The media landscape is littered with blogs, news sites, and other platforms that are looking for content to feature. These days, it’s not enough to just send a press release or your latest blog post to a targeted list of media outlets. You have to know who they are and what they want.
To stand out from the crowd, you should know how each outlet will react to your content before you submit it. This makes it easier to pick and choose where you send your content (and which ones you don’t).
Here are 5 ways to evaluate if a media outlet is good for your brand:
Check for quality and reliability of the outlet’s metrics
When looking at the metrics of a media outlet, you want to look at the overall quality of those metrics and how reliable they are. If a website has a high number of page views but the majority of those views come from a source that you do not trust, it may not be worth your time.
Check for:
- Traffic levels
Traffic determines how much exposure your content will get. The more people who see your content, the greater chance it has to go viral, and the more likely you are to convert them into paying customers.
- Traffic source
Traffic comes from many different places, including search engines like Google and Bing, social media websites like Facebook and Twitter, and other media outlets. If a website has a high amount of traffic but all of it comes from one or two sources, they may be artificially inflating their numbers.
- Revenue/ROI on their projects
It’s tempting to evaluate a media outlet based on size but while some organizations may have been around for a while, sometimes, new media outlets with a lot to prove can outperform established organizations and are more likely to display quality metrics.
Check the site’s demographics and authority
Before you sign any contracts or write any checks, ask yourself these three questions to help evaluate if a media outlet is good for your brand.
- What is their audience demographic?
The type of people who read a particular media outlet’s content directly impacts the type of content they produce. If you want to increase your chances at getting more traffic to your website, targeting your content towards an audience that you think would be interested in it is a good start.
- What kind of authority do they have in the industry?
If you’re trying to convince people to buy your product, it is helpful if you have major publications citing your product as a top choice in your industry.
Look at the outlet’s social media presence
Most media outlets have a social media presence. You can use this to your advantage when evaluating if a specific outlet is good for your brand.
- Are they on any social media channels? If so, do those channels reach your target audience?
- How many social media followers do they have?
- Does the outlet interact with their followers on a regular basis? If they don’t interact with their followers, it’s unlikely you’ll get any followers. It’s also unlikely that the media outlet will interact with you.
Evaluate the type of content they produce
Check for factors such as:
- What type of content do they produce?
Do they produce blog articles? Videos? Infographics? Podcasts? Images? If the production of an outlet only focuses on one type of content, it is likely that they are not a good fit for you.
- How often do they produce new content?
If an organization only produces content once a month, they may not be the best fit for you. The more content you have, the better chance you have at getting it out in front of more people.
Evaluate the site visually and audibly
You should also evaluate the site visually and audibly.
- The first thing you should do is check out the domain. Is it a .com or a .net? If it’s a .net, it’s probably a blog that isn’t very popular and isn’t worth your time.
- Look at the layout of the site. Is it easy to navigate or does it have a confusing layout? Does the website look professional or does it look cheap?
- Listen to the site’s audio. Is it easy to understand or is it very confusing?
Ideally, you should submit your content to a site that has an easy-to-navigate layout and easy-to-understand audio.
Conclusion
You should always work with media and PR outlets that will deliver on your marketing goals.
If you are tired of media outlets that promise the moon and deliver -well, nothing – then hire us. BA Content and PR is the right PR firm for anyone who wants to work with talented and creative writers. We work in every sector and can guarantee quick placement for your publications on many high-value sites. Contact us today.
