Master the Art of Pitching your story to the Media

The Art of Pitching

Who
• It is always more effective directing your pitch to the editors as they decide on what is newsworthy information.
• The journalists are usually assigned different stories though they can recommend your story if they are approached.
• The equivalent in the media will be the producers of radio shows and TV programmes.
When
• The best time to approach a jou
alist isn’t just before he is due to submit his stories.
• It is advisable that you send your pitch through email and follow up by a call. It may take a few more days before the jou
alist get back to you if your story isn’t about a event. What
• Ensure you have a press release with all the supporting information. Key personnel’s contact preferably with their Linkedin profiles.
• Photo, drawings and other visual information should be linked from a social media file sharing site. This is to enable the jou
alist to conduct further background research to your story.
• If your story is an upcoming event, ensure you have briefed the different participants on the possibility of being interviewed during the event.
How
a. Pictures. If a picture worth a thousand words, a great picture is worth a million.

b. Inclusive vs. Exclusive. Some members of the press will only cover your story if they are promised an exclusive coverage. If you feel that the readership base of the particular press is your target audience, offering exclusivity may be a good idea.

c. Tell the insider’s story. If your pitch is about an event, inviting the jou
alist to participate may produce a story based on insider’s feedback and evaluation. The advantage of this approach is you can offer this to various members of the press.

d. Be Creatively or Controversial. Always be creatively in your story. journalists receive hundreds of press release daily. Most of them end up in the trash if there is nothing unique about the pitch.

e. Homework – Survey/Trend/Insights. The easiest way to produce a hard news is to conduct a survey and present your new findings. This is effective in positioning your company as the leader of your industry. (350)