Your Pitch STINKS, PR Professionals Need To Step Up Their Game
It still amazes me the number of bad pitches and media releases that come through inboxes in this day and age. I had a chance to catch up with a few other editors, 
journalists and bloggers recently and unfortunately we all have share many of the same horror stories about bad pitches. Taking a quick peak at my inbox the two biggest opening lines that I see are “Hey There” and “Good Morning.” I understand that we’re on a mass distribution list and that time is limited but keep in mind, if you want special attention from the media then give some special attention. In most cases it isn’t that hard to find out who is the editor, publisher, etc of a publication, but the anonymous pitches really need to stop as they don’t help you in the end.
You simply are not going to get the results from your press release that you are looking for.
5 Suggestions On How To Pitch To Media
- Take some time to find out who is running the publication – check out the about section or who stories are authored by
- Use a name when pitching a story/ press release – my parents spend a long time to come up with the name Dave, use it
- If you plan to pitch the publication more than once take the time to introduce yourself – media don’t need to be wined and dined but at least get to know who you are pitching
- Make sure that you are sending stories that fit the focus of the publication – what is the publication writing about vs. what you think they are writing about
- Follow the publications editorial guidelines – not every media outlet wants to receive a pitch in the same manner
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Hallelujah!
As a Marketing and Advertising professional we have been preaching this to our Clients (and anyone who will listen!) that you don’t just get a press release and “send it out” in a giant mass email!
It takes us considerable time to research appropriate publications (and getting the Editor/Publisher names and contact info is as hard as picking up the phone and ASKING for it!) but it’s time well spent. We’ve got a 4-step process we use when developing a PR program for Clients – and while it’s time consuming, it’s effective. And it addresses ‘personal emails’ as a key component to a successful program.
I know that the Editors and Publishers (and Sales Reps) we make contact with really appreciate our stories, because we’ve built a reputation of not sending out mass-email-irrelevant-stories! In many instances what began with a simple Press Release turned into the Editors calling us to turn the release into a featured news-story – how’s THAT for relevant!!!
Why send something to a publication that has NO relevance to the readers? It just makes no sense – and yet – I bet you guys are inundated DAILY with “Good morning” generic emails … I don’t envy you …
Great article – keep up the good work David – we enjoy your enewsletters a lot, keep ‘em coming!
All the best, Jackie
Dec 14th, 2009 at 10:04 am
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