevates a company or expert’s profile like getting coverage in a publication whose readers are in the same target market.
And this doesn’t mean just targeting relevant local media, but finding out what your customer reads and pitching to those publications.
For example, if you’re targeting mums, try pitching to Grazia’s The Juggle. If you’re targeting people looking for easy ways save money, pitch to The Sun’s money desk. If you’re selling a luxury holiday retreat, pitch to The Sunday Times travel section… You get the idea.
So what should I do?
Where do your customers get their news from? These are the publications you should be pitching to - national or local, print or online, it doesn’t matter - as long as the publication’s audience is also the same as your target market.
Don’t dismiss the power of print
We all know the future is digital. And it’s easy to dismiss print publications as a dying medium… but I’m always amazed by the people who still buy newspapers - and there are still more than a million of them in the UK (including me).
The type of people who buy newspapers are the type of people willing to get up every day and go and pay money for a newspaper. These people are active consumers with a disposable income.
They are exactly the kind of person you want to target if you have something to sell (which presumably most companies wanting PR do).
I’ve previously written stories about a new product for the Daily Mail print newspaper, only to find out the company’s website crashed due to overwhelming demand the next day. There is still power in print - so don’t forget to target it with tailored pitches too.
So what should I do?
Print and online versions of the same publication often run quite different stories, so it’s worth checking out both before you pitch. If you buy a copy of your target newspaper, you can look at the kind of headlines and stories it uses. I’ve shared here how to tailor a pitch to match.
Publication networks aren’t all they’re cracked up to be
Another example of “success” shown at the conference was a press release which was used pretty much verbatim by dozens of media outlets. These all turned out to all be outlets owned by Reach PLC.
For anyone unaware of Reach, it’s a publishing company (largely owned by investment management firms) which now owns national titles like the Daily Mirror, Daily Express and the magazine OK!, as well as hundreds of local newspapers around the UK.
Reach often syndicates stories across its network, which means if your pitch gets picked up by one publication, it could end up in hundreds.
This sounds great, right?
Well… it can be. But here are three potential issues with getting featured across the Reach network:
1) Its websites are practically unreadable
There are an insane number of pop-ups, adverts and videos which crash and reload the page. I’ve actively tried to read articles (including my own!) on its sites recently and really struggled - I can’t imagine many casual readers have the perseverance to absorb information fully.
2) You can’t resonate with readers of so many contrasting publications
Yes your brand might get featured in every Reach publication, but not every Reach publication will be reaching your ideal audience.
The Daily Mirror and Daily Express, for example, are aimed at two completely different audiences (the former is broadly left-wing working class, the latter takes a strongly right-wing approach and is typically aimed at a much older audience) - your message risks falling flat with at least one of these readerships.
And of course, getting featured in local publications in Kent, Plymouth and Newcastle may be nice, but if your business is based in Coventry it’s ultimately pretty pointless.
3) They love a clickbait title
I’m usually an advocate of the saying “all publicity is good publicity”, but headlines are getting more and more outrageous at publications with a business model of chasing clicks, such as at Reach.
If you’re an expert in a serious or sensitive subject area, there is a risk you could get featured under a headline which is sensationalised to the point where it reflects badly on your reputation - and when that’s repeated across a network of hundreds of papers, it can be difficult to come back from that.
So what should I do?
Be realistic about why you want to be featured on huge publication networks and what value is in it for you. It can be great if you need a lot of links to your site or want to be able to say “as featured in” a lot of publications. But if you want readers to engage in quality coverage which boosts your reputation, it might not work out.
So what does quality media coverage look like?
People can be quite snobbish about some news outlets. But quality isn’t just about being featured in the most prestigious titles, it’s about being featured in publications which - to use horrible marketing speak - align with your brand.
What that looks like depends on what your brand is and who you want to speak to.
So if, say, you run a shopping vouchers app and want more people on low incomes to download it, this could mean getting featured sharing tips on “5 unusual ways to save money on your grocery shopping” on The Sun Online’s money section.
Or if you’re a cosmetic surgeon and you want to build a reputation so people trust you and seek out your clinic, it might look like getting featured as an independent expert commenting on an article about NHS surgery statistics in The Times.
Only you can judge what is the best fit.
But getting great coverage starts always with identifying the news sources your customers trust - and pitching great stories to them.
Inspired to pitch? Try these Get Featured guides to finding and pitching the perfect story:
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