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How to Pitch a Story Like a Pro and Get Results Every Time
By: Gini Dietrich | June 14, 2012 |
Dear PR Pros,
Why must we continue to have this conversation?
Is it because you’re too busy “pitching” to read anything about your industry? Perhaps you don’t read blogs, in general? Are you so busy following up with the 10,000 spam emails you send to journalists that you just don’t have time to actually learn how much more effective pitching would be if you built relationships? Is it because relationship building takes time and you only have time to send one email? Or is it because the industry is still rewarding you for results in coverage instead of business growth?
Whatever the reason, stop it. Stop it now.
I just read an article Amber Mac wrote for Inc.
She says:
Every day I immediately delete about 20 percent of the messages in my inbox. Historically, the emails I trashed were mostly relegated to Nigerian scams and requests for cash from someone “unable to access” his pending inheritance. Fortunately, Gmail spam filters have helped to abolish most of these. Unfortunately, these same filters can do nothing for the endless stream of PR pitches that assault my inbox that are often irrelevant, impersonal, and, dare I say it, lazy.
I’d venture to guess I delete about the same percentage…and it’s not my name that’s listed as the chief content officer at Spin Sucks. Lisa Gerber, how many pitches do you delete every day?
When Mitch Joel and I did our first podcast together, we talked about why most PR pitches suck.
He said something that really resonated. He said (I’m paraphrasing) every, single pitch that is researched and targeted is 100 percent effective.
Think about that. If you build a relationship with a blogger or a journalist and you pitch them what you already know they write about, you will hit a homerun every time.
It’s not that hard. It’s definitely much easier than it used to be. When I started my career we had big, green Bacon’s books. And we had only a few sets for 200 people. So you check out the books, look up the journalists in the industry, copy the pages, find the most recent magazine or newspaper articles they’d written – in hard copy – you’d read and then you’d pick up the phone and call them.
Now you can look up a journalist or blogger on Twitter and discover in less than five minutes not only what is interesting to them, but also where they write (and on which topics). Then you can switch over to their blog or online media and read a few articles or posts on the topic you’re about to pitch.
Yes, it takes longer, but it’s much more effective.
Gone are the days of cold calling and so are the days of mass pitching. Wouldn’t you rather know that if you pitch five journalists in one day, four of them are going to run a story, rather than send 10,000 emails and maybe get one bite?
Those odds seem pretty darn good to me.
Think about it. Do better. Let’s stop having this conversation.
With love,
Gini
139 comments
Fantastic advice, I coach authors how to get on TV and you wrote what I spend most of my first session with clients on. Thanks, Edward Smith.
Yes, relationships do matter and it's worth taking the time to develop them.
Hey, that was better than 'great post' at least..........
@ginidietrich The lurker extraordinaire; the next A-lister with all that wasted POtential; the cat w/ 2,020 comment points. If this was Klout I would have a free car by now...........
I think people these days are afraid to pick up the phone and pitch. Real pros know that often the quickest and most effective tool is the phone, not email. Loved the reminder especially as I am preparing for an event coming up!
1 Like
@audreyschroder As someone who is pitched, I don't mind getting emails, if they're targeted, relevant, and from someone I know. If they had to wait to pitch me for the phone, they'd wait two weeks between phone tag so I don't mind email at all.
First of all, thanks for reminding me that I am old, because I totally remember those Bacon's books. Second of all, the important thing about a good pitch formed out of a quality relationship (or at least enough research to start and build one) is that it starts a dialogue. I hardly ever get "no" or no response from journalists--instead, we immediately begin a conversation about how we can make it the best story possible. I actually just landed a huge media sponsorship for a client because I've kept in touch with the magazine's publisher for over a year online, re-posted her content regularly, met her for coffee (which was generous on her part) and waited until I had the exact right fit to approach her (and the approach was editorial--the sponsorship was an extra gesture on her part). A year's worth of work with a huge payoff for everyone involved. And wouldn't have been accomplished if I'd been sending her crap and/or mass emails during that time or hadn't stopped to get to know her.
@LauraScholz Exactly! I know it's a long time, but it's worth every second you invested.
And you want to make it easier for them to do this via automated writing bots?
Bwahahahahaha!
@Sean McGinnis I think you've taken my blog post earlier this week too far. I simply said I can see the need for earnings reports, analysis of Big Data, and Little League games to be written by algorithms because there is a need for these things to be written that humans are not doing. I do not think algorithms should replace humans, nor do I think it'll be super cool to be spammed by computers.
@ginidietrich I have a habit of taking things too far - you should know that. Machines are already spamming us - it just so happens its in the form of search engine spam. Article spinning software and automated blog comments. Blech. It's only a matter of time (at this rate) before automated press releases and crappy email pitches are done via automated software (if they aren't already).
@ginidietrich I'm just concerned that these new botnets will take over the world, like skynet. :)
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@Sean McGinnis I agree with you, but you made it sound like I advocate that practice. I do not.
@ginidietrich Um, not 100 percent. But! it's a bold mission, and the DB's do make the rest of us look better.
We've heard this a million times, and just can't hear it enough. Thanks for the reminder. I can send it to my staff without coming off like a noodge. (I remember those big green books...those were the good 'ol days!).
@jwalcher Do you remember when they went online?? Your time researching journalists was cut in half!
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I didn't realize how bad most PR pitches were until I started receiving some. No name, or worse, the wrong name, and it appears that none of the PR pros had listened to our podcast! Isn't this Media Relations 101? I highly suggest PR pros get their names into Cision somehow and see what it's like on the receiving end of bad pitches--it will change the way you engage media.
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@irisdias I think you're right - until you're on the receiving end of pitches, you don't realize how bad it is.
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Unfortunately, we keep having the conversation because we forget this basic rule of thumb: A pitch ultimately should never be about us. It must contain a clearly articulated benefit to our audience, whether it's a journalist or a blogger or a client. No benefit; no luck with the pitch. It's that simple and that difficult!
@magriebler Very well said...I don't understand why this is so hard for people to grasp.
I take issue with the assertion that it is "easier" to research a potential person because of social media. In the example you give of using Bacon's, you referenced only one channel to reach an influencer: The telephone. Compare that with today: Twitter, Facebook, blogs, contributed articles, YouTube, email and maybe phone. Building a relationship on a single channel is difficult as attention and mind-share are so distributed and there is less of a "genuine" connection because of the distributed interactions. Add to that the difficulty of tracking down reliable contact information for specific writers and you get a good recipe for lazy, spray and pray pitching.
Doing the homework and being smart with researching appropriate influencers and outlets should be the starting point of any pitch.
@geekgiant Sure, but it's all in how you use it. A lot of journalists are now using Twitter and the comments on their stories to source interviews and additional topics. Why wouldn't you start there?
I just got a request from a freelancer to write a blog for me about injuries sustained from vibrating work tools. Um, that's not what my org's blog is about.
3 Like
@jennwhinnem Must get mind out of gutter. Must get mind out of gutter. Must get mind out of gutter.
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Dear Gini Dietrich
My client makes the best riding lawn mowers in all of Iowa. We are announcing a new model that has a built in beer huggy and a remote control starter. We would love for you to do a story about our new model in your really well read blog.
Thank you.
George.
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@HowieSPM Sir, your pitch is WAY off base. If you had said that you have a riding lawn mower that disburses black bean tacos to the rider, @ginidietrich would have written about it!
@KensViews @HowieSPM @ginidietrich OR- she would be happy to test drive any sort of taxidermied remote control vehicle.
@TheJackB @KensViews @ginidietrich @HowieSPM YES!!! I need to hear how that story helped out...and in today's amazeballs news...it's Dead Cat Helicopter the song!?! (I kinda want to see a turtle train, though...) http://bit.ly/L7SGfu
@ginidietrich I had blocked that out of my mind when you first posted it. Thanks for reminding me about it. NOT.
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@KensViews @ginidietrich @RebeccaTodd @HowieSPM I used the flying cat story quite successfully in a business conversation this week. That stuffed feline helped me earn a couple of bucks this week. Here is to social media. :D
Once again, I see something that @ginidietrich has written,and think "WTF?"! @RebeccaTodd @HowieSPM
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While I am not in PR and do not know much of your secret ways, I find this post applies to my work in sales. I would rather spend time with 2-3 valued, vetted contacts per institution then rush around to see 20+ just to show my due diligence. Now don't get me wrong I love busy days (my record was 21 calls in 5.5 hours this fall, all wonderful people and great connections), but only when meeting people with whom I have something to offer, to respect both their time and my own. I have worked in sales roles where you are given a hard target of so many face to face calls a week, and found, much like you say here, I would much rather meet 5 pre-qualified customers and have 3 move forward with me than run around aimlessly to meet an empty quota. I personally research every potential customer I meet to be sure that I have something relevant and helpful to say to them, and am surprised by how many of my competitive colleagues do not. Taking the time to show a very real interest in my customers gives us a starting point from which to build our relationship. I appreciate you putting some facts and figures to this, even if I go and make it all about sales.
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@RebeccaTodd So take this example and put it into play right now. A year ago, if you had called me on the phone (or sent an email), out of the blue, I would have ignored you. But today? If you did either, not only would you get my attention, I'd listen to everything you have to say and really weigh whether or not it made sense for me to work with you.
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@RebeccaTodd your story is funny. I spent 14 years in B2B industrial sales. I had managers who sometimes would rather see I made 20 phone calls to the wrong people than just 3 to the right ones. I also used to solicit competitors catalogs with a fake business with a home address. This one sales rep who I knew (not closely but met him once) because he represented a vendor we sold product for. He switched to a competitor. he called my residence seriously once a month for 3 years trying to get me on the phone. Never once checking to see who I was. I assumed so he could include me in his call list.
@HowieSPM That's awesome! I just bought a (slightly used) car, and got the follow up "If anything isn't a "10", please let us know!" emails and phone calls (multiples of both). When I pointed out that a scratch was not buffed out, and there were grease and chocolate covered hand prints on the interior, they told me they would "get right back to me". No reply, yet I was still receiving the emails and calls asking me if "anything isn't a "10" please let us know." Great to see that having me in his "contacts" list is more important than actually listening to me. I've bought 2 cars there over the years and recommended it to friends, but won't ever again. If he had taken even a fraction of the time needed to reply to me rather than spamming my inbox, this would have been avoided. But hey, he sent out his required number of emails, right?
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@RebeccaTodd "Pitching," which is one part of "Publicity," which is one part of "PR" is indeed like sales--but only if we define sales as hearing a target's pain and helping them solve it, and/or helping them do their jobs better. In this case, it's helping the media rep or blogger develop a story that will be of interest and value to his/her audience. Once publicists get this, they'll start to focus on quality, not quantity---and their quantity of successful placements will increase. Vastly.
@KensViews Ugh as much as this sounds like fromage, I actually draw great satisfaction from feeling helpful. The teacher in me, perhaps.
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