Insider Secrets To Pitching Your Press Release To Reporters
Everyone wants to get free press coverage these days to stand out from the competition. The trouble is that very few have mastered the art of pitching their press release to reporters, which results in a lot of wasted time and effort on the one side, and frustration, annoyance, and a hindrance rather than help when it comes to doing their jobs.
Here are some insider secrets on pitching your press release to reporters that will get them excited enough to keep you out of the trash and maybe even give you major press coverage.
Choose your target carefully.
If you are working in the computing industry, for example, don’t pitch to people who review consumer products that moms would love.
Research your target by reading their past work.
Every journalist has a particular style, tone, and topics of interest. Don’t send items about a new pet toy to someone who covers sports most of the time or states up front in their column that they have allergies or detest dogs.
Interest the journalist.
Journalists need to keep their readers in mind. They are also people too, however, so using your research you did in Step 2 should hit ‘hot buttons’ with them that might make it more likely the will follow up with you to learn more.
Tease more.
Most people make the mistake of giving too much information, laying their business bare when all they really need to do is grab someone’s attention for a few moments, and keep it long enough for the journalist to want to learn more. Think of every pitch as teaser copy to entice and tantalize/
Don’t be all gong and no dinner.
Once you’ve teased, you need to deliver. The journalist is too busy to waste time on something that turns out to be not so newsworthy after all. Again, think not just of them as your target audience, but their audience, and serve them up something special.
Tell a compelling story.
A news article is not an ad, corporate mission statement or a brochure for a product. It’s a story with a beginning, middle and end and enough facts to be clear about the point of the story, but not so much detail that the reader loses the point of the story.
Don’t just pitch via email.
Emails are not 100% deliverable and are all too easy to delete with one keystroke. Come out from behind the keyboard and call. If you’ve done your research, this should be easy.
Don’t start pitching as soon as they pick up the phone.
A lot of pushy and over-eager marketers get so excited and/or nervous at the prospect of pitching that they start to blurt out their whole painfully pre-rehearsed pitch in one breath. Instead, tell them why you are calling and ask if it’s a good time to talk. If not, ask what time it might be convenient. Deadlines are often very tight, so if you ask for a call back once they are off deadline and it’s convenient for them, you will show yourself more of a pro than most.
Don’t overpitch in the voicemail.
Similarly, don’t overpitch in the voicemail. Say why you are ringing and give a brief teaser. Ask them to call back once they are off deadline if they are interested in learning more.
Use these insider secrets on how to pitch your press release to reporters and see how many of them are willing to run with your story.
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