An Intro To Media Pitching: Here’s What You Need To Know  

Media pitching is a quintessential part of media relations. Simply contacting the media will not guarantee your client  gets the coverage that they seek. A pitch is a short email or letter about a potential story, a new product or an upcoming event. Communications professionals typically send pitches to journalists,editors, bloggers, and influencers. It can take place via email, phone conversations or direct messages on social media platforms. In choosing the right platform, you must consider the individual’s preference. I.e where he’d like to be contacted.

The goal of a media pitch is to convince the reporter or blogger to take an interest in your client’s story or product and eventually write an article on it.

Here are some pointers to bear in mind while you prepare your pitch:

● Get the right contact: the last thing you need is your pitch falling on deaf ears. This is why it is important to consider the audience you are trying to reach and how  they consume content. Where they like to read articles, a reporter should be contacted. If they like to read blogs, it is best to contact a blogger. Each blogger or reporter must be relevant to the topic or product you are pitching.

● Have a newsworthy story: reporters and journalists are essentially busy people with a lot of people sending them potential stories for publication.  With a lot of emails to go through, it’s very important to have a story that the reporter is interested in and also benefits his audience as well. 

● Avoid sending generic emails: a strategic email is more likely to get the attention of the reporter than a generic one. Generic emails put off reporters. It’s also critical to utilise a creative headline similar to the type of headlines used by the reporters . This will get your email opened faster. 

● Customise your writing: An intriguing headline can ensure that your email is opened, but the content of the email will determine whether or not the reporter is interested in your story. Hence, your pitch should be followed by important details of the upcoming event or product and why you believe it would interest their audience. This proves that the story or product will provide value to them and  their audience as well. Ensure that the mail is concise and straight to the point. 

● Observe email etiquette:  be sure to appreciate the reporter for his or her time. Be polite and courteous in the mail.  Avoid sending emails three times in a row.Indicate in your mail, the time you will send a follow up email if you do not get a  response. Follow up does not have to be via email. You can place a call during official work hours to follow up on the email sent.  Proof read your emails to ensure that it is free of grammatical errors. The last thing you need is your pitch falling through due to grammatical errors.

● Be prepared to provide more information: The reporter may have additional questions about your story. This demonstrates that you have piqued his interest. You must be prepared to provide additional information to help clear up any confusion the reporter may have.

Outside of your pitch, keep up with local or favourite bloggers or  journalists by following them on their social media platforms and keeping note of what themes they’ve been blogging about recently. This will help you out in creating your next pitch.