Treat your media database like a grocery list

Picture this: you decide you want to go to the grocery store. You don’t plan any dinners or make a list, but instead, just browse the aisles and randomly pick foods that look good. When you get home, you realize you forgot half the items you needed and you can’t even make a full meal.

Like a grocery list, a media database needs to be curated before running off to the press. Without it, your exciting news will fall flat and taste bland.

A media list is a document of journalists, bloggers, social media reporters, magazines, newspapers, TV stations, radio personalities and anyone else who might be interested in what you have to say. Depending on your audience and story, the contacts can be local, national or even international. The database should include information like emails addresses, social media and website URLs, phone numbers and mailing addresses. These will be your go-to contacts when your business has an important story that needs to be shared.

The best way to put a media list together is research, research, research. Just as you might spend an hour browsing Pinterest for the latest Paleo recipe, you should be setting aside time to build your database. Try to identify relevant journalists and news outlets that will appeal to your target audience. Find a way to differentiate yourself from your competitors and watch your market. If journalists have already written about a similar product or industry trend, they’re not going to want to cover the same story multiple times. Also, be sure to keep your lists short and sweet. It’s more important to have good relations with a handful of relevant journalists than a long list of contacts you rarely talk to. Periodically make sure that older contacts are up to date and have not expired.

Hungry for a new media database, but don’t know where to start? We can help organize your list and build relationships with the press.