Getting press for your product or service lends credibility and gets you in front of a larger audience. Use these 5 quick tips to pitch reporters and get more hits.
- Google: Find reporters who write about topics that relate to what you do, (or what your product or service does.) Don’t waste time sending your pitch out randomly. Be sure to pitch the reporter however he or she wants to be pitched. If they say: “Please, no pitches via Twitter,” respect that.
- Brevity Wins: The biggest complaint I hear from reporters is that the pitches they receive are far too long. Think paragraphs, not pages. Stand out. Strive to get as close to a 100-word pitch as possible. If they want more info, they’ll ask you for it. This is especially true if you are pitching in person or over the phone. Another pet peeve is when the reporter can’t understand what the person is pitching. Clarity and brevity win.
- Know THEIR audience: The reporter is writing articles that will appeal to his or her audience. You must be relevant to those readers. A good question to ask yourself is: “Why would this reporter need to share my story with his/her readers right now? Is it timely? Is it urgent?
- Tailor your pitch, show them how YOU fit: Reporters can spot a generic pitch a mile away and they think it’s lazy. (It is.) Give them some story angles. Show them how what you do benefits their audience. What are you helping their audience do better? What problem are helping them solve? What mission critical error will you help them avoid?
- Pitch until it sticks: Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get a lot of responses. Keep refining. Pitch until you find the right reporter and it sticks. Become a valuable resource to them. Think long term. Let them know about other people/products/services that they might want to write about in the future.
BONUS: Sharing is caring:
Be sure to alert your audience as soon as an article goes live. It’s only fair that you share the writer’s work with your audience as well, since that’s exactly what he or she has done for you.