It can be difficult to know what makes a good pitch when there are so many tools available, such as social media, news feeds and aggregate sites, all competing for the attention of journalists. To get their message heard by a blogger or journalist, PR professionals must stand out in a sea of distractions. Unfortunately, getting in front of a journalist or blogger is only half the battle. It’s harder to convince a journalist to write about your company.
How can you make yourself stand out from the countless emails that journalists receive without using tricks or gimmicks to do so? How do you ensure that a journalist will cover your story, even if they like your pitch? We’ll review some PR strategies that have been proven to be effective, and that journalists, bloggers, and media influencers also support.
1. Know Who You Are Pitching To And What You Are Pitching
You should research the journalist’s coverage of topics before you make a pitch. You will need to do some research and look at past articles but it is worth the effort. You will waste time and look bad if you pitch a topic a journalist doesn’t write about or has already covered.
It doesn’t mean that you should not pitch a topic because it has already been covered. You could use the article as a springboard if you have a new angle. In your pitch, mention it and explain why you will approach the topic in a different way.
You can find out what kind of stories bloggers are looking for and if they accept pitches. You can find out more about them on their About page, or anywhere else that targets PR professionals.
Bloggers and journalists say that other factors, more than just the pitch itself, influenced them to cover a story, including the PR representative’s knowledge of the journalist or blogger’s past work, their interests, and their beats. Also, 24% of journalists and influencers stated that providing details about a product, an event or a particular issue prompted them to pursue the story. Spend the time needed to craft a pitch that is tailored for each journalist.
2. Use Email as the First point of Contact
92% of journalists say they prefer to receive PR pitches via email. Emails are a convenient way for journalists to receive your pitch when they’re ready to do so. A phone call can, however, be unsettling and cause them to lose focus. You don’t want to upset a journalist who is in the middle writing a piece.
Do your research to find the exact email of the journalist that you are trying to reach, and never send to the pitch black hole on a publication website. Find out who writes in the Technology section and then look up his email. You may find it in the About Us page or on another page that contains journalist bios. However, some websites deliberately do not publish contact information. If this is the case, you can search for him or connect with his LinkedIn profile.
We will help you identify influential people and provide updated contact information.
If you don’t want your pitch ignored, never use generic greeting lines like “To whom it may concern” or “Dear editor”.
3. Make your Subject line Sizzle
Your pitch will be less likely to be read if you don’t include a summary in the subject. It’s important to grab the attention of the journalist in your subject line. After all, it’s what she uses to decide if she will open your email. She’ll likely move your email to the trash folder if it’s boring, or doesn’t give any indication as to what it is about.
You can pique people’s curiosity with the Subject line. You can add just enough information to get people to open the email (“What has a chimpanzee got to do with brewing beers ?”) or you can tease the story (“Get the exclusive news about the merger between X & Y”) You can use the statistics that you have gathered (79 percent of business owners fail to do this particular thing).
Use it sparingly. If the pitch is not time-sensitive enough, journalists may think that you are crying wolf.
4. You Should Know Your Publication’s audience
They can explain how the pitch is relevant to the readership, their demographics or needs. It is important to make sure your pitch is relevant. Even though this is something that every PR person knows, 80 percent of influencers receive irrelevant pitches.
What stories resonate with them? What stories are they interested in? What stories are they commenting or sharing?
Remember that you are trying to convince this influential media person of your story. You need to know why this issue is important for her audience and why she will care. You’ll be able to convince the journalist more easily if you know how to sell to her audience.
5. Find the Story in Your News
Public relations professionals have all encountered clients who send out a press release which is not very exciting or newsworthy. It’s your job to make the release newsworthy in an organic way. What is the key to success in PR? Storytelling.
Journalists are more interested when you can turn your client’s less-than-newsy story into an engaging one. Take note of the things that appeal to you when reading other human interest stories. Your audience will relate to your story if you include a human element.
If you can’t, tell your client or employer. It’s not necessary to turn everything into a news release. You may want to write it for your company’s blog rather than waste a journalist’s time.
6. Accessible
Journalists are often on a tight schedule, and it is frustrating to not be able contact the PR representative who sent an email for more information. Journalists take note of those who respond in less than five minutes, and those who reply after a few days (guess who they are more eager to work with?) If you want coverage, it’s important to be able to provide quotes, additional details or photos.
You can help a journalist by putting together all the information they may need: logos, photos of products or events, bios of executives, media kits, press releases, etc. Send the link to the folder you created in the cloud. This will reduce the amount of back-and forth emailing, which can take up valuable journalist time.
You can also provide your social media profile information to the influencer as an additional point of contact. You should be available if you want a journalist to write about your company.
7. Always Be Helpful
Relationships require both parties to be involved. If you want to maintain and build rapport with journalists, you can’t just contact them when you or your client needs coverage. Even if there is nothing to gain from the relationship, think about how you can provide value to a blogger or reporter.
Almost 31 percent of journalists value it when PR contacts share stories on social media. Giving a little social support to a journalist is a good way to show you are paying attention.
You can also help by meeting deadlines, providing enough resources for a story, or simply staying in touch, even if you’re not pitching. Journalists always prefer to open pitches from PR contacts who work selflessly to build the relationship.
8. Do not Send Attachments
It should be obvious by now, yet there are still some PR professionals that send email attachments. Refrain from sending that high-resolution PDF or image until the journalist has expressed interest in the story.
You can also provide a link to the photos or press kit in the cloud so they are available for the journalist if he/she wants them. Sending attachments will almost certainly end up in spam.
9. When You Pitch, Pay Attention to the Timing
Knowing when to not pitch your story is a key part of being successful at pitching. You might find out on Twitter, by doing some research before you email a journalist that he is on vacation, or even worse, attending his grandmother’s funeral. He could be attending a big conference or under a tight deadline. This is not the best time to make a pitch.
Use social media to discover new information. When the journalist returns to the office, ask about the vacation. This will show him that you are paying attention and make him more interested.
If you are able to access a publication’s editorial calendar, you can also time your pitch so that it aligns with the editors’ needs.
10. Be Persistent (but polite).
Although it may seem counterintuitive, if you have done everything right, you should be more assertive. Journalists receive dozens, or even hundreds, of emails each day. Sometimes they are unable to open them all. You can push your email back up the list by reminding the journalist about it.
Follow up with a follow-up email if you haven’t heard back in a week. If you do not hear from them, then it’s best to drop the email. You can also follow up on social media. Tweeting a reporter to check if he received your email can be a good way to remind them to read your email.
It’s always difficult to get the attention of journalists and bloggers, but by following these tips, you will be able to do better than 70% of those who are trying to reach them.
