To start generating media coverage, you have to do the reaching out to the journalist. I say this specifically as when I started out, I thought it was enough to just send a pitch to a general email address like info@fastcompany.com. 

Safe to say, this is not the case. The first step in the pitch process is to figure out exactly who you want to send your pitch to. As I’ve previously recommended, it’s best to pull out your media list and select relevant journalists who you think would cover the story based on the articles they’re interested in. 

Make sure that you’re knowledgeable about what the journalist has written before and always keep an indexed list of articles that you would love to have been quoted in. When you see an article that you think would have benefited from having your opinion or angle in it, add it to your media list.

Subject lines

Whether you’re pitching a guest blog, a press release or a feature article, the subject line is the most important factor in getting your story picked up. 

In a full email box, ask yourself “will this stand out? Will this line convey to the journalist that it’s of interest to their readers?” Great subject lines often use words which convey urgency or are actionable, include numbers or statistics, ask a question or make the reader curious. 

Whilst editors are undecided on exactly what they want to see here, subject lines that include industry specific jargon are unlikely to be opened. Remember, 85% of journalists and editors open an email based on the subject line, so the more time you spend here getting this right, the more chance you have of success. 

For the most part, try and keep your subject line between 40-50 characters. I like to include the type of PR content that the journalist is receiving in the subject line–e.g., “[GUEST POST PITCH]”, “[PRESS RELEASE]” or “[FEATURE ARTICLE PITCH]”–after the subject line itself. The vast majority of email pitches are opened on a desktop computer, so the journalist is likely to see the content type if they are attracted to the subject.

The pitch itself

Remember: Over 80% of journalists receive above ten pitches each day and only 20% finish reading an entire pitch. Don’t give them any excuse to throw it in the trash can. 

Regardless of what type of content you are pitching, there are a few blanket rules to follow. The two main issues that will make editors click delete are that the email is obviously mass-produced or that it includes grammar mistakes. To avoid the latter, the mantra; write once, edit twice is important. 

Consider the format the publication writes in. Is it the US or British English? Do they have guidelines on submitting pitches and are you following them? Is the article the right length? Following these guidelines – written or unwritten – will make it easier for the journalist to digest your story without getting distracted by black flags. 

Secondly, the beginning of the email should specifically address the journalist or editor. Make it personal. Relationship building is key when it comes to pitching articles because value should never be a one-way street. 

And besides, there is a real person on the other side of the computer. Address them and personalize each and every email. Journalists hate thinking that you’ve gotten 100 email addresses together and given the same story to each of them. There is a word for this: spam and if you received it, you would have the same reaction.

The three different pitches

When the time comes to pitch your article and you have a list of journalists and a good subject line, what follows next is the core of your pitch. This differs for all three types of PR content so I will explain them separately:

• For a guest blog, following your subject line and personalized letter to the editor, you should include a short and sweet summary including a) an introduction of yourself, b) an explanation of why your writing would be relevant to their audience, c) the outcome that the reader will take away, and d) if you’ve already written the article, a link to the Google Document like this: “You can read the full article here” and if you haven’t already written the article yet, include a short list of topic ideas and a link to your previous articles. 

• The feature article pitch follows roughly the same structure as that for a guest post. Personalize it, introduce yourself and your story idea and tell the editor why the story is relevant for their audience. The biggest difference is that you will embed the pitch in the email as well. Don’t bother with attachments, journalists prefer web links or Google Drive folders.

• A press release email will also follow the same structure as the feature article, bar one important factor. With a press release you should include whether your piece is time sensitive or not. As such, before your press release begins, you should always begin with a full caps statement saying either: UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL [date & time] or FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. I also like to bullet point the three or four most important bits of newsworthy information in the release followed by a link to a google drive folder containing all relevant information: photos, videos and a Google Document containing the full press release.

An example of an email pitch would be the following text with the entire press release copied and pasted below:

Dutch start-up turns co2 into electricity [PRESS RELEASE]

UNDER EMBARGO UNTIL 00:01 21/01/2020

“Hey X

I’ve been following your series on carbon capture and storage and I thought that this would interest your readers for three reasons:

• Our cleantech brand [insert name] has recently finished a pilot project with the Dutch Government to turn carbon dioxide into electricity. 

• In your recent article [insert article name], you wrote “carbon capture will evolve in the future to be more than just storage, but will grow to become an economically viable solution.” Our technology is proof that this is correct. 

• The Dutch Ministry of Innovation believes that the technology will put The Netherlands at the forefront of sustainable innovation in the future (quote included). 

Please find the press release attached here or alternatively view it below. If this story is of interest to you, feel free to reach out to me for any additional information. 

Best,

Joseph D. Simpson”

The follow up

Once you have clicked send, you may hope the process is over. If you’re starting to get the gist of this public relations, it’s not. Public relations is a long-term game and requires patience as well as relationship building. 

And the follow-up is an important part of getting your pitch picked up. Journalists usually take up to one week to decide if they are interested in a story and it’s OK to give them a nudge or two. Be firm, but don’t be annoying. 

There’s a chance that they’re also busy but that they appreciate being in the know. After this initial week, if you don’t hear back, it’s likely that the journalist has passed on your story and that you should move onto the next option.