Editors want to publish new ideas that give value to their audience. They often want actionable “how to” content that provides clear steps.
Below are a few tools I use to come up with content that gets published by editors.
1. Start with a basic question people search for and take it a step deeper.
While you may want content on your website that answers very basic questions for SEO purposes, this will not usually cut it when you want to land media coverage. Instead, start with basic questions and then take it a step deeper.
For instance, I often put keywords into the “Answer the Public” search listening tool to find basic questions, and then use those as a starting point for an article topic.
I also type keywords into Google or Bing and then view the “people also ask” results. I use those results as a jumping off point for article ideas.
If a common question is, “What are the four steps of public relations?,” I may take the topic to a deeper level by writing an article about “How to measure the four steps of public relations.”
2. Use editorial calendars as a starting point.
Most business-to-business, and many consumer media outlets publish editorial calendars, which specify what topics that publication will cover throughout the coming year. Often these topics are broad categories so use those categories as a starting point. Perhaps the broad category is “automation.” What subtopics can you write related to this category?
3. Analyze the headlines that are the “Editor’s picks.”
Many media outlets have a section of “Editor’s picks.” These are the articles that are favored by editors. See what headlines are featured and brainstorm how you can offer a similar type of article on a different topic.
Do they use “how to” headlines?
Do they prefer questions?
Are the most popular articles “top ten lists”?
Use this information to give editors exactly what they prefer.
My challenge to you is to try out these tools and let me know how they work!