12 Tips for a Successful Media Pitch

Posted by admin on Apr. 8, 2015  /  PRSA Mid America, The Media, Events, Media Relations  /  Subscribe 1

From left to right: Katie Kormann, Durrie Bouscaren, Patricia Washington

Recently, PRSA St. Louis held a Career Development Day where PR professionals and students learned how to best gain coverage in the media from editors, broadcasters and producers in St. Louis. The media panel included Katie Kormann, multimedia producer at Fox 2 & News 11, Durrie Bouscaren, health and science reporter at St. Louis Public Radio and Patricia Washington, previous managing editor at The St. Louis American – and they armed us with these helpful tips for success:

1. Make sure the story you are pitching is current and timely.
2. Your pitch should be able to answer the question “so what?”.
3. Include any data, research or statistics in your pitch, if possible.
4. Don’t just send a press release.
5. Make your email pitch short and to the point.
6. The email subject line of pitch should act like the 4-5 word newspaper headline – it should make them want to know more, and show them the information they’ll be reporting.
7. Personalize the email pitch to the specific reporter and outlet, and make sure your pitch speaks to their audience and includes how it will affect them.
8. Do not include ALL CAPS anywhere in your pitch.
9. Develop thick skin – the media is not able to cover all (or even most!) of the ideas pitched to them, so don’t let this get you down.
10. Create opportunities for the media to interview those actually involved in the topic, not just the company spokesperson.
11. If your pitch is successful, be sure to deliver exactly what you promised to ensure your probability of getting additional coverage from that person in the future. Show the media that you want to help them succeed.
12. To fix errors in reporting, reach out to your media contact directly first.

Are you looking for tips on handling the media in a crisis? Check out our blog post When the Stuff Hits the Gumbo Pot.

This post is courtesy of Erica Kirsch, who serves as PRSA St. Louis VP of Communications/Secretary. Erica is a Senior Account Executive at The Vandiver Group. You can catch up with her on Twitter @EricaKirsch.

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