Pitching a Press Release to Journalists? Read These 5 Pro Tips

PR professionals have mastered the art of writing press releases with engaging headlines, concise stories, and writing follow-up emails to journalists and reporters to ensure the press picks the story. They already understand that the acceptance of press releases rely heavily on the pitch. More so, reporters and journalists receive dozens of pitches daily; thus, you should make your pitch appear as compelling as possible. Don’t just blast to hundreds of journalists. Instead, follow these steps – this is not a press release example or press release template; just some handy tips on .pitching a press release to journalists.

Tips on How to Email a Press Release to Journalists 

1. Prepare the Release for Press Distribution

As obvious as it may appear, it is important to optimize press releases; this gives it a better chance of being selected by the journalist. Your PR copy should be compelling and descriptive enough to capture the audience’s attention while stating clear points.

Ensure your PR copy is up-to-date and not an old story. Also, local PRs with some kind of promising future impact do get selected quickly.

2. Build a Targeted List

When you have professionally crafted a compelling press release, next is to build a target list of journalists & reporters that may find your PR interesting and worthwhile. Take time to research and point out the journalists that typically accept your type of press release. You can know this by checking their already live publications. Also, try to understand the audience of the journalists you select. This researches will help a lot, and you should do this before sending out emails.

3. Write a Perfect Pitch

Writing a perfect pitch simply means to craft a concise but intriguing email. Typically, it should be a four-to-six-sentence message; this is because no reporter has much time to spend on reading long (incoherent) emails. Make the email such that even as a skim, the reporter/journalist can grab your points.

Another important point here is to add your contact details, as well as describe the event covered in the PR copy. A key selling point for events might be a special guest or an exclusive speaker.

4. Make A Compelling Headline

Headlines are a key to success when pitching press releases to journalists. A compelling headline will cause the journalist to open and read your pitch. However, make your headline unique, relating to the PR content, and include “power words.”

5. Make It Personal

When you’re pitching press releases to journalists, it’s important to personalize the pitch! Address the journalist by their names (thanks to your research). Don’t upload a media kit or the press release in an email. Instead, add a link to where the information can be downloaded.

What More?

So, when next you’re pitching a press release to journalists, apply the tips outlined in this article and your press release is most likely to be selected. Alternatively, for digital marketers, here’s a bonus read: Top 8 Pro Affiliate Marketing Tips. More handy tips and news can be read from our homepage. Enjoy the rest of the day.

Originally posted on August 25, 2020 @ 6:45 pm