Drawing the right press coverage to your story is a crucial part of building your business presence. Sometimes, the right media involvement can be enough to provide the traction a business needs to get off the ground in the first place.
Today, a number of entrepreneurs and small business owners are using Facebook, Instagram, and other social media strategies to share information and updates about their products, brands, and services. A brand new tool known as “Facebook Signal”, will now make it easier than ever for journalists to collect content, follow relevant brands, and report on your business — so long as it’s newsworthy.
Unfortunately, it’s often difficult to grab the attention of a reporter when you have an important story to tell — even if you know the basics of
What Is Signal?
After receiving feedback from journalists that suggested they would like easier methods of utilizing the platform for the creation of articles, Facebook decided to deliver the tools required in the form of “Signal”. Signal allows journalists to search for, manage, and publish material through Facebook and Instagram, providing media experts with the ability to view trending stories, and collect content on particular topics. Not only will journalists receive a behind-the-scenes glance at the network’s contents and traffic, but they’ll also have access to location-based search options on Instagram for local visual searches.
Until recently, the preferences of users dictated the trending topics on Facebook. However, journalists will now have the chance to use these tools in discovering information and using it in their own press coverage. The technology relies on the Media Solutions offered by Facebook in the form of application programming interfaces, as well as elements from sources like Storyful and Crowdtangle.
Attracting Journalists to Your Story
Journalists using Signal will be able to create collections of Instagram pictures and videos, alongside Facebook posts, which they can later share with their teams and use to create fresh new content. So what can this new update do for the brand presence of your business? The answer is simple: every business, regardless of the size or current level of success — can benefit from the services of a professional journalist in generating media coverage and increased profits.
The introduction of concepts like Facebook Signal has allowed Journalism to evolve into many different forms and personalities, leaving companies wondering how to grab their attention. With the right strategies from journalism and PR concepts, it’s possible to draw a Signal journalist to your story.
Step One: Craft a Compelling Headline
If you want to make use of the Signal solution to draw journalists towards your brand, and your stories, then your number one aim should be to create content that is capable of “trending”. Writing a piece that draws in the attention of plenty of valuable traffic can be difficult, but at the end of the day, it all comes down to the content that you create. One thing that any journalist is likely to appreciate, is a compelling headline — as media experts have been using titles to attract the reader’s attention since the beginning of the printed word.
A great headline must be informative and catchy enough not only to draw the attention journalists, but also to capture enough attention from general traffic to give your piece the social media buzz it needs. Make sure that the title you develop is informative and catchy enough to generate interest in your piece, without giving away too much information. In other words, use your headline to make a promise to your reader that you will fulfil in the body of the piece.
Step Two: Find the Human Interest Element
The media is always more likely to consider covering a story if there is an element of human interest involved. Producing a case study concerning a particular fraction of the audience that could benefit from your product, work, or brand could give journalists more incentive to cover your story. However, beyond this, it’s important to make sure that the information you produce or the content that you provide is timely and relevant to already trending information in current news.
Attracting media attention can mean jumping onto the current “big thing”. While introducing a human interest element is important, it can be helpful to link that element to something that has already begun to gain traction in the media world.
By combining human interest and trending triggers, you should also be able to create a few great opportunities for photos, allowing you to make use of the Instagram aspects of Facebook Signal. Remember that newspapers prefer stories with great pictures, and this concept is likely to apply on social media too.
Step Three: Make Sure You Have All the Facts
Journalists today will be using Facebook Signal as a resource to collect the information they need for a compelling story. That means that if they can find all of the relevant content they could want within your stories and articles, they are more likely to feature you in their future stories. Prove yourself to be an honest and reliable source, and you will become irresistible to journalists.
When attempting to draw media coverage, keep in mind that fact-checking is a big deal for most journalists, and the fact that they’re often working under tight schedules means that they need the information as efficiently as possible. When posting updates on Facebook, or providing images that relate to trending news on Instagram, make sure that your sources are reliable and your information is correct at all times.
Step Four: Offer Something Personal
Finally, social media is all about introducing that “human” element into news. With Instagram, you can share photos of real people and situations that appeal to the public on a deeper level than any stock image out there. On Facebook, you can connect your stories to real customers and circumstances — giving people something to relate to. Sometimes, a personal touch can make you stand out from the crowd, and this can apply with journalists too.
If you’re hoping to attract a particular publication, make sure that the pictures you post and the Facebook updates you provide appeal to the values of that publication. The right content writer should be able to see different angles to cover a story from, giving you a unique view of a trending story or piece of news that the media will find irresistible.
Make Signal Work For You
Modern journalists are mastering the art of sharing relevant information in the form of captivating stories — to catch their attention, you need to be just as engaging and interesting. Don’t be put off if your story doesn’t get coverage instantly — local media relies upon local stories for news, so keep trying, and keep practicing your strategies for optimizing social media, and Signal.
How do you feel about the introduction of Facebook Signal? Will you be using our tips to attract journalists to your stories? Let us know in the comments below.
Images “Facebook app on the Apple iPhone display and desktop version of Facebook on the Apple Macbook Pro Retina. Multi devices multitasking concept. All gadgets in full focus. Varna, Bulgaria – May 29, 2015 / Shutterstock.com“
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