Pitching to a reporter, writer, or editor takes a lot more thought than one might originally think. Email pitches depend on what kind of publication you are targeting and what articles or publications have been previously featured. Email pitches depend on what specific person works for that publication, and knowing what they want/what you can give them. They depend on what you are requesting or trying to broadcast, and how you warp your request in a way where it seems as if you are the one helping them. Email pitches depend on a subject line and visuals, on linked articles and your closing statement. They depend on the spirit and passion within them, and how personal they are. I will dive into some tips and tricks on perfecting an email pitch, and adding your own personalized touch.
1. Find the ONE!
Although it may seem like sending out as many pitches as possible will increase one’s chances of a response, quantity does not beat quality in this regard. No matter what you are pitching, finding the right person for the job is essential. If you are trying to get an event or statement about your company into the public, it is important to find news sites that are the same size as the piece of information. A small story in a big news network will get lost, but a big story in a small news network might be getting wasted. 94% of journalists said that one on one emails are the most effective way to get a pitch read and seen. Certain news networks, companies, and recipients may not want to cover the same topic as their competition. Finding the one can be done by researching writers, editors, reporters, etc. in your business area and sending them a short and sweet email pitch. This can also be done by using sites like Muck Rack, where you can find journalists and press and specifically search for those that have written about similar companies/topics, and those in your area. The quality of this pitch to one journalist will go a lot farther than sending the same pitch out to 50.
2. Make it personal!
Personalizing each email connects you with the person you are sending it to. Building relationships with the news media, reporters in your industry, clients and potential clients is essential in most public relations careers. Media relations is all about building relationships, and once one is built this relationship can be utilized and expanded upon in the future. Personalizing these emails gives them more confidence in your reliability and eventually can help increase your chances of continuing business with them. Personalizing each pitch can also help increase the probability that your proposal, statement, media alert, or request is well received. This can be done by researching whom you are pitching to, and strategically mentioning a previous article they have written that relates to what you are specifically discussing somewhere in the email. This mention can be quick, but makes the recipient feel like you put in the effort to research them. Hyperlinking their article somewhere in the pitch is an easy way of doing this as well. Putting in the extra effort can really go a long way to increase one’s chances of a response and simultaneously build productive relationships.
3. Know what they want
After researching an email recipient, it is easy to get a feel for what they want and what they typically write about. If an email is written in a way that makes the reporter feel like it is their job and duty to take up your request, they will be more likely to go forth with it. Let’s say you are pitching to a freelance writer. This email pitch might be looser and be intertwined with more humor than one to a legitimized news magazine. On the other hand, a pitch to a reporter at a news network or a writer at a magazine might be more focused on why the story is specifically news worthy for their station/magazine. It is thus important and helpful to see who your recipient typically works with.
Writing an email pitch is not a hard or complicated task, but does require some TLC. Time and effort compared to a generic email format can go a long way in terms of getting attention and being seen as newsworthy. Personalizing each email pitch and approaching the recipient with personality and knowledge of who they are can go a long way. Email pitches get less daunting and more creative the longer you work in your respective industry and the more you do. When you are getting ready to write a pitch in the future, sit down with your laptop, grab your iced coffee, do some research on your recipient, and look back on these tips; you got this! More tricks and tips can be found here.