Crafting a Successful Media Pitch
Mike Paffman, CEO, VIRGO PR
A media pitch is a short email about a potential story, an upcoming event, or a new product. The goal of a media pitch is to convince journalists to take news about a company and write their own article on it. A media pitch is a valuable tool for generating media coverage. Reporters, public relations campaigns, social media influencers, bloggers, and editors can help elevate a brand, which is why it is crucial to construct a striking pitch. Most top-tier publishers receive between 50 and 500 pitches per week. Given below are the components of media pitches that stand apart from the rest.
Timely news stories
Bad timing is a major reason why journalists reject media pitches. The news angle in a pitch has to be relevant and topical. To increase the chances of someone showing interest in a pitch, it is important to make their jobs as easy as possible. It is a good idea to spell out the story in a pitch to journalists in a way that fits it seamlessly into the trending news topics and their target audience’s interests. Reporters receive numerous pitches everyday, so providing them with a story that their readers will be interested in will compel them to move forward with the pitch.
The story has to be newsworthy
A media pitch should have a worthwhile news angle for reporters. To make sure that a pitch is relevant to reporters, some research is necessary. It would be useless to send a story about a productivity app to a travel writer. Hence, it is important to read a reporter’s previous articles to identify what topics they cover, as well as their point of view and writing style . To achieve the desired results, it should also be ensured that a journalist's audience is the best fit for a message.
Keep it concise
Media contacts receive hundreds of pitches each day. The worst thing someone with little time can be confronted with is an unnecessarily long pitch. Most reporters prefer pitches to be two or three paragraphs long or less. The pitch word count is different depending on the type of pitch. For instance, if a pitch is introducing a completely new idea, it can hover around 400 words. The more specific and focused a pitch is, the better. It is effective to present a brief synopsis of the idea and then go into further explanation, if needed.
Following up is key
Following up on email pitches is important. It is good to wait around a week before sending a follow-up email. If the story is time-sensitive, it is okay to follow up a bit sooner. If it is not a time-sensitive story, then waiting longer than a week is also okay. Following up on the first email is definitely a good idea given that the mail may have triggered a spam filter and ended up in spam.
About the Author: Mike Paffmann is CEO of Virgo PR, a leading PR agency.
