If you want publicity that reaches the 18-to-22-year-old crowd, take advantage of the powerful reach of college newspapers.
But don’t use the same pitching tactics you use with weekly and metro newspapers. For one, reporters at college newspapers are difficult to reach in the morning. That’s because many of them study or party late into the night. I know. I was editor of my college newspaper and often skipped my morning classes, then wandered into the newspaper office around noon to start my day.
Ryan Schradin, an account executive at RLM Public Relations, knows all the tricks of reaching college newspaper staffers. He’s 24 years old, and one of his good friends was the editor of the online edition of the newspaper published by the College of New Jersey, his alma mater.
Ryan says that when he wants to generate publicity for Ruckus, one of his clients that specializes in digital entertainment networks specifically for college students, he dispenses with the typical news releases that inevitably get lost in the shuffle. Instead, he writes a customized pitch to each editor, followed by facts about the client. Then he emails it.
The pitch has only one purpose. He wants the editor or a reporter to call him or the client for a much larger story. Already, he has a long list of media hits for Ruckus.
In the July/August issue of The Publicity Hound subscription newsletter, Ryan writes the lead article on other strategies to use when pitching college newspapers.