We analysed 500+ HR articles: here are 4 ways to make your stories stand out to journalists

In niche markets like HR, the media are looking for specific content, angles and styles that appeal to their audiences. So for brands trying to get editorial coverage, it’s essential to know your market or do your research before creating a news release or article pitch.

By analysing 526 articles from several HR publications in January, we can shed light on precisely what makes good HR content. Here’s what we found...

1. Content needs to relate to HR’s immediate interests (not necessarily your interests)

The key takeaway for HR brands is that all content needs to be truly relevant for a HR publication’s reader. In short, what brands sometimes see as important and what readers and journalists see as important doesn’t always line up. Therefore, tying in your organisation’s expertise with HR’s biggest concerns will increase your chances of gaining coverage.

After all, HR publication articles follow a pattern that matches HR’s immediate concerns. As problems rise, or impactful events take place, unsurprisingly, articles on these topics rise too - so you’ll increase your chances of being featured if you can act quickly and provide insights on the most relevant topics. 

From our research, the 5 most prominent topics across HR articles in January were:

1. Employer Regulations (of all articles published, 27.2% displayed this as the primary theme)

2. Health and Wellbeing (11.9%)

3. Pay (11.3%)

4. Organisational Design (8.6%)

5. Recruitment and Job Markets (8%)

How do these themes reflect current HR concerns? 

Employer regulations were the most featured theme in January, directly lining up with 1) the events of the third lockdown (and the furlough scheme), 2) changes to employment law as Brexit was finalised, 3) health and safety during the pandemic and 4) the closing in of IR35 reforms. Continued reporting of various employment tribunals and working disputes also topped this number up. 

On top of this:

• The mental and physical wellbeing of staff is also a top concern for employers, particularly as many employees continue working from home. 

• Pay and recruitment are large talking points with struggling job markets and increasing unemployment. 

• Changing workplace cultures and environments means organisational design is of interest to many HR leaders.

Together, these articles show the need of HR people to know the latest information and gain solid guidance and education on any changes that impact their organisations and people. 

The HR media serves to deliver this in a timely way - and are looking for new angles.

Of course, it doesn’t mean to say that if your organisation doesn’t relate to a top trending topic then you can’t get noticed. In fact, starting the conversation on a new trend is an interesting idea too. As our pie chart shows, audiences want to hear a variety of information about many issues experienced. 

The key point is that it’s critical to make sure your information relates to a publications’ audiences.

2. The angle shouldn’t be brand focused

Of the 526 articles we analysed, only 14.3% of headlines featured brand names*. Of these articles, the majority of angles revolved around employers’ benefits programmes, pay strategies, as well as the business’s changes or job losses. Others focused on themes such as tribunals, employment contracts or leadership announcements within these organisations. 

In fact, of the 76 articles that featured brand names in the headlines, only one had an angle that focused on the product or service of a brand. This particular story was niche - incredibly niche. If you haven’t read about it, it’s brilliant, you can catch it here. So unless you own a farm and are renting out goats for company Zoom calls, don’t use your brand in the headline unless there’s a good reason - perhaps adding a material difference to the reader or clarifying a message.

Let the news speak for itself and show your expertise later in the news or article.

3. If it’s not a news announcement, articles should be educational

So if you can’t focus the angle of your content on yourself, what should you talk about? 

From our analysis, 40% of article headlines were explicitly educational - i.e they included phrases such as ‘how-to’, ‘why’, ‘tips’, ‘guides’ or referenced studies, reports or data. (These sorts of titles commonly talk about a common problem experienced in the workplace while also suggesting supportive guidance in the body of the article). 

This percentage doesn’t include the number of articles that didn’t have explicitly educational titles but were still outrightly educational in their content. For instance, they still guided on reports or data within the body of the article.

The upshot? If a HR media article isn’t about government updates or business announcements, there’s a good chance that it will be educational and advisory. 

The answer for HR brands then is to provide educational content that relates to the needs of your audience (and supports your key messages of being a valued supplier). Create information that helps solve organisational issues and weave in insights from your brand that subtly show you as the experts.

4. The topic should be tailored for different publications

Some publications are more likely to feature certain topics than others. Therefore, when pitching content, remember who your key publications are. It’s vital that you ensure your content is relevant not only to your audience but the publication’s interests.

Take a look here to see the top three topics that each of these publications featured in January, to understand what content will work best where. 

HR Magazine

1. Employer Regulations (21%)

2. Learning and Development (11.3%)

3. Health and Wellbeing (9.7%) / Pay (9.7%)

Personnel Today

1. Employer Regulations (47.9%)

2. Recruitment and Job Markets (15.4%)

3. Organisational Design (8.5%)

People Management

1. Employer Regulations (44.6%)

2. Health and Wellbeing (8.1%)

3. Leadership and Management (8.1%)

 TheHRDirector

1. Health and Wellbeing (16.8%)

2. Organisational Design (13.9%)

3. Employer Regulations (9.9%)

HR Review

1. Employer Regulations (31.7%)

2. Health and Wellbeing (17.5%)

3. Recruitment and Job Markets (9.5%)

HRZone

1. Health and Wellbeing (25%)

2. Organisational Design (16.7%)

3. Internal Communications (12.5%)

Employee Benefits

1. Pay (34.1%)

2. Rewards and Incentives (30.5%)

3. Health and Wellbeing (11%) 

Although employer relations is generally an important topic across the board (especially at this point in time) publications offer their audiences a slightly different take on things. Employee Benefits, for example, generally provides their readers with different or more specific information than, say, Personnel Today. 

Bear this in mind when pitching article ideas to journalists - it’s wise to read up on the topics they’re more likely to write about so you can craft and target your pitches in the most effective ways.

For further guidance on gaining editorial coverage in the HR media, get in touch. We’ve been helping brands gain recognition here for over 25 years and we’d love to share our expertise with you too. 

*‘Brand names’ refers to commercial brands and does not include professional bodies, trade unions or government organisations.