If you’ve been following our blog posts, you know how many ways the crypto news media can benefit your crypto PR efforts. We’ve touched on making your content more news-friendly and many other things related to your interactions with news publications. 

But among all of these, one thing you cannot ignore is developing a relationship with journalists and editors in the crypto space. They hold the keys to getting your crypto PR seen by millions of people, and the following steps will help you nurture a relationship with them.

• Be Strategic 

As you’ll notice by the end of this article, developing a relationship with a journalist takes a certain amount of intentional work. You will not likely have the time or resources to do this with dozens of journalists simultaneously, so you must be strategic. First, decide how many journalists you want to have a relationship with. This will depend on how far of a reach you want and how much time you can dedicate to this effort.

After you have a number, research the relevant crypto news publications for your Crypto PR. Categorize them by size and reputation; ideally, you should target a handful of journalists in small, medium, and large publications to increase your chances of success. If you can, ensure these journalists are interested in your type of project. Doing this ensures that your crypto PR efforts are being directed in the right way.

• Be Available for Quotes and Commentary 

Look at your average crypto news and analysis pieces and see executives from different companies give quotes and commentary. These help to make the articles more interesting and can be a way to develop a relationship with the journalists. When a major development occurs in the crypto industry, contact journalists and offer your commentary. You can even decide to write some quotes and offer them within the email to be included immediately with your consent.

You essentially save the journalist time and effort in looking for outside commentary, which can be the start of your relationship. If a journalist reaches out to you to ask for commentary, provide it as soon as possible. Over time, you could become their go-to person for quotes and commentary, driving more attention to your business. However, ensure you don’t give the same response verbatim to multiple journalists, as this can come off as spammy.

• Keep Them Informed About Your Crypto PR Developments

Ultimately, the goal is to have your business’ developments seen by as many people as possible via crypto PR. The good news is that one way to develop your relationship with journalists is to keep them updated about your crypto PR developments. There is the standard distribution of press releases, manually or through a service like what we offer here at BTCWire. Your journalist friends might not cover everything, but at least they will know how your business has evolved should a relevant opportunity arise. 

One way to sweeten the deal is to offer them early or exclusive access to your developments. Let them see your crypto PR a few days before it is widely distributed to give them rights to interviews before others. The relationship has to be mutually beneficial to work in the long run, and one way the journalist will benefit is by having access to content that no one else does.

• Invite Them to Your Events 

In the same vein as the exclusive crypto PR content, you can develop a relationship with journalists by inviting them to your events. Journalists are always looking for content, and interesting events are one way to inspire them. You can invite journalists to events, including product launches, panel discussions, conferences, etc. 

Ensure you invite journalist friends to ‘fun’ and more serious events. As we’ve said, the relationship has to be mutually beneficial, so the journalists must enjoy themselves and give your business coverage. Journalists, especially those at high-profile publications, will get many event invitations, so reach out to them as soon as you confirm a date. After the event, send a thank-you email to let them know you are grateful for their attendance. 

• Be Consistent and Friendly 

One thing to remember when developing relationships with journalists is that it will not happen overnight and will take some persistence. If you reach out to 50 journalists to offer commentary, most might not even acknowledge your email. Of the few who do, fewer will use the commentary, and much less will contact you regularly. 

It will take several attempts before you develop the relationship you want with journalists, so think of this as a long-term project rather than a silver bullet. Remember when we said earlier in this article to write a list of journalists with tiers? Create a spreadsheet with this list and track which journalists you’ve contacted, how often you’ve reached out, and which have responded. This will help you know at a glance which connection is being created and which is not. 

In all of this, ensure you are friendly and polite when reaching out, even if you don’t get a response. The last thing you want is to alienate or make enemies out of anyone. 

Conclusion 

Having a journalist in your corner means your Crypto PR can go even further. But developing this relationship will take time, deliberate effort, and much give-and-take. As we’ve broken down, you must strategically approach journalists at all publication levels, make yourself available when needed, and keep them informed about your business developments and events.