How to Pitch the Media: 10 Tips from the Inside

What’s the best way to pitch the media? How soon should I follow up? Can I incorporate social media into my media outreach? These are all questions that PR pros battle on a daily basis and, given that every reporter is different, questions that even the best can sometimes get wrong. Taking an opportunity to gather insight from a number of notable reporters – Amanda Terkel, of Huffington Post; Amy Harder, of National Journal; Molly Walker, of Fierce Markets; and Melissa Romero, of Washingtonian – C.Fox’s Eileen Collins and Julie Feldman pulled together a number of tips from last month's Media Roundtable, hosted by WWPR at the National Press Club in D.C.

1. Exclusives are still a great way to reach reporters; in fact, they are more important now than ever. With so much information out there and so many outlets covering the same issues, reporters like hearing that someone wants them to cover the story first. C.Fox taps into this strategy on a regular basis-- which lets the client and the reporter win in the end. Have a look at this recent exclusive which we granted to USA TODAY for client AIDS United:http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/story/2012-06-15/aids-diagnoses-south/55655150/1
2. At the same time, if a story has already been covered to death – and you can’t offer a unique, new angle – reporters aren’t as likely to pick it up. Just like PR pros are trying to break through the clutter to get their clients’ messages out, reporters are trying to break through the clutter to make a name for themselves and the outlet they work for.
3. Although reporters don’t want to cover a story that has already been written about everywhere else, it can be helpful to get a small outlet to cover your story first. This technique gives you a little credibility, and you can take the small publication’s piece to a larger outlet for a more in-depth piece. C.Fox once had an article placed in the US Airways in-flight magazine, which helped us then land a 4-minute-plus segment on the TODAY Show!
4. If you’re inviting a reporter to cover an event, make sure something about the event is newsworthy – it can be the release of a new report, or simply a keynote address by a newsworthy speaker. Reporters need a reason to take several hours out of their day to attend an event, so make sure you give them one.
5. Don’t send an email and then follow up immediately by phone. Follow up by phone only if the pitch is time-sensitive, otherwise it’s best to follow up by email or a phone call a few days later.
6. Email subject lines are crucial – they should be short and sweet and paint a very good picture of what you’re emailing about. And putting the reporter’s name in the headline doesn’t increase the chance your email will be opened; it’s actually a pet peeve.
7. Similarly, emails should be short and sweet. Keep it to a paragraph if possible. Reporters are generally swamped and working toward a number of deadlines – they don’t have time to read full-page pitches from every PR person that reaches out.
8. Make sure your team is coordinated. It goes without saying, but only one person from the PR team should reach out to a reporter. And be sure to double check to make sure you have the reporter’s name, publication name, etc. correct. It’s easy to make mistakes when doing mass outreach, so be extra careful.
9. It’s great to use social media to get/stay on a reporter’s radar, but this particular panel of reporters came to a consensus that they don’t like being pitched via social media. They all suggested that PR pros avoid asking them to tweet about a client or event – it essentially turns their Twitter profile into an advertising platform.
10. Be cognizant of what’s going on in the reporter’s world. Know what days of the week and what times of day are likely to be crazy for reporters, and avoid pitching them during those times.