How To: Make a successful media pitch in six easy steps
Nancy Marshall
Pitching a story to the media is a bit of a gamble. There's really no guarantee that a journalist is going to pick up on your story idea, no matter how great it is.
Over the years, I've had some great media pitching successes and some complete failures too. What I've learned is that the key to success is finding that one reporter who is really going to value the story idea and then presenting it in a way that appeals to his or her specific interests. It's more effective than churning out the same pitch or press release to a long and generic list of media contacts.
If you're not familiar with the pitching process, it involves writing a short paragraph or two in an email presenting your story idea to a single journalist.
Those are the basics, but here are some tactics I find useful in making my own media pitching less of a gamble and more of a real possibility:
- Build relationships with the media: If journalists get to know you and your abilities as a PR person, they are much more likely to open what you send them. I keep a mental list of journalists I've pitched successfully over the years and reach out to them first. Nine times out of 10, they take the time to respond to me even if they don't always bite on the idea I pitched them.
- Do your research: Say you have a business-focused story that you'd love to see placed in The New York Times. Don't just go to your media database and pick the first business reporter you see. Use Google or The New York Times' own database to uncover recent stories similar to the one you are pitching.
- Be familiar with the work of the media you are targeting: 'Most wanted' journalists and media outlets are those that have the greatest potential to influence your target audiences. If you are, say, a high-end restaurant, Bon Appetit would most certainly make the cut. Read the publications closely so you know what story angles interest them. Look for an editorial calendar, since reporters and editors often have to fill specific focus sections. Also, mention something the reporter has written and make a connection between it and the idea you are pitching.
- Use an attention-grabbing subject line: If you're sending an email to a reporter you don't know, this is the single most important factor in terms of whether your email gets opened or not. The subject line needs to be short so they can read it in its entirety without opening the email.
- Tailor your pitch: Address the individual by name in the greeting of your email. Mention the name of his or her media outlet. Explain why this particular angle would be perfect for that specific newspaper, radio show, television program. Let them know you wrote this correspondence specifically for them. It's not just another mass email.
- Always follow up: I cannot tell you how many times I've sent out what I think is a very strong pitch and have gotten nothing back. I follow up with another email or phone call and everything changes. Sometimes a journalist never saw the first email or there was some interest but deadlines were looming. All that was needed to move the idea to the forefront was that little extra push.
When it comes to media relations tactics, I prefer pitching select journalists to issuing press releases en masse. The payoffs are usually a lot bigger. Nearly every major feature story our agency has landed over the last decade or so has been the result of an individualized pitch.
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