How have you engaged journalists to cover your product?

Question

Hi all - I just launched a new digital fitness product, Solon (solonfit.com), with the end goal of creating greater equity in the digital fitness space. Solon is a completely free platform that aggregates the best follow-along videos from the web and shares them with users in a thoughtful, fitness-focused product.

I am interested in learning some successful tactics that folks in this community have used in order to engage journalists and have them cover your company/product. Any advice/feedback on how to navigate this world would be greatly appreciated!

Ann · Accepted Answer

You'd need to plan your PR stunt in advance. We do it using our own gantt charts so we know what tasks have to be done first in order to start the next. But for sure you can use whichever tool you like.

I'd say some of the most important steps would include:
-Brainstorm keywords relevant to your releasing product
-Research editors/authors who are interested in these keywords
-Build your author database (again, we created it in our software https://zenkit.com/en/base/ , but you can use whichever tool you like), and categorize them properly (eg. some wrote about your competitors, some wrote about you before, etc. depends on your needs ) 
-Have a professional writer to write the press release and the pitch (Make sure you specify if it's under embargo or not)
-Contact authors (Tip: It's better if you show that you've read their articles and individualize your emails accordingly. Even if not all, at least for some important ones it's worth to make the effort.)

Most editors are really busy and receive heaps of press release requests.... so it's important to let them know that you treasure their work and not just send out bulk emails. Last but not least, don't forget to follow up. and don't forget they're not machine, but human beings.

I hope this is helpful :)

David Tran · Answer

I think you have to actually reach them and tell them why your product can make their reader exciting. Another option would be pay them to write for you.

Alexa Vovchenko · Answer

I'm here to listen to the answer, too :)

Jonathan Amsili · Answer

@aleksandra_vovchenko - maybe I need to start with a different question: How have you engaged other product hunters to answer your question? 😂

Tatiana Kukova, PhD · Answer

It is quite tricky to engage journalists to cover your story. First of all, chose suitable outlets for your fitness-focused product. "How," you may ask. Search for articles that cover fitness apps. Secondly, meet-ups can help as many founders get access to journalists through their network. Thirdly, journalists love referrals, and many will only communicate with start-ups they know and their network of friends. Fourthly, chose a niche newspaper or magazine. Prestigious magazines will require similar stories to what they have there, so pay attention (this point can also be extended to all types of media).

In the digital age, it is becoming harder and harder (not easier, mind you) to get in touch with the "right" journalists, so be extra careful about the language you are using for your product. "Creating greater equity in the digital fitness space" is a great start. Diversity and inclusion are paramount, and I can't agree with you more on that. Journalists will spot it, too.

Finally, you may try to get in touch with a PR agency. This is a controversial subject, but they have more access to various outlets, especially if you have none.

James Simmons · Answer

Great tips here. Would also add that you should probably triple (or more) the lead time you think it’ll take to get organic PR. Unless you have a really hot product (in which case the press will find you!) or get really lucky... it’s a slog, and it takes a lot of effort to get out in front of it. In my most recent company, we had to chase articles for months before the right kinds of journalists started either having some awareness of us (because I reached out after the LAST relevant article they wrote a few months ago) or because when researching we caught them with ads.

In non-COVID times a great way to get some press was always to speak at conferences—often if you had a good hook you could always do a talk, meet a writer, have a drink, and get some love... I’m sure there’s a virtual equivalent these days, but I haven’t found it :(.

Debajit Sarkar · Answer

Start the process by building a rapport with journalist even before you contemplate launching your product.  You can do that by searching for journalists who've already written about your topic or industry.

HARO or Help a Reporter Out is a good starting point https://www.helpareporter.com/.

Nazeem Abbas · Answer

@aleksandra_vovchenko @jamsili @jeff_zhang5 https://publicizeads.com/ is a best platform to promote your products. Try this its free.

Jonathan Amsili · Answer

Hi @nazeem_abbas I checked out the website and doesn't really seem to have many opportunities at all and the about us page still has dummy text in there.. So not sure what this is?

Jonathan Amsili · Answer

@tzuan Some super helpful tips here, thank you! I think the part on letting them know that you treasure their work is critical. For example, in my case I am looking for writers covering free digital fitness options. Would be great for me to call out in my emails that specially in today's world where millions are locked-in at home and the situation taking a toll on many people's mental health, that it's awesome that they are choosing to share FREE digital fitness options with their readers in order to help them maintain their wellbeing.

Benoit Chambon · Answer

No, should I?

Maths Mathisen · Answer

@tzuan Totally agree with your tips, but I would also add the importance of staying relevant and up to date on your selected topics. A good way to do it is to add a Google Alert search to your email. Once a day you will receive all the relevant articles. Read them and gather the name of the journalists, and the experts in the articles. The experts on the topic could be a value add to your own press release, and they could also be great testers and advocates of the product. Additionally, I would offer exclusivity to one journalist, and then open up the story to other news outlet. We had great results doing this with The Times, and then after it was released BBC, The Guardian and The Telegraph picked up the story.

Jeff Zhang · Answer

@aleksandra_vovchenko @jamsili lol

How have you engaged journalists to cover your product?

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