5 steps for building a relevant media list

PR pros put so much time into planning, implementing and then writing up the perfect press release. However, it can be a challenge to find the right journalists to talk about your story.

“Spray and pray” pitching lacks personalization and specificity to a given journalist’s beat. The better approach is to segment reporters by coverage area—and update those lists assiduously.

Here are five tips to create your dream journalist contact list:

1. Identify your target audience.

It can be easy to get caught up in reach figures, but where is your target audience? If your intended viewership isn’t where you’re being featured, then your PR efforts may be going to waste.

It’s good practice to build a detailed persona of your target audience. Not only should you consider job title, demographics, preferred social networks, lifestyle and aspirations, but also ask what they read. Do they prefer blogs, newspapers, trade magazines or forums?

Once you know the type of content that interests them, you can select journalists that speak to these demographics.

2. Identify relevant journalists.

Say you are a Whole Foods store. Adding a journalist who talks about organic superfoods is likely to see better ROI than a journalist who talks about the food industry generally.