Pitching your idea can be a difficult business in a world that continues to evolve and expand. We are swamped with content and stories from official media, podcasters, bloggers, and influencers plus businesses not to mention the plethora of content we consume via our social media accounts. If you want your story to be noticed by the media then you must make sure it is newsworthy and a story worth telling.
First, we need to understand what a media pitch is. This is the email you send out from a brand or client to promote your idea and gain interest from them. Your idea could be fantastic, but if you can’t obtain their interest from your media pitch, then there is a slim chance of you getting noticed. Here is what you can do:
1.Interest Begins in the Subject Line
When we send an ordinary email to somebody, we keep the subject line simple. But this is no ordinary email, and if you want to be noticed, then you are going to have to stand out. You need to write something interesting to catch their attention, but equally not longwinded to make them scroll past.
2.Catering to the Right Audience
If you are sending your media pitch to multiple people, then you mustn’t send the same email to all, as writing a generic email will most likely not gain the attention you are after. You should write for each person individually, take some time to research them, read their work, entice them by telling them how much you enjoyed it, and then explain how your idea may be of interest to them. Equally, make sure that it isn’t too long a pitch. This is an idea, it needs to be concise and to the point.
3.Here and Now
One way to entice people to your idea is to pitch relevance. In other words, find an angle that will gain interest, this could be anything from topics that are currently trending, new products, or focusing on big events that are in the calendar.
4.Timings and Deadlines
It’s all about timing. You need to consider the ‘lead time,’ which is the amount of time a journalist has to write it before it gets published. Once your idea has been accepted, it is always best to find out their lead time to ensure you can send pitches at the right time to gain full coverage.
Remember relevance, being to the point and a keen interest are all ingredients to a successful media pitch. Keep a positive attitude and the rest with follow.
If you want to learn to pitch to the press join my course starting on Monday November 9th 2020: https://clairewinter.info/pitch-to-the-press-join/