As many of us in the marketing, public relations and communications industries know, it's not uncommon for journalists to receive hundreds of media pitches every week, and, sadly, only a small portion of them are relevant to their chosen beat or publication.
So to help prevent PR spam from flooding your inboxes and to comply with global data protection laws such as GDPR, Meltwater has created a space where journalists can either add own their profile or update a profile that has been created for them under applicable privacy laws.
This blog post aims to provide some insight into the PR manager’s workflow and how having a journalist profile in Meltwater can improve your media relations.
What is a Journalist Profile?
Journalists Can Unsubscribe From Specific PR Pitches
Building a Searchable Writing Portfolio
What is a Journalist Profile?
If you’re looking to receive more relevant pitches from PR and communications executives, then creating a journalist profile within the Meltwater platform is a good first step. Thousands of journalists across the globe have created these profiles because it helps them filter out unwanted pitches and press releases by informing PR professionals on the type of pitches and press releases they are the most interested in receiving. There is no cost to having a journalist profile in Meltwater.
With a Meltwater profile, journalists can update their basic information and add the beats and publications they write for. Since PR pros primarily search for journalists based on this type of information, keeping your profile up-to-date helps ensure that you are receiving content pertinent to the topics you currently write on.
If a journalist moves publications, which is increasingly common in the industry, they can update that information as well, allowing for a seamless transition. In some cases, Meltwater may create a journalist profile on your behalf using publicly available information, in accordance with privacy laws. In such cases, journalists can update this profile or request its removal entirely.
Journalists Can Unsubscribe from Specific PR Pitches
Besides being able to opt-out from all media pitches coming through Meltwater, you can unsubscribe from a specific company that spams you with irrelevant press releases.
Unfortunately, this is an all too common problem in PR firms, and so this feature benefits journalists by allowing them to only receive news from PR managers who have done their research, pitched a relevant story, and made an effort to build a relationship with them.
If a journalist has opted-out of receiving Meltwater emails, but knows who specifically they’re interested in hearing from, they may send a subscription request to journalists@meltwater.com. Using this email address, journalists can also formally request from Meltwater a preview of what their profile looks like in the Media Relations platform.
Whether you’ve added your profile directly or one has been created for you, Meltwater provides pathways to manage your preferences, edit or delete your profile, or opt out of communications entirely.
In compliance with applicable data protection laws, journalists can also delete their profiles and data entirely. In summary, a Meltwater journalist profile gives you control over who you receive story pitches from.
Building a Searchable Writing Portfolio
Having an up-to-date, easily-accessible portfolio is critical for those looking to build their influence, and having your journalist profile in Meltwater allows for this.
With a journalist profile in Meltwater, you are able to control the volume and quality of the PR pitches you receive, while building a publicly accessible portfolio of writing samples.
Whether you add your own profile or update one that Meltwater has created, the ability to showcase your work and fine-tune who reaches out to you remains the same.
So, when building a media relations strategy and conversing with journalists, be sure to encourage them to claim their Meltwater profile so they can take advantage, start saving time, and building a strong network.
The media relations strategy process takes time and isn’t something you can rush. The more thought and effort you put in, the more likely you are to receive positive results. If you’re looking for a suite of solutions that helps you discover and engage with the right voices, and report on earned media – using Meltwater’s PR Suite can help you manage this process from start to finish.
