Crafting a pitch to get interviewed or featured in news and articles.
Previously, we looked into the major pitfalls early-stage startup’s founders and PR newbies do when pitching to journalists. Also, in our blog posts, we talked about what milestones could be considered as a decent news hook and how to identify the right contact in a newsroom.
If you missed it, please go back and check the posts as what we gonna do next means you know what to say in your pitch.
So now, let’s prep a killer pitch that will help you to win a mention or even more–get interviewed by major tech blogs.
Beats
First, let’s take a step back and find the right media contacts, whose beats are close to your industry and your product or service.
No, this is not about Dr. Dre and his headphones. In journalism, beat reporting, also known as specialized reporting, means that a journalist covers a specific area (climate, personal tech), topic (proptech) or subject. In other words, they are focused on a particular issue, sector, or even on an organization (Apple, Google, Tesla) or institution (the White House, NASA).
Pitch length
Second, you need to know how your journalists prefer to receive the information. Some of them, like Mike Butcher, the Editor-at-large of TechCrunch, want you to send all possible facts and figures accompanied by your competitors’ info and the market data. It’s gonna be a long email. But not every journalist wishes to see that kind of pitch in their inbox.
According to a recent study, 91% of journalists prefer pitches under 200 words. Nearly half prefer 1-200 words and a quarter prefer just under 100 words! Brevity is the soul of wit, right?
Crafting a killer pitch
• Start with a well-thought-out headline. There is nothing that annoys journalists more than a headline that doesn’t match the story. So don’t try to use a clickbait-like headline, instead make it informative and easy to understand.
• Once you've set the scene, it's time to bring your details to life. What proves that your solution is outstanding? Numbers (if you’re early stage, focus on growth %), your social impact, and maybe prominent names that are somehow involved, such as well-known mentors, accelerators, ex-Uber managers on your Board of Directors, PhD R&D director.
• Remember to tailor your pitch to the individual needs!
• End your pitch with a yes/no question, like “Would you be interested in discussing the topic”, or “talking with our Chief of Science”, or “Do you want to learn more? I’m happy to chat this week."
• Add your contacts, a link to your Google Drive where you store your startup’s pics, videos and presentations. Obviously, don’t share what you don’t want to be seen by third parties.
Follow-ups
Let’s say, you don’t want to irritate a journalist. But what if your pitch got zero replies? How can you decide if you should move on? Send a follow up email! When? Well, according to the research, 86% of journalists are OK with a follow up email within one week of the initial message. Mostly all journalists say it's OK to send at least 1 follow up email.
The smart way to contact a journalist would be to consider all his or her preferences in pitch length and structure, in time of the day when they check the inbox (oh yes, good timing is vital), of course, their beat and news agenda, also what they’ve covered recently, making sure they are not on vacation or if they are going through some personal issues. Sound hash!
Being featured in newspapers, tech blogs and on podcasts can be a great way to build influence, authority and awareness of your startup. However, many small businesses don't have the budget to hire in help with their media relations and time to craft a pitch and find journalists who might be interested.
The good news is that with a little bit of help, you can do your own PR!
From crafting an eye-catching pitch to finding all the relevant media contacts and telling you when to follow-up with journalists, PR Guy will guide you through the journey of pitching to success for just $170. Pick your plan and Contact us https://www.prguy.io/pricing-plans