When your organization has significant news to share, it’s natural to want it featured in a top-tier outlet with a large audience.

While it’s a challenge to pitch positive, proactive stories to top-tier outlets like The New York Times, thinking about the big picture can help increase your chance of success.

Our friends at FGS Global’s Health Media Insights newsletter share some advice:

• Top-tier reporters rarely cover one company’s proactive pitch outside of major business announcements – instead, they want to look at broader societal or industry trends with several proof points.

• Positioning your organization’s news as evidence of a broader shift (or a notable divergence from a prevailing norm) can help a reporter see your pitch as a story they could write. 

• In practice, this may mean specifying examples from elsewhere in your industry, including from competitors or peers.

• While it may seem counterintuitive to highlight competitors in a pitch, top-tier reporters will look for industry examples regardless. Being the organization to make the pitch or provide an interview may help you earn a primary placement in the story.

• If your pitch falls short: Trade outlets are critical to a successful long-term media strategy. If a mainstream outlet doesn’t bite, placing your news with a trusted trade reporter is a great way to keep your relationships warm and build a baseline of news coverage that will help keep your organization on larger outlets’ radars.

To subscribe to Health Media Insights, email health@fgsglobal.com.