A lowdown on PR pitches: Why mass mails don’t work

Public Relations is one of the 7 P’s of marketing promotion. It is an unpaid form of marketing that is usually underutilized in most industries. However, today PR has started gaining relevance. Public Relations comes from sources that are outside the firm thus, it gives more credibility to your content and brand at large. Newspapers, radio stations, televisions, magazines, etc. need content to be published in their columns. Thus, organizations share their story with these media channels which feature their stories and interesting announcements/updates. That is when a PR pitch comes into picture. A PR pitch is all about preparing a story, talking to the media houses, pitching your story and hopefully getting it in the press. A PR pitch is significantly all about preparation and a very minuscule proportion in it is its presentation. So here we have a few points that will help you produce a successful PR pitch for journalists. 

·      Have a goal 

It is important that your company’s PR pitch has to have a goal as to why you want to publish your content on different media platforms. The reason can’t be simply for publicity. It could possibly be because you want to get ahead of your competition or you want to promote a new product or service that you are going to launch. So your PR pitch must have a motive.

·      A unique story for your PR pitch

It is essential that you know exactly what your company wants to include in its PR pitch. It could be an old company anecdote, it could be an employee or customer’s experience, it could be something humorous or you could use some facts and figures. The story for your PR pitch should be such that it will entice and intrigue your target audience so that they will positively respond back to you.

·      Who is your target audience?

You PR pitch should be prepared in context with who your target audience is. This means who are those potential people who would be interested in reading, listening or watching your content.

·      Media platforms

Set up your PR pitch taking into consideration the fact that which media channel would allow you to pursue your target audience and would also be interested to cover your story on your behalf. Organize the story pitch as per the relevant media platforms, for it to be a success.

·      Keep the email concise and catchy

Ensure that your PR pitch is catchy and it charms the reporter that you are reaching out to. These reporters receive tons of PR pitches everyday so make sure your stands out within its first few lines. Ensure the pitch is to the point and does not beat around the bush. Don’t use jargons because your goal is to impress the reporter with a news angle that will make him call you for further information. 

·      Develop an elevator pitch

Sometimes the reporters may call you and ask why your story wants their attention and what makes your story extraordinary. It should be convincing enough so that the reporters know why your story has potential. You can also call up to follow up on your email. Just be confident in your approach that gives the impression that your story has merit.

·      Meet the reporters

There is nothing more impressive than your attempt to meet the reporters because this makes them believe that you want to develop a relationship. This will make it easier for you when you try to pitch your next story.

·      Take into account the news cycles

Apart from that fact that what you pitch, it is also equally important when do you pitch your story to the reporters you wish to reach out to. News cycles are very predictable so if you want to pitch a product or service that may be trending during a particular season, its best to pitch it during the same time. This has the possibility to spark instant interest in the mind of the reporter.

Your story should be unambiguous and should have the ability to leave an affirmative impression so that it helps you get good media coverage.