Before the epidemic, media pitching was difficult.
In today’s disruptive, chaotic media world, public relations professionals are
Being pushed to pivot to get their clients or
brands in front of the media for interviews, stories, news appearances, and more.
To survive, public relations professionals must approach
the pandemic media landscape as if it were business as usual, which it is not.
Fortunately, we’ve discovered some practical and relevant media pitching tactics
that have helped us gain additional media chances.
Consider the following strategies:
If interviews aren’t happening, pitch for contributed articles.
It may be difficult to secure interviews for a client or spokesperson,
especially if you don’t have any pertinent news to dangle as a tempting hook.
This is exacerbated by the fact that, like many companies, media outlets
must fight to retain personnel (during the Great Resignation)
while also increasing subscribers during the epidemic.
With fewer reporters and a shorter news cycle,
PR professionals may find it more difficult to contact media outlets eager to cover their stories.
If your interview proposals aren’t working, consider pitching for contributed pieces.
In other words, contact editors and reporters and offer to write an
original piece or op-ed for publication on their website.
Contributed articles appeal to editors since they are not only a
fantastic method to acquire insider viewpoints, news,
and thought leadership pieces, but they are also free.
It’s an effective approach to augment a media platform and create a win-win situation for both sides.
Pitch for written Q&As.
Reporters and editors are often swamped with work and may not have time for virtual interviews.
It’s a time-consuming procedure, from arranging an interview, organizing a virtual meeting,
and preparing well-researched questions to record the replies, transcribing them, and writing an article.
While a virtual interview is ideal, pitching for written Q&As is an excellent option.
It relieves the reporter’s burden and frequently means
spending only a few minutes researching and coming up with questions,
rather than hours gathering and transcribing replies.
From a public relations standpoint, the written Q&A is desirable because it allows you to tightly manage the narrative.
You won’t have to worry about your customer going off-topic or saying something they’ll later regret.
Personalize, dammit!
Too frequently, pitching devolves into cold, disconnected sales speak rather
than an encounter between two real, breathing human beings.
While it may be tempting to aggregate 200 contacts in a media list and batch-and-
blast one generic email to all of them, this might alienate reporters and editors and result in future emails being banned.
Consider how frequently generic emails cause my ears to perk up.
Of course, the solution is to customize your communications.
Use the reporter’s name, study their stories, learn their beat, and offer a pitch that is relevant, engaging, and one-of-a-kind to them.
This shows a degree of respect and will benefit your media connections greatly.
If you don’t personalize
(or completely miss the point),
your sloppy pitches might become fuel for media mockery—or, worse, Twitter content.
Fridays are often slower days at work, so attempt to take your shot then.
Send your carefully tailored email, propose a contributed piece or written Q&A,
and follow up if you do not hear back.
This is how to master your pandemic pitching while also building true connections with reporters and editors.
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