How to Build a Media Database

To get great media coverage, you need to know where to find all the key media players that will be interested in stories about your business. This can be anything from freelance writers, to bloggers, journalists and radio presenters. To create your database, you will be required to give some deep thought to your target demographic, because you can’t choose appropriate media contacts without knowing who the audience is. After you know this, you need to source your media contacts, which can be tough. Below are some useful tips that will help you generate your media database.

Organisation

As with most business-related things, it’s important to keep all your future contacts organised. You can use an Excel spreadsheet to create a table. To make things even easier, split everyone up into their area of media. Being well organised from the start means that you can save time sifting through a jumble of letters all bundled together.

Keep Databases Updated

Following the same concept as The Purge, your list needs a regular data cleanse – people move jobs and change roles all the time. Carrying out a data cleanse will save you time, money, and make your life a lot easier. You can do this by following industry news and watching for any changes. Further, you could compare your list to external databases in the public forum.

Assess Your Audience

Now you know how to organise your media contacts, it’s time to get started. Carry out some research into how your target audience consumes information – we’ve moved past billboards and TV ads. As an example, if your target audience is largely students, get your message across through blog posts on student forums, contacting student unions, or advertising at their favourite watering hole through posters. There would be very little point in putting your word on TV – no student is watching regular TV these days.

Research Outlets

Do some research into the outlets you want to land your story on. Knowing what topics they cover, the medium, the viewership, and the frequency of their publications will give you the best chance to get your story out.

Find Contacts

When it comes to creating your media database, it is important to make sure you’ve got the right person to contact. For example, if you are looking to do a press release, you need to ensure that the contact you have is the person that deals with that area.

You can start by looking at the organisation’s website as they may have a staff list. Further, you could look at existing publications and look for the name of the creator – then contact the business or look for their social media page to find out their details.

Having a media database is important for making regular contact with outlets. When you’ve got a media database, you have somewhere to look with readily available contacts – this will save you a lot of time having to research every single time you want to publish anything.