Stacey Meadwell

content engagement, Content strategy, Training

Do you target your content pitches and press releases appropriately?

multiple arrows being fired into a wall — Photo by Franck V. on Unsplash

Earlier this year Hubspot surveyed 500 journalists about PR tactics for pitching stories that were counter-productive (link to piece at the bottom).

That’s the polite way of saying they drew up a list of what irks journalists.

I’m sure there won’t be anything on the list to surprise seasoned PR’s – and this isn’t a post about dos and don’ts* – but there is one broader lesson: ‘Know the audience’.

Research the audience

When pitching to journalists this means not only knowing their patch but also understanding the publication/website and who its audience is.

I’ve worked with many brilliant PR’s over the years but the one who regularly sent me stories about window boxes wasn’t one of them.

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Content strategy, Content writing

Writing the right content for your audience

What’s the story? It seems like an easy question but if people aren’t reading your content then perhaps you haven’t got the answer quite right.

A common mistake is to leapfrog the audience and focus the story – the angle of your content – on what you find interesting.

But you can’t assume that people will share your enthusiasm for what you have to say or have been doing.

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Content writing, copywriting, writing tips

Why you should put customer benefits first in content

This is quite a common mistake professional service businesses make when writing about their services.

They tell people what they do, then they tell their audience why it is important (what is in for them).

Or worse they skip addressing the ‘what’s in for me’ altogether and just talk about what they do.

Orange megaphone on an orange background — Photo by Oleg Laptev on Unsplash

I saw a social media post recently which was aimed at selling a particular business service.

However, the post started something like: ‘At Jones & Co we have an expert team of widget analysts’.

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Content strategy, Content writing, Training, writing tips

Do you have something to say?

hand metal music musician — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Opinion pieces have been part of my working life for many years.

As a journalist on a weekly business magazine, I used to commission and edit guest columns. Now as a freelance, I ghost-write them for clients who don’t have the time or find writing difficult or a chore.

I also help people get better at writing them as part of my in-house writing workshops.

Common mistake

When I was an editor and people pitched their opinion piece ideas to me, the most common mistake was an obvious one: Their idea lacked an actual opinion.

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