Professional Media Pitching & Interview Booking Expert Shares Key Tips for Booking a Successful Internet/Online Media Tour

With such an upswing in the sales and success of Online Media Tours recently, including two that we are booking right now, it appears the OMT is more than a trend and here to stay. While the world of OMT booking is new and wildly unpredictable, compared to the traditional media’s of TV and Radio, we are learning new things about the online media world and how to pitch them better. Below are some OMTrends from our own expert OMTeacher:
1- More is More- For most blogs and websites, offering just an interview is not enough to entice them to do a story. Unlike T.V. or radio, websites have more physical space to fill and need additional elements besides just a video or audio of the interview. To ensure a posting, it is a good idea to include jpegs, bio’s & fact sheets to make the post look more appealing to the site’s visitors.
2- Generics are not so generic. Most of the time when we send generic interviews to TV or radio stations, they go unused. That’s just the nature of the industry. If stations don’t want to make the time to do the interview, they probably won’t take the time to edit and work with a generic piece. While only 23% of generic interviews get used, generic interviews on OMT’s get used far more frequently — 82% are posted (almost 60% more than for SMTs).
So, why the difference? Good question. Well, most bloggers or web editors are part time and don’t have the time to do interviews, especially when we lock the interview into a certain day at certain times. But just because they can’t do the interview, doesn’t mean they won’t post it. Most television and radio outlets have their own set of industry standards of how to produce news. The online people do not have the same standards and don’t mind posting something that they didn’t edit and produce it. If we provide a quality interview, with images and other attachments it will most likely get used.
3- ‘Samples’ — We have been noticing that more and more websites and blogs want to see and test product samples as part of the interview. This helps them understand why the post would be worthwhile for their followers or viewers. Of course we can always offer them copies of books or new products , but sometimes clients have to be inventive. While as a rule interviews that include samples will get better bookings, it’s also true having a high quality talent available for interviews helps just as much or more. Obviously websites want to interview them and post a story about them since it attracts more readers to their site.