Writing down a perfect news-worthy press release that people may like to read or share is only like winning half of the battle. After getting your press release, comes the tough part – pitching it to the journalists. Accessing media outlets can be difficult and time-consuming.
The one method is to search online for the relevant media outlets and journalists who might be interested in covering your news. The other method is to purchase the media contact database. It will not just save your time and money but will also give you an edge over your competition who might be searching for the contact information of the journalists from scratch.
What is a Press Release?
The press release is a formal announcement from the company to inform its current and prospective stakeholders about something important related to the business. The aim here is to connect and inform everyone in the target community. It could be an event, a new product launch, a book release, new hiring, or a discount offer.
5 Tips to Pitch a Press Release
The biggest challenge is reaching out to the journalists and convincing them to write about your news. Even the perfectly written press release can get lost among hundreds of news being published daily if the news release isn’t pitched properly, so you must follow these simple steps.
1. Select the right people to pitch
Pitching your press release to every journalist in your contact database would make you look like spam. As a business, your focus should be only relevant media outlets and journalists who might be interested in your niche or topic. The key here is being relevant. Laser-focused press release distribution extracts far better results than hit-and-miss strategy.
Handing over your press release to the journalist who writes about the related topics or niche you are working in increases the chances of better media coverage. Send them exclusive stories. If they find out that multiple media outlets get the same story, they may feel hesitant to publish it.
2. Write a compelling headline to attract the journalists
Pitching through an email is probably the best way to reach out to the media outlets. Journalists are busy people and usually, they get over 50 news releases every day. Reading out every email is almost impossible within the realistic deadlines.
The chances of journalists reading your email increase if they find the subject line relevant and interesting to their readership. The subject of the email might cover the topic of your news release to attract the attention of the journalist. You can also include the name of the journalist in the subject line to give it a little personal touch.
This also shows that you are not spamming the inbox of the journalists. The more informative the subject line is, the more it helps the journalists to decide whether they are interested in the topic or not.
3. Create a concise and compelling pitch
The very first few lines of the email are the most crucial ones. You can include the press release if you think the story is good enough, or you can add a summary or introduction to explain what the press release is all about.
You don’t have to be fancy here. Also, don’t send a copy-paste template. The email should complement the press release and convince the journalist to read the press release. You can attach your news release in the email, but remember that your pitch is as important as the story.
Just make your pitch concise, informative, and engaging. So, journalists couldn’t refuse to publish your story. You can also give it a personal touch by adding a comment on his recently published work.
4. Decide on when to pitch
Time is one of the most important elements that decide the success of any press release distribution. Sending your pitch too early or too late isn’t useful.
For example, if you are organizing an event and want people to invite through the press note. The best time to pitch to the journalist is at least 15 days earlier than the event itself, so he has a good lead time to review, research, or schedule publishing.
5. Don’t feel hesitant to follow up
Don’t worry, if you don’t hear back from the journalists. They could be busy with their routine tasks and pre-scheduled work. The best alternative is to give a call to the journalist or editor. This way, you can communicate with the journalist and ask him to check your email if he hasn’t checked it yet.
Conclusion
Having a newsworthy and compelling press release written isn’t as easy as it seems. It might be difficult for you to understand the importance of keywords and journalistic writing in the beginning. I have listed a few resources in our resource section to help anyone interested to learn press release writing or distribution. If you don’t have time to learn the craft from scratch, feel free to contact us or call us at (888) 388-5387.
