Last year we sent 31.9k media enquiries through our Journalist Enquiry Service. Each enquiry gets reviewed by our moderation team before being sent to our community of PR subscribers – that’s a lot of reviewing!

Media enquiries can come in all shapes and sizes, from niche and very specific requests, through to calls for competition prizes that suit a specific audience, and review products.

When a journalist sends an enquiry through the service, they select one of 11 options:

• Celebrity contacts or agents
• Competition prize, reader offer or goody bag
• Images/video/audio
• Information for a book/report/dossier
• Information for an article
• Location or venue
• Personal case study
• Product placement
• Review products
• Spokesperson or expert
• The PR agent for company XYZ

These categories let journalists highlight what they are looking for, and PR subscribers can choose the types of requests they want to receive.

It can be beneficial to help journalists whenever possible, and this can go beyond the traditional quotes or expert comment for an article directly related to your business.

You may be missing out on great opportunities by overlooking enquiries that you yourself could be providing information for. Enquiries requesting personal case studies and comments often come through our Journalist Enquiry Service. By responding to a personal enquiry, your comments will be featured with your name and often your company name too.

Also read...

Prioritising media requests

24 Oct 2017

A few recent examples of personal enquiries include:

• A lady who sustained a significant injury as a result of doing yoga
• A couple who successfully shared a pet bought together after breaking up
• Royal superfans wanted
• Wacky/quirky/out of the ordinary/emotional wedding stories
• Women in their 20s, 30s or 40s who have struggled with shyness in adulthood for a sensitive interview
• Someone who has appealed against a private parking ticket
• A son and dad needed for a Father’s Day feature

Personal branding is more important than ever. By highlighting yourself as a reliable source and sharing your experiences, you can benefit by adding to your personal brand.

And if you help a journalist with a personal case study now, who’s to say they won’t come back to you when they are working on a piece that your clients can contribute to? A good relationship with a journalist can never be underestimated.