By: Aubry Hawks
Account Coordinator

Just like golf, media pitches take practice. Your pitches have the potential to influence opinions, change behaviors and generate business. With all the different media outlets available, it can be easy to forget the general etiquette when delivering a media pitch. We all know that journalists are busy people and most don’t like to be bothered by pitches, especially pitches that aren’t relevant to their line of work. When it comes to pitching, it’s all about separating yourself from all the other PR professionals, and tailoring your message to fit the interests of a particular journalist. With these helpful tips, you can ensure that your pitch will get a hole-in-one and be picked up by the media every time.

  1. Think outside the tee box– When working with non-traditional media outlets, be sure to customize your pitch. With the variety of social media forms existing today, it’s important to spark engagement and provide content tailored for each specific medium. A helpful tip when using Facebook is to contact the page’s administrator and provide them with information that the page’s members would find relevant.  When using Pinterest, it can prove valuable to “like” and “repin” pinners who “pin” topics relevant to your organization.
  2. Act as a caddy to the media– Maintaining a great relationship with the media is one of the most important things a PR professional can do. Journalists like to be treated as people and not just mailboxes for incoming stories. When pitching to the media, be sure to include a personal, customized note in addition to whatever press release you’re sending. Treating the media contact like a real-live human being will give your story a fighting chance of being featured.
  3. Have the right form– A media pitch is a letter to an editor or journalist, not a full-length, detailed story. The shorter and more creative your pitch, the better. In order to become the pitch-master, always do your homework and become familiar with a particular journalist’s subject of interest. Your objective is to spark an interest and ultimately have them feature your story. It’s also important to never send press materials as attachments. The media marks it as spam and will block emails with attachments. Instead, copy your material into the body of the email and refer to it in your pitch message.
  4. Follow through- Don’t get discouraged, journalists often don’t respond immediately. After you have delivered your pitch, make sure to allow time to pass; then, follow up with a friendly phone call or email to confirm that they’ve received your information. No matter how important you may think your story is, it’s never a good idea to call them repeatedly. This will make you appear pushy and can potentially hurt your relationship with them.

Delivering a pitch may seem scary or intimidating, but with these four helpful tips, you’re on your way to landing the perfect pitch!