Pitching to the media is like preparing for a first date

Positive media coverage. That golden ticket of free publicity for your cause, campaign or product that every organisation wants but not every organisation knows how to get it.

The days of sweating over a standard media release and shooting it off into the ether, in the hope that it sticks, are long gone.
Relying on ‘but its a great cause!’ won’t guarantee media coverage.
It is all about personalised pitching and actually connecting with the journalist/producer.

But how many organisations, particularly organisations looking after their own PR, are doing this right?

With the constant change in the media landscape, journalists are not only become scarcer and increasingly time poor, they are often responsible for multiple areas of interest...and this is where your homework comes in.

Like the preparation for any first date where you find out as much as you can about your potential suitor, organisations need to do their homework about journalists. And just like the preparation for a date, google can be your best friend.

Before you pitch out your campaign or product, consider:

• How much do you know about previous articles the journalist/producer has written or produced?
• Do you follow their social media channels? Twitter feeds can provide great insights into their areas of interest as well as a place for them to place call outs for stories.
• How much do you know about the type of campaigns and products they focus on?
• How do you know what will interest them if you don’t know their previous stories?
  
  

Similarly, just like heading to your favourite spot to try and meet someone with similar interests, scan the media platforms for stories on similar organisations, causes and products to yours and find out who the journalist or producer is who has provided coverage.
​
Taking the time to do your homework will save you wasting your time with scatter gun pitches.

Author

Georgie Stayches is Founder and Managing Director of Fetching Events & Communications, a boutique agency specialising in event management, communications and volunteer management.