When it comes to creating an impact amongst the media fraternity, it is not just about flowery language, it is also about moulding the news in a manner that is newsworthy. We are aware that journalists are story tellers, and hence it is important for a PR person to effectively pitch a story. While we may focus on getting powerful imagery, it’s extremely important we also spend some time understanding the news from the point of view of a journalist. Searching for that underlying interesting story idea is what will earn the interest of the reporters, thus making the pitch stand out from the hundreds of other emails that flood the newsroom every day.
Interestingly, while in the past, a telephonic call was favoured, until very recently, journalists are increasingly preferring an email or even a tweet, keeping in mind how time-dependent the story is. Having said that, it is very important that the agency is extremely active on social media.
Pitching the story to an appropriate person is half the battle and the other half is about convincing the person. We as an agency follow the below to impress our media friends:
Use social media to reach out – you can literally speak directly to an individual reporter on Social Media. We also prefer sending Twitter releases to online media, considering how are impressive they are.
