Five lessons for making headline news
Switchcraft has a short history of punching above its weight. In just two years, we’ve generated over 100 pieces of organic media content, reaching a collective audience of 50 million. Spotlighting in The Financial Times, BBC, and The Times amongst others, helps us even out a playing field dominated by heavyweights. Comment for comment, a casual reader may mistake us for a company of comparable size. The reality is Switchcraft runs on a lean staff of eight — that’s about one employee for every 4,000 UK homes that we automate energy switches for.
So how exactly does a start-up compete with companies 20 times the size? In this post I reveal my 5 top tips for getting in the news — without forking out thousands on professional public relations.
1. Become a media monitor. Ready or not, running a start-up makes you an expert. Leveraging this expertise for publicity requires mastery of the news. I recommend getting on the press list of every official source you can think of, starting with governmental and regulatory bodies connected to your industry.
Additionally, using a service like Google Alerts or Talkwalker will improve your awareness of relevant publications, journalists and other agenda setters within your industry. My email is set to receive as it happens alerts for: competitor mentions, key phrases like ‘energy switching’, and for broader topics I’m covering in the personal finance space like ‘fuel poverty’.
When choosing terms remember to put yourself in the shoes of your ideal customer. What type of news do they consume? What are their interests? Are there potential tie-ins to your product or service?
2. Leverage your data and industry knowledge. Ask yourself, what do I have that others don’t? Are you in possession of new market research or a customer base that could be surveyed? Do you have in depth knowledge of an industry problem? Do you receive tip-offs or information before the public does? One piece of information alone may not constitute an article, but it can feed a wider narrative.
Those who follow business news in the UK will be familiar with stories about energy suppliers going bust — part of the so-called ‘crisis’ in UK energy. Now that this is an established narrative, smaller episodes in the sector have a better shot at making headlines. If I detect a company is in trouble, I’ll prepare a press release in advance.
3. Be relevant to the media cycle. Making your own news is challenging. Unique data, case studies and new angles can be hard to come by, and not everyone has time to dig around public databases. However, there’s things you can do to improve your chances.
News is cyclical; seasons, holidays and scheduled events like elections have a massive impact on what’s newsworthy. The weather, to use a classic example, is a trigger for a variety of stories about consumer habits. Editors are highly attuned to these cycles and you should be too. I suggest putting a calendar together and forecasting potential tie-ins.
4. Build relationships with journalists. Before you reach out to a journalist, try and familiarise yourself with their work, audience and routines. It’s perfectly acceptable to propose a face-to-face meeting, but you need to be able offer something tangible in the long run. For every journalist there’s ten public relations professionals demanding their attention. Your competitive advantage may well lie in the fact you’re a reliable source of un-spun information.
When you do get a scoop, it can be tempting to send a press release en masse. And when it comes to comments for breaking news this is not necessarily a bad tactic. But if you have a genuine story, you’re much better off targeting a journalist on an exclusive basis. Even if they don’t bite you can use the opportunity as a springboard for future collaboration.
5. Stay ahead of the crowd. It’s not enough or to fire off opinions to news organisations as you see fit. Reactive comments need be sound bite sized, well-positioned and timely. Remember, you’re competing for inbox attention.
If I’m wise to an upcoming announcement, I’ll prepare a response and press list in advance. Knowing the organisation in question sends official releases at 7AM is an advantage too. Poised for the email, I’m ready to read and recalibrate my response where necessary. By 7.05AM my comment is sitting in the inbox of a target journalist — just ahead of the official release and everyone else that’s slept in!
