Contacts is your way of finding and engaging with the journalists that matter to you. Using the integrated search tool, you can search across thousands of media contacts and locate journalists based on matching keywords, their area of interest, or the geographic region they operate in.

Contact database

The contact database contains thousands of journalists and media contacts. Using the contact database, you can search for and compile lists of contacts and journalists that are relevant to you. You can even add your own private contact to leverage your own network or access professionally compiled lists, so you know your message is reaching the correct people.

Searching for media contacts

Using a combination of filters and different criteria, you can locate the journalists that matter to you. Search using relevant keywords, geographic locations, across specific media types, or organized areas of interest to make sure the journalists you find are exactly what you need. 

To select the criteria for your contact search, toggle on the criteria you want to use, and add any additional filters you want to use to refine your contacts search.

Search Filters

Search terms

Add in a keyword relevant to your search. This can be a topic you are interested in or the name of a media contact or outlet. (example: Technology, Sydney Morning Herald, Glenn Johnson).

Note: There is an additional search team builder you can use to further refine your search. This can be found using the gear icon in the search term filter, which will guide you through creating the best possible search terms to find relevant media contacts.

Coverage areas

This will narrow your search to media outlets with content available only in specified coverage areas. When searching by coverage area, you can type in a specific location (e.g., Sydney or Auckland) or use postcodes to identify key locations (e.g., 3000, Melbourne, Victoria).

Media Types

This filter will only show journalists creating content for the media types you’ve selected. You can choose to filter specific media types generally (for example: print, radio, or online) or identify specific media type requirements by selecting further from options including selected print media types (for example: digital print, magazines or newspaper), or specific broadcast types (example: production companies, types of programme or specific station type) or online publication types (example: news, services, or user-generated content). 

Industries

All the contacts in our database have been grouped based on their area of interest to make it easier to find journalists that are relevant to you.

You can select from a list of general industries (for example, education, building & construction, or environment) or select specific areas of interest within each industry to identify niche and specialist media contacts (for example, energy, natural resources, or renewable energy). 

Primary contacts

A primary contact has been identified as the most important contact at a particular media outlet and is usually the best person at that organisation to pitch for new content.

Searching for primary contacts only is a great way to narrow down your search in Connect. Just tick the Primary contacts only check box to narrow down your search.

Actioning media contacts

Once you have completed your search, relevant journalists will be displayed, and you can action them as needed. You can also sort the results of your search by rank, name, outlet, media type, job title, or last updated to help you identify the best media contacts for your requirements.

Each media contact and outlet includes a detailed profile page. On these profile pages, you’ll see their contact details and useful information about each contact or outlet, including their bio, contact details and a list of their areas of interest.

There are several actions you can apply to the media contacts that appear in your search results. You can add notes to individual profiles to store or remind you of important information relating to that contact. You can also add your contacts to a list that you’ve created or export them to a spreadsheet so you can access their details outside the Isentia platform.

To action media contact, select the checkbox on their profile to open the action bar and select your desired action.

Contact Lists

The contacts tool allows you to access and create lists of relevant media contacts. These lists can be curated based on different areas of interest or requirements that you may have for specific groups of media contacts.

For example, you may create lists based on contacts in different states or regions or on different journalists’ areas of interest.

Your Lists

These are the lists you have created in the Isentia platform based on the media contacts that are important to you. For example, you may create lists based on contacts in different states or regions or based on different journalists’ areas of interest.

You manage these lists, and they are only visible to you and other members of your team. So as the media landscape changes, you can manage your list to ensure they always reflect your requirements. You can also use your lists as target recipients when sending media releases.

To add a media contact to one of your lists, select the checkbox on their profile in your search results, select Add to list, and choose to add the contact to an existing list or create a new one.

Professional Lists

We always want to ensure that you are targeting the correct media contacts when sending media releases. So, our team has compiled a number of ready-to-use lists that contain media contacts based on different geographies and industries. You can use these lists to ensure that you are reaching the correct journalists and media contacts when you need to.

Note: Access and use of professional lists may incur additional charges. If you have any questions about accessing these lists, please contact your account management team.

There are multiple professional lists under each group, giving you the flexibility to make sure your lists are targeting the correct contacts. When you open a group of lists, you’ll see the professional lists contained in that group, and you can select one of the lists to see which media contacts it contains (and that would receive your media release) so you can make sure it covers the area, industry or outlets you need.

You can send a release to the professional list of your choosing by selecting the checkbox next to the list name and selecting send a release.

Note: You can also select professional lists to send your release to whilst building your release in the Releases tool of the Isentia platform.

Private Contacts

In addition to leveraging the thousands of media contacts in our database, you can upload your personal contacts to the Isentia platform so you can send them any releases or add them to any contact lists you create.

Adding private contacts

You can upload either individual or multiple private contacts to your Isentia account. Once uploaded, your contacts can be added to any of the current contact lists that you have created, or you can choose to create a new list.

• Adding a single contact: Select New Private Contact, add in their details and click Save.
• Adding multiple contacts: Select Import from the file and choose a comma-separated values (CSV) file, such as a Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets spreadsheet, that contains your contacts.

Multiple Contacts File requirements

When uploading multiple contacts, your file must be in a certain format. We suggest creating your file using our template, making sure to leave the header row in and remove the example contact before you save your file.

Note: Our template can be accessed via the Import your contacts function by selecting the Download the contact file template option.

You must include each contact’s first and last name, their organisation name and their email address if you intend to send them media releases. If you leave these columns blank, your file will not be uploaded. If you don’t have this information, you can fill the column with “N/A” or “blank”.

Note: We value your privacy and that of any private contacts you upload. So rest assured, you will be the only one who can manage or update your contacts. However, you can choose to share contacts and your lists with other members of your team using the share function.