If you want to keep your audience’s attention as a thought leader or company, maintain your relevancy by knowing how to find a news hook that's compelling.
Journalists need to look for six things to write their nut graf (the paragraph that serves as the core and purpose of their article):
Who?
What?
When?
Where?
Why?
How?
That “when” component is often left out when journalists receive pitches — and that’s exactly why so many pitches go ignored in the industry.
Remember, even if a journalist writes for a more general lifestyle magazine (say, Good Housekeeping) rather than a breaking news publication (like The New York Times), they still need a news hook to captivate their audience and get the pitch approved by their editor.
To establish your news hook, consider the following things.
Announcements: Perhaps the most obvious! If you recently launched a new product, made an upcoming book release official, or hired for a notable position, these are announcements that can serve as your news hook.
Seasonality: How does your expertise tie into the season or upcoming holidays? For instance, if you’re a skincare brand, you can note the importance of maintaining a skincare routine during summer travel. If you’re a cookie brand, you can lean into baking-heavy holidays or pitch recipes for no-bake cookies during the hot summer months.
Relevancy: As an expert, can you provide interesting insight or quotes on a current event that’s been headlining in the news? Or is your company tackling a regional problem head-on by providing certain services or donating a portion of sales to a nonprofit organization? These are points of relevancy that can serve as news hooks.
Trends: If you notice your customers voicing the same concerns or making the same comments to you repeatedly, you can use that qualitative evidence to point out a trend to journalists. (It’s a perk for them to be the first ones to identify a trend!) For instance: “Gen Zers are turning away from ‘all-natural’ skincare to ‘medical-grade’ skincare!” or “Licorice is now a top-requested latte flavor — and here’s where that trend came from.”
Of course, when you work with a public relations and social media company like Kloss Creatives, we’ll help you identify and shape compelling news hooks. They already exist — it’s just a matter of uncovering them!
Book your discovery call with CEO Kelsey Kloss here.
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