Before You Pitch, Heed My PR Top 3: What Journalists Want

Getting ready to pitch your company’s story to the press? Read my “PR Top 3” first to make sure you’re giving journalists what they want:

1. Keep each pitch relevant to the journalist’s beat and audience. Do your homework before you make any pitch. Read what they’re covering, get familiar with their content and ask yourself where your story will fit within it. Then, be sure what you’re sending is NEWS… or at least tied into a news trend you know they’ll cover. Make this clear in your pitch so they see the benefit your story will bring and why. One of the biggest pet peeves journalists share with me is the sheer number of pitches they receive from people who clearly have no idea what they cover.
   

2. Be considerate of the news cycle and the journalist’s time. If your pitch arrives during a national tragedy, a major breaking news event or in the midst of their daily/weekly filing deadlines, it is likely to be ignored at the very least, and you may just earn yourself a spot on a “blocked” list or sent straight to junk. Be mindful of what’s happening in the world and in the industry each media outlet serves. And give journalists time to actually review your pitch before you follow up.

3. Provide all important details needed for a story. Journalists are often swamped, balancing stories and deadlines in various forms of completion. When you pitch a story, make it as easy as possible by providing key information in a clear, concise format — answer the who, what, where, when and why, and provide links to background info, artwork and/or video. Make yourself available and easily accessible for any questions. In other words, anticipate what they need and spoon feed it.