60 second PR: Help me, I can’t get media coverage for my business
If your in-house team is struggling to secure consistent media coverage, the issue often isn’t a lack of activity or even the strength of your story - it’s how that PR outreach is being directed.
We’ve just run our media intelligence report for May to understand where journalist interest has mainly been focused over the last four weeks. The report is specific to B2B media opportunities and tells us the most effective way to get businesses cited in their preferred media outlets.
Of all topics featured, the top five areas of greatest interest based on volume of media opportunities were on issues relating to:
The future of work
AI’s impact
Customer behaviour shifts
Talent shortages
Hiring trends (such as the rise in youth unemployment)
Legal rulings
Immigration and worker protections
Legislative changes
Reputational crises
We found that while open to receiving press releases from businesses, the stories being shared didn’t strike at what journalists are increasingly seeking – namely expert-led insight and commentary that explains what X means, why it’s happening, and what can be done to address it.
More importantly, they really want insights that are contrary to the prevailing narrative and can be turned around quickly.
Too many teams still default to press releases as their primary route into the media. The reality is that journalists rarely ask for them. In fact, when researching our report, we found a number of journalists opting out of accepting press releases.
So, if you want to build your profile in the media and that of your key people, focus less on crafting a brilliant press release that’s likely pushing out a static message and focus more on positioning your key people as commentators with something to say - experience-led viewpoints that move the story forward.
In today’s media landscape, coverage doesn’t go to the companies that shout the loudest - it goes to those that add the most value to the story.
You don’t need a PR agency to get media coverage for your business. Empower your teams to do it themselves and save thousands on your annual PR budget. See: PR Training & Coaching.