As we previously discussed, media pitching is a great way to get your stories in front of journalists with the view to getting a story published. However, constantly coming up with new and creative media angles and pitch ideas can become a challenging overtime. Brainstorming is a great way to get the creativity flowing and help you think outside the square to develop media angles that will peak the interest of journalists and their readers.
Why brainstorming?
Brainstorming is an effective way to combat writer’s block, and is a popular strategy within the PR industry to come up with story ideas and media angles.
It allows free and creative thinking designed to spark an idea that would be considered newsworthy. Before conducting a brainstorming session to come up with media angles, think about what is considered newsworthy, what a journalist is looking for in a story and how you can create a media angle to suit.
What is a media angle?
Media angles are often referred to as the ‘hook’ and are designed to draw the reader in and encourage them to keep reading.
There are many types of angles to consider when it comes to potential stories you can create and include:
Using data from surveys which relate to your industry and create a substantial story.- Human interest pieces which create an emotive response.
- Employee updates such as new CEO or staff appointments.
- Evergreen stories which are the stories with content that never grows old or out of date such as stories surrounding key events in the year (Christmas, Easter, New Year).
- Breaking news relevant to your industry. This is a chance to put yourself in the spotlight, so try to stay up to date with relevant breaking news.
Identifying media angles is not always an easy task, and it can be hard to see the forest for the trees. Brainstorming is a great way to find inspiration for media angles and can help gain clarity around what it is you want to say to the media.
What is brainstorming?
The idea of brainstorming is for you to come up with as many ideas as you can to help your thought process and can be done in either a structured or unstructured manner. If you are in a group for a brainstorming session, it helps if there is one person to lead the session, and someone to keep track of the information being spoken.
Even if you aren’t in a group there are several ways to brainstorm which have proven successful, such as:
- The wildest idea technique: Encourages participants to suggest even the craziest of ideas.
- Round robin systems: Allows each member to speak in turn and is a more structured method.
- Brain writing: Each person writes their ideas down on paper, otherwise known as free writing.
- Anonymous method: Involves writing your ideas down then drawing them from a hat in order to discuss the potential angle idea without the author becoming self-conscious.
- Mind-mapping: This is a popular method that helps organise your ideas by putting the goal in the centre of the page and branching outwards with your ideas.
Once you have brainstormed a newsworthy media angle, the next step is to write your newsworthy pitch. Your creative hard work will be sure to pay off when a journalist sees what a great media angle you have which is interesting and relevant to their publication. Soon you will see your profile transform with some well-deserved media coverage!
Learn more about coming up with great media angles and pitching them to media in this FREE ebook, “How to use PR to get amazing results”. Download now!
Sydney Public Relations Agency, CP Communications provides specialist media, traditional and online PR strategies that get amazing results. Contact us today. For more great tips visit our website www.cpcommunications.com.au.
