Prepare for Media Pitching Take-Off
To be featured in the media, communications teams must do more than write a press release and hit “send.” The surprising thing is that a lot of business leaders still believe that’s what PR pros do.
But today it’s about pre-pitch planning, finding the human in the story, and targeted pitching. And or course, timing, timing, timing!
Oh, how PR has changed
A decade ago, it was standard to write an upside down pyramid-style press release, leading with a terribly boring who-what-when-where sentence. Then, it was sent to a mass distribution list of reporters. They could often even look at the “To” field in the email and see who else you shared the news with.
Today, the method of writing a press release and sending it to a big list is known as “spraying and praying.” If you’re doing that, we recommend you pray hard. Journalism staffs are leaner than ever and it’s typical for each reporter to receive hundreds (sometimes thousands) of press releases a day. The chances are small for them to even read your press release.
But ClearWing focuses on techniques that give reporters (and their audiences) a story worth paying attention to. When we reach the right journalist at the right time and with the right pitch, our clients can get great media coverage.
Pre-pitch planning: Defining goals, angles, audiences, media, and pitch writing
A well-planned, targeted pitch can get attention in ink, digital, or on-air. It’s important to:
Identify your goal for the news piece. When PR is tied to business goals, it helps clarify questions like who is our audience and what do we want them to do after they read, hear, or view the story?
Find a newsworthy angle. We cannot stress enough that your elevator pitch is not news unless you are a brand-new innovative company unlike any other. Typically, anniversaries and new website announcements are NOT newsworthy.
Define your audience. Who will be affected by your news? Who will benefit from your news? The general public? Businesspeople? Workers in a particular industry? That’s your audience.
Select your media. Which media will best reach that audience? And which individuals at that media will be interested? It’s important to realize that landing a story in Forbes would be exciting but a trade publication may be a better fit.
Targeted pitching
Why will the audience care?
That question sounds harsh. But it’s vital when crafting a media pitch.
We’ve got to find the human in the story and answer that question.
Reporters aren’t here to write what businesses want them to write about. They are there to report news and inform people of things that matter to them.
Furthermore, we have to tell the right people.
Many PR newbies will send all pitches to an editor or worse, a generic email with a “news@” email address taken from the website. No one is reading that. A reporter who is known to write healthcare or technology stories will likely be a better fit.
Finally, you have to time your pitch.
It shouldn’t be a surprise that timing is important. In certain circumstances, we recommend hitting the “pause” button. And sometimes, a big news event is appropriate for us to piggyback on. These are all things that we discuss with our clients before moving forward.
Plan ahead
Media attention can be a highly effective tool when you’re sharing newsworthy stories. And, when you have something important your audience can act on.
Remember to partner with your communications team in advance to plan for a smooth media pitching take-off. For media relations support, let’s talk.
