How to Capitalize on Current Trends to Get Featured In Media

If you want to stand out from the crowd online and be recognized as an influential brand, you should learn how to get featured in high-profile media. But here’s the truth only Millennials and Gen-Z want to hear: trends are everything.

If you’re about to surrender to not being a cool kid who knows, there is hope. These trends aren’t about what the “hottest” people are wearing. They are about what is happening in your audience’s life and what they are talking about.

Staying relevant also means how you can grab the attention of journalists to get featured, but a big part of that is timeliness: Timeliness is essential in marketing.

If you’re not paying attention to the events that impact your audience, you’re missing out on the best opportunities to grab their attention and deepen your connection with them… even when those events seem unrelated to your message and brand.

To give you an idea, my agency recently had a client in the relationship coaching niche who wanted to be featured in popular media in the UK.

The challenge was this: the talk of the town was the developing economic crisis – and relationship counseling wasn’t exactly high on the agenda. We knew all about building relationships and staying relevant, but we needed to refresh our approach.

Read on to discover the five steps my PR agency took to get ideas out to journalists and get our clients in front of high profile media – even at an unlikely time, and how you can too.

See also: 5 things not to do when pitching journalists

1. Knowledge is power: Use it

Before considering approaching a journalist, empower yourself with knowledge and be inspired.

To get the attention of a top journalist, you need to know what they’re talking about, their interests, and what’s already grabbing their attention. This allows you to identify journalists who are a good match for you, build real relationships and advertise accordingly.

To get a glimpse into a journalist’s mind, do the following:

1. Browse priority media and social media to rank trending topics.
2. Find journalists on social media like Twitter and LinkedIn and pay attention to what they post and what they cover.
3. Watch out for journalists’ inquiries. This will let you know what kind of stories they would like to see in upcoming pitches – without the guesswork.

At the time of writing this article, the world has just heard of Queen Elizabeth’s passing. As you can imagine, this will be a top headline topic for a while – a great example of a trending topic to watch out for.

2. Create your pitch list

Getting it back to basics with the basics of relationship building – after all, that’s what we do best in PR, right?

Once you know what interests journalists, you can filter out those who are a good fit for you and vice versa. Make a list of journalists you want to apply with and then build those relationships.

You’ve heard it before and you’ll hear it again: face-to-face conversations and a focus on real connections will help you stand out in a world of cold, scripted pitches. It takes time but it’s worth it.

3. Grab interesting stories and get creative

As my team and I scanned priority media for our client, we realized that the rise in house prices was a trending topic. To put together a compelling pitch, we needed to develop a unique angle by creatively merging topics that were thought to be disjointed.

In this case, we focused on the relevance of money issues to conflict and breakups in relationships—relationships linked to the recession.

Make a list of trending topics and stories that interest you, your audience and journalists. Do any further research you need, then get those creative juices flowing to find an original angle.

Related: Are Your PR Efforts Flat? Here’s how to fix it

4. Don’t miss the key ingredients for a compelling pitch

Unfortunately, in a competitive market, it takes more than a trending topic and a creative angle to capture the interest of a top journalist.

The good news? My team recently had the opportunity to get feedback from a journalist who shared her insider tips on writing a compelling pitch.

A key tip that will help you add layers to your pitch and attract journalists is recording Statistics, specific facts and personal stories. Sharing real-life stories about how the recession had impacted people’s relationships in our pitch made it more accessible, reliable, and compelling.

5. You cannot play unless you are on the field

This is where these solid relationships pay off. You know what journalists are looking for what, and now it’s showtime. Get your pitch out of the shadows.

Journalists’ social media platforms are a great place to request that your pitch be read. LinkedIn and Twitter are often my go-to places. You can also visit platforms where journalists ask questions to experts, such as helpareporter.com (aka “HARO”).

Don’t worry if your pitch isn’t accepted. Get feedback and stay in touch with other journalists who might be a better match for you.

See also: Are you introducing your company to a journalist? Here’s what works.