Five Media Pitch Best Practices
Whether you’re pitching a story to a journalist or a press release to a media representative, there is a best way to go about things. You want your first impression with a potential media connection to be a positive one. It doesn’t matter if they’re a writer for a global newspaper or a local blogger, your relationship with the media impacts your business.
So it makes good sense to learn and embrace the best practices. This simple step can help you create a stronger and more effective media outreach campaign, media relations strategy, and press and PR success.
- Pay Attention and Do Your Due Diligence
It shouldn’t need to be said. However, because so many people skip this first best practice, we’re going to say it. Without doing your due diligence and researching your chosen media representative, you’re risking your credibility, your reputation as a business, and any chance you might have to build a relationship with a media rep – you’ll never even have your pitch read if you don’t fully embrace this first best practice.
What do we mean by due diligence? It means that you need to thoroughly research anyone you’re going to pitch. You need to know what they write, who they write for, who their audience is, what they wrote last week, last month, and last year. You need to know what types of stories they like to cover and you have to make sure that your pitch fits their needs. If it doesn’t, then don’t pitch them.
- Personalize Your Pitch
Do not send a template pitch to a media representative. Every single pitch should be written specifically for the representative you’re targeting. It should be personal to their needs, writing approach, and goals.
- No Mass Emails, Please
Don’t send your pitch to dozens of media representatives. Instead, hand pick a few that you believe are truly relevant to your story idea or press release. Send them a personalized pitch.
- Respect Their Timeline
There’s nothing a media representative enjoys more than a great story idea with one-day deadline. They hate that! They need time to research and write the story or cover your release. So give them that time. If your release is going out on the 15th of the month, send your pitch on the 1st.
- Provide More Information
In addition to your press release or story idea, make sure you give the media representative or journalist access to more information. Put together a media page or package. This can include videos, fact sheets, headshots, case studies and much more. You might even put together a package that’s specific to your story or release.
Finally, make sure that you follow up after your pitch. Give the journalist a few days to read your email and to respond. If you don’t hear from them, take the initiative. They often appreciate that, and it will strengthen your professional relationship.
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