{"id":3405,"date":"2015-06-25T15:23:19","date_gmt":"2015-06-25T19:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/?p=3405"},"modified":"2024-02-13T11:51:49","modified_gmt":"2024-02-13T16:51:49","slug":"media-relations-101-five-tips-for-pitching-the-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/blog\/media-relations-101-five-tips-for-pitching-the-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Media Relations 101: Five Tips for Pitching the Media"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo Credit: Jarret Callahan<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2018Media relations\u2019 refers to working with journalists to garner editorial coverage of your business or product. There are two types of media relations. \u2018Reactive media relations\u2019 refers to when you answer incoming requests from journalists who reach out to you because they are interested in creating a story about your business. \u2018Proactive media relations\u2019 occurs when you are pitching the media on a story you would like them to produce about your business.<\/p>\n

Proactive media relations is obviously more difficult, because you need to convince a journalist that your story is worthy of their time and attention. Most journalists prefer to be contacted over email, which means your pitch has to stand out amongst the hundreds of emails they receive each week. It\u2019s no easy task, but here are some tips for creating the best pitch possible.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0<\/strong>Do your research<\/strong><\/p>\n

Knowing who you\u2019re pitching and tailoring your pitch to that journalist is the key to keeping your email out of their trash folder. As you determine who to pitch, make sure you understand what topics they usually cover. If it is a writer you are pitching, read their stories from the last few months. Are they writing reviews, interviews or features? What topics are they writing about, and how does that relate to your business? If you are pitching a radio or television producer, watch or listen to their show to understand what type of segments they are running, as most shows stick to a pretty regular formula. Determine whether or not what you have to offer fits into the journalist\u2019s priorities, and if there isn\u2019t a fit, move on and look for someone else!<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0<\/strong>Be Relevant<\/strong><\/p>\n

The best way to make yourself newsworthy is to take a look at what is happening in the world and see how your business fits into the big picture. There are topics that journalists are likely to write about no matter what, so see if you can capitalize on those opportunities.\u00a0 If you are an accountant, pitch a story on how to get the biggest tax refund during tax time. Pitch your gourmet donut shop ahead of National Donut Day. If you run a tutoring company, pitch your services ahead of exam time, or during the back-to-school season.<\/p>\n

3.\u00a0<\/strong>Offer an exclusive<\/strong><\/p>\n

The media landscape in Canada is small, and journalists don\u2019t want to be writing the same story that will be appearing in multiple outlets. They are looking for a story that can only be found with their organization, so give it to them! Instead of sending the same pitch to everyone you are reaching out to, offer different opportunities to different journalists. For example, if you are pitching your food truck business, offer a food writer a tasting menu so they can sample all of your menu items, and offer a business writer the opportunity to ride along with you for a half day to get an idea of what it is like to own and operate a food truck.<\/p>\n

4.\u00a0<\/strong>Keep it short and sweet<\/strong><\/p>\n

As mentioned earlier, journalists are receiving hundreds of email pitches a week. Be respectful of their time and send concise emails that get right to the point. Make your subject line clear as to what you\u2019re offering; for example, \u201cInterview: Common mistakes students make when prepping for exams.\u201d Describe your business in a sentence and link to your website \u2013 instead of writing out your entire business story. Tell them your story angle in a sentence or two, with a short note on why you think that story will be interesting to their readers or why the story is timely. If you have an exclusive opportunity to offer them, include that in a few short sentences. Most importantly, don\u2019t forget to close your email with your request. \u00a0For example, \u201cI would love to chat with you about the common mistakes students make when preparing for exams, and how to fix them; is this something you would be interested in?\u201d<\/p>\n

5.\u00a0<\/strong>Follow-up<\/strong><\/p>\n

After you\u2019ve sent your pitch, don\u2019t be surprised if you don\u2019t get a response right away. With interviews to conduct, stories to write and deadlines to meet, journalists have a lot of work on the go. It is appropriate to follow-up with a short email after a few days, but overly-persistent follow-up can be a turn-off. Limit your follow-up to one or two emails; it\u2019s safe to assume if you don\u2019t get an answer, their answer is \u201cno.\u201d If you decide to follow-up over the phone, be sure to ask if the journalist has a moment to speak with you before launching into your pitch.<\/p>\n

Unlike advertising, you don\u2019t need to pay for media coverage, but what you save on budget you will likely spend on time. Before you start planning your proactive media relations, determine whether or not you have the resources to commit to doing the research and creating a well-crafted pitch. The more effort you put in, the more likely you are to catch the attention of journalists and hopefully garner some stand-out media coverage for your business!<\/p>\n

Written By:<\/strong> Meghan Paton, Public Relations & Social Media Manager, Futurpreneur Canada<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018Media relations\u2019 refers to working with journalists to garner editorial coverage of your business or product. There are two types of media relations. \u2018Reactive media relations\u2019 refers to when you answer incoming requests from journalists who reach out to you because they are interested in creating a story about your business. \u2018Proactive media relations\u2019 occurs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3406,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entrepreneurship"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3405"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3405\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/futurpreneur.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}