PR Secrets: Get Featured in Print Publications, Magazines, and Newspapers
PR Tips to Gain Exposure in Print
Learn how to break through the clutter even if you don’t have high-level media connections
HOW TO PITCH MAGAZINES
Public relations secrets for getting your Westchester County business written about in newspapers
Wondering how to get published in print publications, but not sure how to go about it without PR insider advice and A-list media connections?
As an expert in healthcare public relations, I have secured hundreds of editorial placements for clients ranging from B2B to Westchester Doctors looking to increase media exposure.
You are in luck! I condensed over a decade of PR pitching experience to share with you how you can get your story told and featured in the print magazines you love most.
In this article, Kris Ruby, a PR Pro answers the following:
- How do you get published in a magazine?
- How do you pitch a magazine?
- How do you write a pitch letter to a magazine?
- How do I ask a journalist to write about me?
- How can I get free press for my business?
How do I get featured in a Magazine?
Everyone wants to know how they can get free press. The best way to answer this is to create a compelling story that journalists want to cover. But creating the story is only half of the PR battle. You also have to know how to format your ideas, who to send them to and when to send them.
Follow these 12 tips to create media magic to increase your chances of getting ink in your favorite print publications.
How to Get Featured in Magazines and Print Publications in Westchester County, NY
1. Create a spectacular image-driven website. Medical reporters and editors will go to your website first when considering covering your business or medical practice in the pages of their glossy magazine. Not only are they looking to vet you as a credible business or practice, but they are also looking with an art director’s eye at your corporate imagery. Does your company have at least a handful of gorgeous high-res images ready to run in print that are fresh and on-brand? Be certain you use the “show, don’t tell” motto when it comes to brand imagery. Luckily, there are simple graphic design programs available to you today, so you don’t need to understand code to design an attractive website.
2. Produce your own media. A common mistake that entrepreneurs and doctors make is forgetting to create their own media before, during and after big events or speaking engagements at medical conferences. Capturing multimedia (images, videos, memes and even livestreams) is more important than ever when it comes to digital PR. All of these assets can provide valuable social proof to an editor from a third-party perspective on why you are the best at what you do. Be sure to capture media before agreeing to speak at a conference. If you are doing all of these activities and not recoding them to leverage it in the pithing process, you are shooting yourself in the foot.
3. Hire a photographer. If you really want to get your medical practice featured in a medical trade publication, you absolutely must have images available to include with the pitch. Newsrooms are short-staffed and reporters don’t have budgets to send out photographers anymore. If you aren’t sure who should take good photos of you, look at the editorial images you like in a trade outlet. Within the first few pages of the publication, you will see the photo credits. Is there an award-winning photographer the magazine uses internally for editorial for shoots? If so, consider reaching out to the photographer for personal branding and lifestyle images. Then, leverage the images for your public relations campaign and share them with the media the next time they are considering writing about your medical practice.
4. Send images in the correct format: Jpeg? Tiff file? High res? Low res? No, this isn’t a foreign language; just standard formats for sending images. High-resolution images are required for print publication, but the huge files can clog—or crash—an editor’s inbox, so consider sending images via Dropbox or other cloud sharing sites. If you want to get your business written about in print, you must be able to follow the basic rules of file sharing.
5. Research the media outlets you are pitching. Targeting media correctly is an art and it takes a lot of time and pinpointed research. Most doctors we work with simply don’t have time to do this amount of daily research which is why they hire a medical PR firm. However, if you do have the time, be sure to conduct detailed background research of other local, regional and media outlets that you want your business or medical practice to appear in. Remember to focus on your niche and find the publication that would be most likely to feature someone with your subject matter expertise.
6. Determine the correct editor. Score! You have the list of medical publications you want to appear in ready to go. Next, it is time to determine which writers and editors at each magazine would cover your story. The goal is to find the golden egg: their email address. While this may sound easy, editors are especially adept at keeping their email addresses private. This is why PR firms pay big bucks to have instant access to media research and aggregation services (such as Cision). Plus, editors are notoriously busy and don’t have time to read every press release and PR pitch that comes their way.
7. Offer exclusives sparingly. It’s an unwritten media ‘no-no’ to pitch the same story to multiple media outlets. Two competing magazines don’t want to showcase your business using the same story angle. So, offer your story idea and accompanying media gallery as an exclusive first. If you get a polite ‘no thank you,’ then move on to the next publication’s editorial team while continuing to refine your pitch.
8. Nominate your medical practice for awards. Want to know one of the major PR secrets of getting your practice in print publications? Winning awards! While entering a professional contest may seem time-consuming and trivial, don’t pass on the opportunity. Professional award opportunities come with the major bonus of free publicity in print if you win. Even if you don’t win the award, editors keep a list of up-and-coming professionals on their minds for future story considerations. 40 under 40, Top Doctors awards or healthcare heroes’ awards are all great opportunities to increase exposure for your medical practice.
9. Maximize Social Media for PR opportunities. Use the multimedia you create for your medical practice to create a consistent pipeline of brand messaging and consumer engagement via your social media channels, blogs, and website. Regional editors are constantly viewing what’s trending on social media, so be sure to always include local hashtags and engage in online conversations with other healthcare influencers and media outlets.
10. Ask for the publication’s editorial calendar. Every year, magazines release a new upcoming editorial calendar, which highlights the specific features they will be covering in editorial as well as new advertising promotions. Be sure to time your pitch to something the magazine is already covering if you want an editor to feature your business or medical practice. Editorial calendars describe the theme of each new print issue. They are a great way to strategize your public relations campaigns and pitches around topics the magazine is planning on writing about.
Advertising Vs. Public Relations
How much does it cost to be featured in a magazine?
There are two ways to get featured in a magazine: buying paid ads or through editorial coverage. Editorial coverage is free, paid ads are not. Paid ads can cost thousands of dollars, whereas editorial coverage costs you $0.00, unless you are securing the coverage through a PR firm. A third hybrid approach to get featured in a magazine is called advertorials. These are a mixture of editorial and advertising, and cost just as much as paid advertising. If you want to pitch your business or medical practice to the media, be sure not to pitch the advertising department. Advertising and editorial are complexly different departments within each publication.
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Make sure your practice is within the magazine’s coverage area. Editors cover specific beats and locations. If your business is outside of the greater Westchester County region, then you may be wasting the editor’s time if you pitch a story that is outside of their coverage area. Be certain the editor immediately knows that your business is located within the publication’s editorial map. Use this as a key selling point for your local angle and why they should write about your practice!
You can get a better idea of a publication’s coverage area by requesting a media kit from their advertising department. Usually found buried inside a publication’s website (and downloadable as a PDF), a magazine’s media kit includes eye-opening information on readership demographics, advertising space details and the all-important editorial calendar.
Are you interested in hiring a public relations firm for your medical practice? Let’s chat! Contact us today for a consultation.
GET MORE MEDIA COVERAGEHow do I get media exposure for my company or medical practice?
PR TIPS RECAP:
Action steps:
- Identify which medical publications other doctors read most.
- Identify which local publications your patients read most.
- Pitch those publications. Voila!
Publicists are great at crafting detailed, yet short email subject lines that get the attention of top editors. Craft 3-5 different subject lines for your pitch before hitting send.
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Ruby Media Group is an award-winning Public Relations and Social Media Marketing agency in Westchester County. We help small to medium-sized businesses get the publicity they need. Are you looking for increased visibility in today’s increasingly fragmented media landscape? If you are ready to tell your story in a unique way – and are willing to invest in telling it – Ruby Media Group is the B2B Public Relations agency for you. Call us today so we can tell your story.
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*Date last updated 2022
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Ruby Media Group is an award-winning NY Public Relations Firm and NYC Social Media Marketing Agency. The New York PR Firm specializes in healthcare marketing, healthcare PR and medical practice marketing. Ruby Media Group helps companies increase their exposure through leveraging social media and digital PR. RMG conducts a thorough deep dive into an organizations brand identity, and then creates a digital footprint and comprehensive strategy to execute against.