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Have you ever seen a journalist’s inbox?
It’s insanely crowded.
While you may think you have a great pitch, chances are everyone else in that inbox does, too.
Although most pitching and interaction between journalists and PRs occurs digitally, most tend to forget that there are actual people on the other end of these emails.
Journalists have meetings, pets, kids, and, of course, deadlines.
So, here are 10 tips for building relationships with journalists and media from our expert PRs and journalists.
- Do the work so a journalist can write the story quickly.
- Offer exclusives to build strong relationships.
- Check their bio and recent work before pitching.
- Only promise what you can deliver.
- Reach out first to get on their radar.
- Like, comment, and share their work.
- Skip fake compliments, show real interest.
- Use email, not DMs, unless they say so.
- Be helpful and treat journalists like people.
- Respond fast to stay on their go-to list.
1. Do the Work For Them
One of the very first tips about PR I ever received was over 10 years ago, but it’s just as relevant today: the more work you do for a journalist, the more likely they are to cover your story.
I used to worry that giving too much information would hinder the journalist’s ability to tell a story, so I would pull back on sharing information.
Later, after speaking with some journalists, I realized I was sabotaging my pitches by thinking this way.
Journalists have less time than ever.
As I mentioned in the intro, between writing and researching stories, there are meetings, deadlines, family, and everything else that comes up in between.
So, let’s talk about how we can do the work for them.
How to do it?
The more comprehensive and detailed the pitch, the better the value to a journalist.
What does that comprehensive, detailed pitch look like?
You can see an entire post on constructing media pitches from digital PR expert Hannah Smith, but here are the building blocks:
In our podcast, Hannah shared a fantastic tactic for evaluating her pitches:
“I’ll look at my pitch and ask myself: could the journalist write this story in 15 minutes just using my pitch?
…Wherever I get stuck, that tells me the journalists need this. So if I get a paragraph or two in, and I’m suddenly Googling trying to find some sort of stat or research, I need to reference that in my email.”
If you’re still unsure what that might look like, here’s another look from Luke Doyle at UK Digital PR agency Cedarwood Digital:
As you can see, it’s a highly scannable email with bullet points for key findings, images, and links to the complete press kit.
Looking at the coverage they received for the story from The Sun, you can see how the journalist used the same bullet points almost exactly:
This kind of attention to detail breeds confidence in a PR.
Journalists are likelier to engage with your email in these cases and, more importantly, remember when you pitch again.
2. Offer Exclusives
I’ve heard from several podcast guests about the power of the exclusive.
Ellie Sumner, Digital PR expert with Prosperity Media, told me on our podcast, that this helps maintain the relationship: “If you’ve got a relationship with a journalist, it’s quite good to go to them first with the exclusives.
So it just builds on that relationship.”
Another guest of our podcast, Helena Maniglia, Head of Digital PR with Reboot Online, told me, “journalists are always searching for exclusives— not all of them—but they are always trying to obviously find a more unique story.
So they do make a difference.
Speaking from personal experience, that really helps.
And I think it is a good way as well to start building relationship with journalists.”
However, the exclusive relationship has some moving parts to discuss.
How to do it?
The pitch process isn’t all that different from the standard one, except this time, you put the word “exclusive” into your subject line.
So, if you are strategic and aim for the most relevant and seen publications, there’s a good chance your story will get picked up organically anyway.
How do you choose which publications to give your exclusive to?
You want to get it in front of your core audience.
A tool like SimilarWeb tells youthe demographics of a site.
For instance, here’s SimilarWeb’s breakdown of Forbes by Gender and Age.
Most publications also have advertising partnership pages, which give you even more detailed breakdowns of their visitors.
For instance, here’s Forbes’ Media Kit, which explains their global reach:
Furthermore, you want to think about it from a brand-building perspective.
If we assume that offering an exclusive will help foster a relationship with a journalist and thus the publication, we want to think strategically.
If I could get repeat coverage from anywhere, where would I do it?
It may be obvious, but it is necessary to note that offering an exclusive does not mean the journalist will automatically cover a story.
The story still needs to be relevant and timely content.
That brings us to our next point.
3. Pitch Relevant Content
Although pitching relevant content sounds obvious, people still ignore it.
According to Cision’s 2024 State of the Media Report, 73% of journalists find that fewer than one in four pitches they receive are relevant to their work.
To give some more context on what it’s like on the other end, take a look at this Tweet from Zoe Kleinman, tech writer for BBC:
I have around 4,000 unread PR emails in my BBC inbox. My LinkedIn private messages overflow. I get pitches via Instagram DM, WhatsApp, text message. I’ve don’t have open DMs on X but I get pitches there too.
I am utterly overwhelmed by people digitally shouting at me for their… https://t.co/RXb79czs5R— Zoe Kleinman (@zsk) June 26, 2024
Journalists are drowning in emails.
And even if I have a relationship with a journalist, the pitch still needs to be relevant.
Collin Czarnecki, who spent five years as a journalist before co-founding of digital PR agency Noble Digital Studio, told me, “As a former journalist… a common misconception in digital PR is that having a relationship with a journalist guarantees coverage. It doesn’t.
I could be the best man at a journalist’s wedding and the godfather to their child, but if my pitch isn’t relevant or timely, it won’t make the cut.”
So, let’s figure out how to ensure a pitch is relevant.
How to do it?
Pitching relevant content takes two simple steps:
- Read their bio
- Read their recent work
For instance, if I were pitching Mehera Bonner from Cosmopolitan, I could look at her bio to see that she’s a celeb and entertainment writer.
Six of the recent articles she’s published (16 in one day 😮!!) are relationship timelines.
And while this might seem time-consuming, it’s necessary because the stakes are high.
According to Cision’s report again, the number one way to make a journalist “block” a PR professional is by spamming them with irrelevant pitches:
So, I either lose them as a contact forever or take the five extra minutes to confirm they are the best fit.
4. Don’t Overpromise
Once I’ve gotten a journalist’s attention, I’m a shoo-in for coverage.
However, I can quickly blow this and the entire relationship if I don’t deliver on time.
Collin Czarnecki, told me, “If you say you can provide a quote or additional information, you need to be absolutely sure you can deliver — and fast.
Most journalists don’t have time to wait for client approvals or back-and-forth emails.
If they need that quote today, they need it today, especially in broadcast news. Failing to meet those expectations can erode trust, making it much harder to land coverage with them in the future.”
Although it may not feel like a big deal to me, a journalist’s entire story might hinge on the data, expert commentary, or case study they’ve requested.
How to do it?
Expert commentary or case studies are some of the things that journalists typically rely on PRs for.
If there’s a lengthy approval process with clients or stakeholders, work on that first.
Peter Shankman, the owner of Source of Sources, recommended pre-writing your quotes if possible.
This takes reframing how to think about pitching commentary.
I’ll need to predict significant news events in the industry and write pre-write quotes about them.
For instance, in our industry, I know that Google will release another algorithm change, which will no doubt.
When it does, I could have a quote ready from our CEO, Paul May, about how Google impacts the industry with its algorithm changes.
Does this approach limit the number of pitching opportunities I can send?
Potentially, but it’s about waiting for the best times to comment, not commenting on everything:
“You’re looking for very specific media outlets.
They’re looking for very specific quotes from very specific sources. So, the more specific you are, the better chance you have.
You want to have that niche that you own and that you are great at. You can then send it to a reporter and say, ‘Hey, this fits me perfectly. Here’s why…’”
This may benefit you in the long run by building trust and proving to journalists that you can deliver on time.
5. Introduce Yourself
Next is a tip I heard from Amelia Selby, Head of PR at SEOTravel, which is something that I don’t think many PRs do.
On our podcast, she told me she always introduces herself to journalists to get on their radar:
“We keep an eye on big publications and the journalists that we often see covering breaking news (and if they) include quotes in their pitches.
Even just putting some feelers out to say, ‘Hey, I know you often like, you know, insight from experts. These are my experts. If you ever need any support, I’m here potentially sending through a few quotes.’
We’ve established really good relationships just by doing that.”
How to do it?
I can manually monitor the sites in my niche to find journalists who cover breaking news.
For instance, I’d add sites like Techcrunch or TheVerge to my news alerts if I had a tech client.
I also tested out asking ChatGPT for some help in identifying who to monitor for breaking news at tech publications, and it did a pretty good job:
Here’s Jay Peters:
Once I know the journalist to follow, I can read a few top articles to see if he uses expert commentary in his stories — and if so, from whom?
After reading a few of Jay’s articles, he only uses quotes from spokespeople directly associated with the story.
So, he might not be one I would even engage with if I were worried about pitching expert commentary.
Last note is that a lot of publications have breaking news email alerts that I can sign up for:
But identifying and introducing myself to these journalists isn’t the only way to connect with a journalist.
I can also try social.
6. Engage on Social
In Cision’s 2024 State of the Media report, 87% of journalists prefer email pitches via email.
But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t engage with them elsewhere.
PR expert Britt Klontz of Vada Communications told me on our podcast that “journalists love it when you “go out of your way and build a personal or more friendly relationship and show that you’re reading your work. You can do that on social media, too.”
… You could just go out of your way to share their stories. Journalists love that. Journalists take note of that.”
So, what does it mean to engage effectively?
Let’s look at that next.
How to do it?
As you’ll see in tip 8, engaging on social media doesn’t mean spamming their inboxes.
Engagement means getting on their radar (and staying on it) by liking, commenting, or resharing stories I enjoy.
I actually found this in action on Britt’s X feed:
She’s reposting something from a Fortune magazine journalist.
Here she is commenting on a post from a journalist:
I frequently stay connected with the newsletters I enjoy by responding and engaging:
Then, over time a relationship start to develop:
Overall, for journalists, it lowers the barrier of entry when pitching when someone recognizes my name.
However, just don’t fake it. Let’s get to that next.
7. Be Sincere (Avoid Fake Flattery)
Take a look at this email below:
This is the most extreme example of fake flattery I’ve ever received.
And it’s so off-putting.
The digital PR equivalent is telling someone I loved their work, story, or website without actually loving it.
As digital PR expert Hannah Smith told me in our podcast, “I feel strongly that that’s not necessary…
Firstly, I just don’t believe that journalists are that interested in hearing that you’ve read or that you loved a bunch of their articles.
It can sound a bit insincere. It can kind of feel like a bit of an empty statement.”
How to do it?
To be sincere, I need to either do the work to build the sincerity or let the story do the work for you.
No amount of fake flattery is going to save a sub-par story.
The reason that PRs use this fake flattery is because they think it helps connect.
But, we’ve seen this isn’t actually the case.
In my post on email personalization, I outline eight alternative ways to connect with a journalist (that don’t involve fake flattery).
One of them is using the bio to comment on something that makes a personal connection.
For instance, let’s look at Mehera Bonner from Cosmopolitan again because she mentions enjoying Bravo and Antiques Roadshow.
Is there a connection I can make there?
Did a new Bravo show just drop that I can mention?
While this isn’t always necessary, this kind of “personalization” has a much more significant impact than saying, “I loved your piece about X,” and not really meaning it.
Journalists can always tell.
8. Don’t Slide into the DMs
If I am connecting and engaging with a journalist on social media, does that mean I should pitch them via social?
Not necessarily.
As UK-based freelance journalist Rosie Taylor, put it in her substack, Get Featured, “it can feel intrusive – and annoying – to get multiple unsolicited DMs from people you’ve never met.
It’s also just not as efficient as email.
Personally, I don’t get offended when someone contacts me via Instagram or LinkedIn – unless they’re being rude, aggressive or demanding a response.
But, I do often forget about those pitches as I don’t monitor my DMs in the same way I check my work emails. If you’re pitching, it’s best to send an email.”
While this may depend on the journalist, I’ve found it’s best to stick to email.
How to do it?
The best way to use DMs and messages on social media is when the journalist says it’s OK.
For instance, DMing the journalists below is totally fair game:
But avoid it unless it says it’s OK to slide in that DM.
9. Be Useful (and Human)
My second to last tip from digital PR expert, Mark Rofe, sums up a lot of what I’ve written so far:
People often think that you need to meet up with journalists in order to build relationships with them, and while this can be beneficial, in most instances it isn’t necessary.
The best way to build relationships with journalists is to do two simple things, one be useful, and two, be human.
You can do this online, and you don’t need to do much to accomplish this either, but small personal touches can make you memorable, more likely to get your email pitches opened and read, and potentially become the first point of contact for stories.
Being useful could be a case of just letting the journalist know that if they need any photos or commentary for the niche you work in that they can contact you again in the future.
Being human could just be sharing the article and thanking the journalist (by tagging them) on Twitter (X) or Bluesky when they’ve covered your story.
How to do it?
I have a couple of bits of tech that I’ll use as part of my work, and a by-product of their use can also help to manage relationships with journalists.
BuzzStream helps to make email outreach easier and more efficient.
However, where it’s useful in managing relationships is that it enables you to easily see conversation histories between yourself and the journalist you’re contacting, as well as the conversation history among the journalist and members of your team (if you work at an agency).
You could add small notes about the journalists you’re contacting, perhaps about things they like or don’t like being pitched:
You can hear more from Mark in our great podcast ep about reactive PR.
10. Stay Responsive to Maintain Relationships
This last tip is more of a way to think about the future of a relationship.
When a relationship is going well with a journalist, they may even begin to reach out directly for expert commentary or new stories.
Georgia Gadsby March, director of digital PR agency Unearth PR, told me this in our podcast, which really stood out:
“I would say a relationship is something that’s as little as a journalist just remembering your name and knowing that you’re really responsive for interior expert requests, for example…
I know for a fact I’m a featured on a few of these lists and that’s so great.
And you’ve earned your way there through things like sending relevant content and being responsive and being quick with your replies and, saying thank you.”
Just like any relationship, work needs to go into maintaining that relationship.
Stay responsive, stay active, and treat journalists like humans, not link targets.
Check out the BuzzStream Podcast
