By Nyah Scott

Photo via Pexels.

Photo via Pexels.

When you think of the superpowers of the international news media circuit, you may think of outlets like the Associated Press, The New York Times, Bloomberg, Reuters, or the BBC. Reaching audiences around the world is any publicity professional’s dream, but they are faced with the reality of reminding some clients that global pickup can be one of the more challenging feats to achieve in PR.

…challenging, but not impossible.

With the tips in this blog, you can establish a strong baseline understanding of what is required to take you or your company’s news international.

Know your story.

Every story won’t get international pickup the same way that every story is not particularly newsworthy. News outlets, whether local or global, will always be drawn towards exciting, sensational, and impactful stories. The significance of the content of your news release must be proportional to the intended size of your audience. In simpler terms, the bigger the story, the wider the reach. This is the key to international public relations work, and with increased internet accessibility and online engagement with articles, your news release can surface in both the local paper and the foremost publication in your area of specialization in China, Poland, Brazil, Finland, and so on.

Know your audience.

An international audience is worthy of international news. This facet of international pickup ties in with knowing your audience. Microtargeting has just as much (if not more) power than macro-marketing. The oversaturation of content people will come across on their phones, on the streets, and in the private sphere is difficult to cut through without the right knowledge and tools— and that’s just when it comes to paid advertising. Seek out the specialty publications that may not be as big as AP or Reuters (publications that cover a much wider array of topics). People around the world will actively search for the kind of information you are sharing, and it will commonly lead them to specialty law, technology, realty, etc. publications that provide a more in-depth look at you or your company’s area of work.

Know what will resonate.

There is a hard but very real truth that most businesses and brand managers must eventually accept; local news will probably stay local.  The quality of how people engage with your content will always depend on how relevant your story is to their lives or their community. Fortunately, there are pockets of communities around the world interested in everything from mental health to drones. The online world lets even the smallest of business entities have a voice that can reach audiences around the globe if they can carefully curate stories that they know will resonate with the people they are targeting. All it takes is one share, a few translations, and an audience ready to read, watch, and listen to what you or your company has to say.