I turned an idea about Millennial attitudes to menopause into a five-page spread in Women’s Health magazine with a cover credit. Here’s how I did it.
I’m going to start by highlighting two things:
I’ve worked in PR since I left university in 2008 (somehow, that is over 16 years ago) but it doesn’t mean you can’t do this too
Look away now if you’re keen for overnight success. Media pitching requires patience
With those disclaimers out there, let’s get started.
The work on this feature began over a year ago when I started to build a relationship with Sarah Graham, the brilliant women’s health journalist and author. I shared her articles in my newsletter, ran a competition on her book and eventually contributed to a piece she wrote for the British Medical Journal on the gender health gap.
I cannot stress enough how important it is to use these interactions to confirm to a journalist that you are not only reliable and easy-to-work with but you also have an opinion that helps them write a great story.
In Spring 2024, I had an idea for a feature inspired by conversations between me and my Millennial pals. It struck me that we weren’t talking enough about how the next generation is feeling about perimenopause.
I pulled together a mini-pitch - a few snappy sentences - about my idea and sent it to Sarah. She was keen!
Securing the piece
From there, we jumped on a Zoom call and scoped out the idea more. Post that call, I sent a longer pitch outline which included my plans to do research on Millennial attitudes to menopause and the context to why these findings would be important.
This scene setting is another important part. When thinking about a feature idea, consider how it fits within the wider current news scene. Are there any events it links to, any trends or observations? For this story, it’s clear menopause is having a ‘moment’ but this was a new angle that wasn’t being addressed.
Sarah then did the hard work speaking to publications about the story and we quickly had interest from Women’s Health.
Getting the data
I then got to work building out the survey and we shared it within our networks.
Top tip - if using Typeform, remember the basic package only allows a limited number of responses per month. I missed this and had a number of people messaging to let me know they were locked out of responding. Don’t make the same mistake as me!
While the responses came in, I was interviewed by Sarah on the results to date and my reflections on the topic. Once we had a decent response rate, other experts from across the women’s health space were asked to contribute to the piece.
Patiently waiting
The piece was initially filed in May but there was a pre-print review in August. At this stage, there was a flurry of final requests about the story. Here, I needed to give quick responses to requests as deadlines were short.
After that it went to print. It launched in the October issue which came out in mid-September. Almost six months since the initial idea.
The final piece includes three mentions of me and my company. The survey stats are mentioned several times.
See, I told you patience is a virtue when media pitching.
Getting ready for launch
Over the summer, I’ve been working on the report itself and adding a page for the content on my website. Don’t forget to think about the different ways you can showcase and use coverage like this.
Here’s the other wild bit. I had no idea what the final piece would look like until it went live. If you’re getting genuine editorial coverage, then the journalist will not share content for approval. You have to trust in the media gods that it will all work out.
My top tips
Dream big and build relationships with the journalists writing the features you’re dreaming about
Pitch stories not business ideas. Make sure what you’re proposing is interesting, relevant and timely
Be reliable, diligent and speedy in your responses and content. Reply to emails in hours not days
Remember, coverage is not advertising. Media is about building brand awareness and reputation not instant purchases
The media landscape has vastly changed in the last decade but there’s still so much satisfaction from seeing your name in print.
So, what are you waiting for? Go pitch that story!