18 Pro Tips for Marketers to Pitch a Journalist

Journalists and marketers are in strong positions to help each other succeed. Marketers strive to build brand awareness by telling powerful stories. Journalists look to educate and entertain audiences about trending topics.

While going through a course on One Month by Sarah, where she share multiple ways to pitch a journalist and I was going through multiple interviews which was conducted by buzzsumo and buzzstream, I found some key elements for marketers which they need to follow these days for a pitch which can never be ignored.

For a journalist, It’s nearly impossible to respond to all of these potentially great pitches. Similarly, when I’m wearing my marketing hat, I know that journalists on the other side of the computer screen are going through the same pain points that I am.

I reached out to some of the smartest PR minds in the marketing industry to learn about their best pitching tips. Here is what they reco

1. Concise and to the Point.

In general, a subject line that spells out what the news is and a pitch written in honest and plain English. Pitches that are impossible to understand because they consist primarily of buzzwords, or that obscure the actual news in a long introduction stretching to connect the company to news that’s more exciting - Anthony Ha -@anthonyha - Techcrunch

2. Story should be Clear

Two things stand out. The PR people who have taken a bit of time to get to know me, my beat, what I’m interested in and the types of sources I’m looking for always have my ear. Their emails are usually succinct because they know what information they need to convey to me. The other thing is bullet points. If you have a ton of info, just lay out simply. Sadly, I’m trying to read your email as fast as possible and am just not interested in any narrative.

I will usually just ignore a pitch if it has absolutely nothing to do with my beat or clearly is just a blast. My biggest pet peeve is taking too long to get to the point. A PR pitch is an elevator pitch – make it lean and impactful - Jason Abbruzzese -@JasonAbbruzzese - Mashable

3. Journalist Interest

I delete virtually every email pitch I get. They’re 99.9% useless: generic, evergreen, have nothing to do with me or what I am working on.

The only two emails I opened recently that were useful to me came from people who actually noticed (!!) what I cover. I had written a story about women car designers and someone pitched me an interesting and offbeat story related to automobiles. It actually made sense; I have not yet pitched it, though.

The other one was a follow-up from someone who knows the NYT runs special sections every year, and that I write for those sections, (this one is on retirement) and asked if I was looking for ideas (which I was.) THAT is useful. That is someone actually paying attention to what I need and they can help out with their client. Sadly, it is very rare - Caitlin Kelly - @CaitlinKellyNYC - New York Times

4. Be Short. Be Straight. Get Out of the Way.

Get to the point. Don’t use these super long emails about the company. Tell the story of why it's important to the writer’s readership within the first sentence - Matt Braun - @braunmd23 - Public Relations Manager at Aurora Health Care

5. Be Relevant

Think beyond just what you (or your client) wants to say, and think about how it fits into a larger trend. Telling a reporter about your client’s new product/service will be a much harder sell than talking to them about a new trend that your client is a part of.

When we read news as consumers, unless it’s a straight product review, we never really see feature stories glowing about one brand - Drew Tybus - @Drew_Tybus - Vice President at EVINS

6. Go for WIN-WIN Situation

Do your research about the person you are reaching out, your overall email should clearly portray that you know the person well enough.

Focus on the reason behind you are pitching them in the initial 2-3 lines, than tell what's in it for them, how it benefits them because they are not volunteers nor an NGO they need incentives too but incentives are not necessarily monetary - Faraz Khan - Manager Digital Marketing at Gaditek

7. Seek to Add Value

Don’t be a moocher, be a resource too! Most of the time us PR people are asking from something and not providing additional value back. Help with the stories that you are asking the reporters to create. That may mean having additional resources other than just your client or providing references for journalists stories.

The more you can help them, the more they can see you as a partner and resources. In my experience, if you are willing to help put the pieces together and make the story well-rounded, journalists respond much better and you can develop a genuine partnership with the media - Ronjini - @Ronjini - Owner at The Silver Telegram

8. Challenge Yourself to Get Loud

Switch things up and practice saying your pitch out loud. If it sounds like BS when you read it, don’t send it. The key to getting your pitch from email to reality is to be authentic — if you can’t even stand the sound of your voice delivering it, chances are, the journalist won’t either - Heather Anne Carson - @heatheranne - Co-Founder at Repable

9. Be Relentlessly Engaging

Make the writer or news producer fall in love with your pitch. General pitches generally don’t get landed. Make sure that your pitch is well written and colorful enough to make your client stand out.

A friend of mine who is an Entertainment Editor for a top newspaper once said that your pitch has to be as engaging as the story the journalist will write - Abesi Manyando - @AbesiPR - President and Creative Director at Abesi Public Relations

10. Ask First, Pitch Second

Whenever I identify a new journalist I’d like to pitch, I always send them a short email to introduce myself and what we do at Onboardly first. I’ll ask if it’s cool if I send over a few high level bullet points on what our clients are working on that may fit their beat.

This short but warm intro is a great way to gauge their interest before I later send the pitch and has resulted in some great relationships with the media - Crystal Richard - @crystalcrichard - Director of Media Relations at Onboardly

11. Build a Social Media Rapport

My favorite pitching tip is to connect with the reporter on social media, as well. This works because their inbox is flooded with names of they don’t recognize.

Connecting with them on social media and interacting with their posts on a regular basis will get your name into their heads, so that when your pitches land in their inbox, they recognize your name - Brittany Berger - @thatbberg - Head of Content & PR at Mention

12. Be Personable

In our company, we believe that the key to a successful pitch is that–to really cater to the needs of the reporter and to make it personal. You should be a resource not a burden - Suset Laboy Perez - @SusetLaboy - Owner at LalaboyPR

13. Pitch the Story, not the Product

Pitch the story, not the product. Writers are looking for pitches that offer a story they can put their own spin on.

If all you provide is information with no story, you offer nothing to hook the writer, which means you also offer nothing the writer can see hooking their readers - Nick Brennan - @EnJeiBee - Founder and CEO of Watch Social Media

14. Incorporate Calls to Action

End every pitch with a clear call to action that asks a question. The question prompts the recipient to respond, where a statement like “Please let me know” is anticlimactic and doesn’t motivate the reader to reply - Ashley Halberstadt, Director of Media Relations at Digital Relevance

15. Don’t Be a Spammer

I convince clients the shotgun approach- where firms mass blast their pitch to thousands of reporters- the majority of which will ignore the pitch — is wrong and does not generate a return on investment - Nick Winkler - @TheWinklerGroup - Owner at The Winkler Group

16. Proceed with Structure

Craft an outline of the story for the writer. Don’t just tell them they should cover your client. Let the writer know who they can interview (both internal to your client and external if that makes sense), provide relevant website links, attach photos or videos, and offer ideas for images - Danya Bushey - @DanyaBushey - President at Carte Blanche Marketing

17. Build Relationships

It’s two-fold: 1. Make a relationship and 2. Say thank you. Media relations is about relationships. Staff members, trainees, interns and others have asked me how I have had success with media, and I tell them that the key truly is cultivating a genuine relationship - Tanya Sammis - @TanyaSammis - Co-owner at Sammis & Ochoa

18. Think Big-Picture

PR is about much more than an initial placement in the media. It is about building and maintaining relationships with key media, when you have a story to pitch as well as when you don’t - Lauren Lewis, Owner at Lauren Lewis Public Relations and Communications

Conclusion

There’s no doubt about it, pitching a journalist can be challenging. And, you may not be successful every time. But, if you pull together some of the elements outlined in these key points, you’re sure to increase your chances of getting a response — and maybe even a story!

Your Thoughts

What PR lessons have you learned the hard way? What valuable tip would you share with emerging leaders in the space? You pick #19 on this list. Leave me a note in the comments section below.