All about press lists and press relations
A strong press release stands or falls with the right recipients. An up-to-date, relevant and cleverly constructed press list is therefore essential for successful PR. We answer the most frequently asked questions about press lists, journalist databases and choosing the right recipients - from building your list to maintaining media relations. This is how to make sure your story gets to exactly the right journalist.
Questions about press lists and press contacts
What is a press list?
A press list is a listing of journalists, editors or freelancers you want to approach with your press release. A good press list includes current contact information, specialization (topic or sector), and notes on previous interactions or preferences. PR tools such as Smart.pr offer a journalist database with up-to-date contact information that allows you to easily Build your own press lists
How do you make a good press list?
A good press list should be relevant and up-to-date: Journalists' contact information should be up-to-date and the press release should be relevant to the journalists on the press list. Tip: Use a database such as Smart.pr where you can filter by topics, region, media type or position. Look at the journalist's previous publications to see if your topic fits. Often the rule applies: the more specific the list, the better.
All about making a good press list, read this article
How many journalists should you email for your press release?
We can't say it often enough but what matters is not how big your press list is, but how accurate it is. A smaller, targeted press list with relevant contacts performs structurally better than a bulk mailing to a generic list. In addition, you also reduce the chances that your press release will be flagged as spam, or that journalists will unsubscribe from your mailings.
What are personas for PR?
Personas are fictional profiles of your ideal audiences - based on real characteristics, behaviors and needs. Think: age, position, interests, media behavior, challenges and tone-of-voice. A good persona helps you pitch in a more focused way, choose better quotes and position your news with razor-sharp clarity. For PR professionals, there are two types of personas:
Target group personas - end users of your product or service
Journalist personas - the media professionals who can spread your message
Download our Persona Template here
What is a journalist database and how can I use it?
With the journalist database of Smart.pr is a professional tool in which you get access to current contact details, job information, recebnte publications, thematic interests and media titles of more than 17,000 journalists. It is the basis for targeted PR: instead of endlessly Googling yourself, or working with outdated Excel files, you can quickly find the right contacts for any topic. With this journalist database you can:
Quickly find relevant journalists by topic, medium or region
Building, tagging and updating press lists
Easily select who you approach for which story
Track history and interaction by contact
Personalize and ship more effectively
So a good journalist database is not just an address book, but a strategic tool for building media relations and communicating in a more targeted way.
Read why Smart.pr offers the best and most complete journalist database in the Benelux here
How can you search a journalist database?
Searching a journalist database is all about relevance and timeliness. In addition to finding contact information, you can search the database of Smart.pr also filter by content criteria such as topic, region or media type. What makes this search function really powerful is that you can effortlessly combine these filters. This way you can quickly compile a targeted press list - for example: tech journalists in South Holland who write for newspapers and podcasts. You can refine your search even further by using advanced filter options. advanced filter options.
What is the benefit of a journalist database?
The biggest advantage of a journalist database is the enormous time savings and reliability it provides. Instead of manually searching for journalists yourself, digging up their contact information and putting everything into an Excel sheet (which is often outdated after only a week), with a good database like Smart.pr's, you have instant access to up-to-date data of more than 17,000 Dutch journalists.
You can quickly search by subject, region, media type or job title, and see at a glance who is relevant to your story. You also keep an overview: who you approached, when and with what message. This overview can be found in the CRM, also known as the Smart.PR address book.
What is a CRM system for PR?
A CRM system for PR is a tool that lets you structure and centralize the management of your press relations. Instead of loose notes, spreadsheets or inbox history, a PR CRM keeps track of who you've contacted, when, with what message and what the response was. It is not client management (like sales), but a relationship management tool specifically geared to the work of a PR professional. So it can keep track of all contact with journalists, editors and other media relations.
Why is it important to have a CRM for PR?
PR is all about relationships - and relationships require attention, context and consistency. With a CRM system, you avoid sending the same message multiple times to the same journalist, or forgetting to follow up. You can see at a glance which topics have been shared before, who responded positively and the current status of each contact.
Moreover, you work more efficiently and smarter with colleagues: you see who is responsible for which relationship, what follow-up is planned and which lists are current. This not only makes your PR more effective, but also more scalable and professional.
Read here Why a CRM system is indispensable in PR
How do you build press relations?
Press relationships are built just like any other relationship: with attention, relevance and mutual trust. It starts with good preliminary research. Get to know the journalist: what does he or she write about, what tone does he or she use, and through which channel is contact most appropriate? Next, make sure you only contact them when you actually have something of value to say - news that fits their area of interest and journalistic criteria.
Good relationships are not formed in one campaign, but by being trustworthy, adding value and communicating as a human being rather than a sender. This is how you build a network that extends beyond a single publication. Ultimately, this is more effective than any press list. We say it more often: Good PR is people work.
Theo van der Meer (Pradd) provides some interesting tips on building press relations in this article