How to Build a Media Target List When You Don’t Have a PR Budget
Getting your brand featured in respected publications does not always require hiring PR agencies with a massive budget. In fact, many startups and small businesses earn mentions in reputable publications without spending money because they understand who to contact and how to approach them.
The secret is that they build a targeted media list based on research rather than guesswork. If you also want to create one for your brand without spending a penny on PR, then this blog post is for you.
Steps to Build a Media Target List Without Spending a Budget on Paid PR
Here are the essential steps that you need to take to build a media target list and increase your visibility without a PR budget.
1. Understand Your PR Goals
The first step for you is to decide on the goals you want to achieve by building a media target list. Some common goals are:
- Increased brand awareness
- Promote something (e.g., a report)
- Build thought leadership
- Announce a new product launch
Note that your PR goal will decide which publications you target and the type of journalists you should reach out to. When determining your PR objective, it will be great if you consider your business target audience.
Doing so will make it easier to target the most relevant publications. For instance, if the audience is marketing professionals, then targeted business or technology-related publications make much more sense than reaching out to general magazines.
2. Pick High-Authority Publications that Cover Your Industry
After deciding on PR goals, now you need to identify highly authoritative publications that regularly publish content related to your niche. Here, many businesses commit the mistake of going with large media outlets.
You shouldn’t do that. Instead, keep your focus on those publications whose niche and readers match your target audience. Now, the question is: how can you discover relevant publications? Well, below are a few ways to discover them:
- Use Google search to discover industry-specific topics
- Explore relevant online magazines and newsletters
- Check resource pages and expert roundups
To ensure credibility, it is essential to evaluate the shortlisted publications for authority. This can be done easily by using a DR Checker. It helps you check a website’s Domain Rating (DR), which is measured on a scale from 0 to 100. The higher the score, the more authoritative the publication is likely to be.
However, do not solely rely on the DR score. Also take the following factors into account when evaluating a publication:
- Content quality
- Organic traffic (can be checked via Ahrefs)
- Publishing frequency (should be consistent)
Getting featured in a relevant, authoritative publication can help strengthen your brand’s credibility.
3. Find Right Journalists and Editors
Finding the right journalist or editor is as important as choosing the right publication. Sending your pitches to general or irrelevant people will only waste your valuable time and effort, and you are unlikely to receive a response.
That’s why it is important to find and reach out to journalists and editors who consistently write about your niche-relevant topics. Below, we have listed a few useful places where you can find them:
- Publication websites or author pages
- X (formerly known as Twitter)
Once you have selected them, spend some time reviewing their content. Doing so will not only give you a better understanding of their areas of expertise but also make it easier for you to tailor your pitches accordingly, increasing the chances of collaboration.
4. Gather Essential Contact Information
As you research journalists, authors, and editors, it is essential to gather as much contact information as possible about them. This will make your media target list more comprehensive.
In the following table, we have mentioned the details you should gather.
| Information | Purpose |
| Publication name | Identify the outlet |
| Website URL | Quick access |
| Journalist name | Primary contact |
| Job title | Understand their role |
| Email address | Outreach |
| Social media profile | Alternative communication |
You will be picking multiple journalists, authors, and editors for your media target list… right? So, it is better to save and organize their contact information in Google Sheets or Excel. This will ensure quick access, editing, filtering, and sorting.
Moreover, when your media list is properly organized into a spreadsheet, it will save valuable time whenever you launch a new campaign.
5. Maintain and Update It Regularly
A media target list is not something you build and then forget. You also need to maintain it by updating records regularly. This is because journalists often change publications, editors change their roles, and websites also evolve with time.
Therefore, review and verify your media target list from time to time. During this process, you should do the following things:
- Remove outdated or inactive journalists/editors
- Add new publications
- Update names, job titles, and email addresses, if required
Consistently maintaining an updated media target list helps you avoid sending pitches to outdated contacts and ensures that your future campaigns are based on reliable information.
Wrapping It Up
You don’t have to spend a huge amount of budget on a PR agency for building a good media target list. This is because you can easily create one for yourself without spending a single penny. All you need to do is understand your PR goals, identify relevant and authoritative publications, reach journalists, and gather their contact information. This blog post has explained all these steps in proper detail for better understanding.
