Welcome to our Media Pitching Series, with ideas contributed by our Public Relations Specialist, Mia Vaccaro. Mia joined our team a few months ago, and she recently landed us two great media hits for the Frederick Factor in the Frederick News-Post and DC News Now!
Getting featured in the media is not only great exposure; it’s a lasting endorsement that can build the “know, like, and trust” factor with your target audience. You only have to get a media hit on an outlet once to be able to feature that logo in an “as seen in” banner on your website, or to use it to elevate your press page, or to use a pull quote from it on your website.
Before you pitch a story to the media, make sure you do the following:
1. Research the platform you’re pitching to and know your media source.
Make sure you’re aware of and familiar with what stories the media outlet features and that the stories you’re pitching are aligned. If the reporter writes about economic development, pitch a story related to economic development. If they write about business and start-ups, make a pitch geared around your local businesses. When they read your email, they’ll know you did your research.
2. Figure out ways to make your story pitchworthy.
A pitchworthy story is relevant to what’s going on in the community and culture right now. For example, maybe your story is related to an upcoming holiday or perhaps it addresses an important issue that everyone’s talking about. As you brainstorm your pitches, look for ways to make them timely and relevant.
3. Make it eye-catching.
Photo and video assets make a difference in your pitch and in the final product! Include visual assets that could be used in your story. And, make sure you’ve got a catchy subject line that gets the reporter’s attention when the pitch hits their inbox.
What are your experiences like pitching to the media? Contact us to share with us!
And if you’d like our outside support with creating personalized pitches and pitchworthy stories, set up a free 15-minute consultation here.
Reimagining Places With You,
The PPR Strategies Team
P.S. There’s one more major step to take when pitching to the media to make a strong impression. Can you guess what it is? We’ll share it in next week’s blog post!
