At See.Spark.Go, we pride ourselves in telling the best stories in the world. But it’s one thing to tell the story and a whole other thing to place the story in the media in order to reach a larger audience. That’s why the pitching process is crucial! Pitching is all about grabbing a journalist’s attention and showing them that your story is newsworthy. Here are some key tips for successfully pitching and landing media opportunities:
Set yourself up for success by doing your research.
- Target the right people: Research publications and identify journalists who cover the industry or niche that fits with your story. It’s best to skim through their recent articles in order to understand their usual topics and writing style.
- Personalize the pitch: Make the pitch feel unique to the person you’re communicating with – no one likes a mass pitch! Address each journalist by their correct name, highlight why your story would resonate with their audience and feel free to reference one of their previous stories that you enjoyed.
Craft a compelling and concise pitch to grab their attention.
- It’s all about the subject line: The subject line is the first thing journalists will see when your story comes across their inbox – make it count! Intrigue them with a clear and concise subject line that mentions your pitch, without giving too much away.
- Spotlight why it’s newsworthy: If the story is time-sensitive, be sure to highlight that first – timeliness often equates to newsworthiness. If the story is more evergreen, or not time-sensitive, find a unique angle that ties your story to a broader trend or industry issue.
- Focus on benefits, not features: Explain how your story benefits the reader. If it solves a problem or offers interesting information, be sure to clearly communicate that.
- Explain concisely and show visually: Journalists are busy and get tons of pitches daily. Get to the point quickly in the first few sentences, highlighting the newsworthy angle and why they should care. If you have images or videos, be sure to link to those or embed them in the email. Note: Linking or embedding is key since attachments can sometimes cause emails to end up in spam.
- Proofread, proofread, proofread: Typos and grammatical errors scream unprofessionalism, and one of the worst pitching mistakes is using the journalist’s wrong name. Be sure your pitch is error-free before hitting send!
The “relation” part of public relations is key to ongoing success.
- Patience is a virtue… but also be a little persistent: If you haven’t heard from the journalist after a week, following up is encouraged and sometimes even leads to a “thanks for following up” response. However, there is a line. Following up twice via email and calling is usually the limit. After that, you can safely assume the journalist is not interested.
- Become their social media bestie: Maybe not quite “bestie” level, but engaging with journalists on social media is a great way to build relationships and keep your name on their radar for whenever it’s time to send a story their way.
- Thank them: Regardless of their response, send a brief thank you email expressing your appreciation for their time and consideration.
At the end of the day, remember journalists are human beings, just like you and me. Treat them as such by being relational and respectful, no matter if they choose to run your story or not!
