Unit 8: Pitching public relations stories to the media · Unit 8: Pitching public relations stories...

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Unit 8: Pitching public relations stories to the media

The profession of public relations has many challenges for the PR practitioner – writing engaging copy, events planning and crisis management are all vital. However, perhaps there is no task as daunting as the pitching of a story to the media. Should that story be of vital importance to a client or an employer, or should their expectations be high, then the PR professional will be under a lot of pressure to achieve.

Add to this the fear of rejection that anyone faces when trying to persuade someone to take something being offered, and the tension increases. Consider also that you only get one chance to pitch the story to a particular journalist or publications, and the deadlines and timings one needs to be aware of, and it is clear that pitching a PR story to the media can be stressful.

However, pitching in a story successfully need not be daunting. If you select effective strategies and tactics when planning and carrying out a campaign, they should ensure a successful hit rate when it comes to pitching PR stories to the media.

Selecting strategies and tactics to pitch stories to the media8.1

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8.1: Selecting strategies and tactics to pitch stories to the media

1 Strategies and tacticsThe media depends on stories. News outlets, be they television or radio, newspapers or magazines, websites or blogs, are fuelled by news and features, and are live 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

The media employs journalists – staff and freelance – to collect and develop news and feature stories. However, in a rapidly moving world and with the pressures of filling news and feature pages of newspapers, magazine pages and hours of rolling television and radio news channels, the task of generating content cannot be met by the work of journalists alone.

The PR industry capitalises on this demand for stories to gain coverage for their clients or organisations. To do this, selecting and implementing the correct strategies and tactics is crucial.

StrategiesHaving considered your client’s or organisation’s goals in pitching stories to the media, you need to select a strategy to achieve relevant and appropriate media coverage for them. Table 8.1.1 shows a number of strategies you may select for pitching stories to the media.

Strategy Description

Pitching only to journalists or publications with a specific interest or target audience

Identify and target the key 20% of journalists who you believe will give you 80% of coverage – the journalists most likely to run your story and who will give you the greatest coverage for your target audience. This is based on the Pareto Principle (you will read more about this in Topic guide 8.2).

More general pitching Target a larger number of journalists/publications; some may not be in the target 20% focused on by the Pareto Principle.

Pitching with little targeting Target a large number of journalists, many of whom may be in the 80% of journalists who only produce 20% of the coverage.

TacticsTo implement your selected strategy, you will need to choose relevant tactics. Tactics you should consider include the following.

• Research to identify publications most relevant to your target audience. • Research to identify journalists who have covered similar stories in the past

and who are most likely to be interested in your pitch. Find out the journalists’ preferences.

• Categorising media organisations by interests, background and type can help you identify the most suitable organisations and you can focus your efforts on these.

• Research your target media’s deadlines and timescales, and record these to make sure you meet any deadlines.

• Create a media target list to make sure you are focusing your attention on the most relevant publications or journalists.

• Create a targeted pitch for each journalist you are targeting, making the most of your research. Keep in mind the journalist’s interests and those of their readers.

Key termsStrategy – an overarching plan to achieve a specific outcome. When pitching PR stories, the overall outcome is likely to be media coverage for your client or organisation.

Tactic – a specific action undertaken to achieve the overarching strategy. Tactics must relate to the strategy.

Table 8.1.1: Strategies

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Advantages and disadvantages of selected strategies and tacticsThe strategies and related tactics you select to achieve your client’s or organisation’s goals will have advantages and disadvantages, as shown in Table 8.1.2. You need to ensure the work you do in carrying out tactics will minimise the likelihood of disadvantages occurring.

Strategy Relevant tacticsAdvantages in using the strategy

to achieve your goalDisadvantages in using the strategy

to achieve your goal

Pitching only to journalists or publications with a specific interest or target audience

Carry out lots of research to identify target journalists.

Create a few targeted pitches, really tailored to the needs of the audience and the interests of the journalist.

• Fewer journalists to contact

• Possibly less effort and time required to do the actual pitching

• Should receive fewer rejections

• Direct to your target audience

• Able to be really specific with the pitch and story

• High risk if the journalists you have targeted are not interested in your story

• May require a lot of time to carry out the research

More general pitching

Carry out research to create a target list containing very relevant publications or journalists, and a few more who may be interested but are either less suitable to your target audience or who you are less sure will be interested in your story.

Contact each journalist with a targeted pitch.

• May gain more coverage

• May require less research

• Requires time

• May have more rejections

Pitching with little targeting

Create a very long media target list and contact all the journalists on the list.

If possible, create a targeted pitch: however, time limitations will probably prevent this.

• Little research required

• May achieve ‘surprise’ coverage in unexpected media

• Could take a long time

• Difficult to tailor your approach

• May annoy journalists

• Rejections likely

• Approach could affect your professional integrity

Criteria used to select strategies and tacticsYou need to select strategies and tactics by considering a number of criteria. These include the following.

• Who or what are you aiming to gain coverage for? What is their desired outcome/goal?

• Who is the target audience and which media outlets are most relevant to them?

• Which journalists or publications are most likely to be interested? • What contacts do you have? Will people you already have connections with be

interested in your story? • What prior coverage has there been? Can you identify trends you may be able

to utilise? Can a journalist’s previous articles help you tailor your story to be of interest to them?

• How much time do you have? How much budget do you have?

Table 8.1.2: Advantages and disadvantages of strategies

and relevant tactics

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2 Pitching opportunitiesImplementing a strategy will also require you to identify relevant pitching opportunities. You should create a target media list of the opportunities you identify. Possible opportunities are set out below.

Online media databasesOnline media databases can be sources of pitching opportunities. Most PR consultancies and many in-house departments will subscribe to one of the many media database systems available, such as Gorkana or Media Manager. These are database systems that maintain detailed information on media outlets and reporters and freelancers. They provide contact details and a profile of the journalist’s interests and specialities. The media outlets’ remits and circulations are also listed. The systems, which are web based, issue licences for a number of users from a department or consultancy to make simultaneous use of the databases.

Forward feature listsPublications will usually produce a list of upcoming features, called a forward features list, outlining topics they will focus on. By reviewing these you should be able to identify pitching opportunities – that is, relevant features which match your story.

You should also pay attention to the publication’s editorial calendars to ensure you meet the publication’s deadlines.

Personal contactsIt is important to make and build a list of contacts. Meeting journalists at every opportunity and asking them about the deadlines of publications, descriptions of readers, or their interests and hobbies can prove invaluable in later weeks and months when pitching PR stories and ideas to them effectively.

ChecklistYou can build contacts by:

ü sending editors, journalists and freelancers an email to introduce yourself and your organisation, and explain what you do

ü attending events where you know they will be and talking to them

ü arranging to go for lunch or a coffee

ü following up any meetings with an email to say thank you and that you may be in touch

ü letting them know about upcoming or special events that may interest them.

ü contacting them through social media, retweeting them or by posting a comment on their blog.

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3 Methods used to develop a pitchTo develop a pitch, you need to carry out the following actions.

1 Make sure you have a strong angle to your story. Do the acid test of who, what, where, when, why and how on the story.

2 Know the publication you are about to call. Be familiar with the stories it covers, the tone it takes and how it has covered similar topics in the past. Do your homework – think about the media you are selling into – for example, is this a story for The Sun or something for the Financial Times? Do you need a picture or graph? Could this be a radio story? A broadcast story? What more do you need?

3 Know the rhythm of the paper – be aware of morning conference times, page deadlines and journalist deadlines. Are they on a deadline? Generally for print, the best time to call is between 10.30 and 13.00; after this you are unlikely to be able to work with their deadline. Check the deadlines for different types of media before you call.

4 Prepare a script – five or six bullet points that encapsulate your story and get across what you have to offer.

5 Prepare a tracking sheet and record all outcomes. It will prove invaluable later, when you need to remember if a contact wanted an interview or said they were not interested.

6 Make sure you know what your opening gambit is; you have typically around 30 seconds to make a good impression. You need to communicate persuasively.

7 Prepare an email with a summary of what the story is all about. You can guarantee that 95 per cent of journalists will ask to see something before committing to anything.

8 Do not send news releases without a call first unless the journalist has specified this. If in doubt, put in a call first.

Differences between pitching a news story or a featureWhen preparing to pitch a story, you need to consider whether it is a news story or for inclusion in a feature. There are a number of differences you will need to consider depending on how you want to pitch your story.

• Style: the style of a news story tends to be factual and to the point. A feature gives access to insights, information, background and personalities that people would otherwise not know about.

• Timing: the news is all about what is happening or what has just happened. If you want your story to make the news, you will need to make sure you pitch while your story is still newsworthy. Features are a little less driven by what is happening at that moment, but they still need to be relevant and feel current to be successful.

LinkYou will learn more about how to communicate persuasively in Unit 7: Communicating effectively in public relations.

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Cycle analysis

Media outlets, be they print, electronic or broadcast, are governed by the news cycle. Reporters immediately follow up current stories for fresh angles and variations on a theme. On average a news cycle can last anything from two days through to seven days – on rare occasions the news cycle will last longer.

The key to successful pitching of news stories to the media is to attach your story to the news cycle. If a journalist hears the phrase ‘I have another take on the story you are currently running’, they will take more notice of the PR pitch. Being aware of what is an upcoming story, what is at its peak and what is on the wane as a storyline is vital to a successful pitch process.

In addition to the news cycle is the calendar cycle. If you can attach a story to an event in the calendar, you may be successful in being included in a feature. Every year, for example, we have sports events, school holidays, Easter, Christmas and so on. Each event features in the planning process of the media and therefore offers a strong opportunity to the PR professional who connects their story to an event.

4 Methods used to make a pitchMethods for approaching the media fall into a number of key areas as follows.

Face to faceMany PR professionals pitch their story or ideas to journalists in a face-to-face situation – over a coffee, for example. The advantage of this approach is that you can quickly gauge through body language and conversation if your approach is connecting with the journalist. The drawback is that this is a very time-consuming tactic and will reduce the time you have to pitch the PR story to other media outlets – it is best to use this approach when pitching an exclusive. A second drawback is that journalists are reluctant, due to time pressures of their own, to meet face to face unless there is a significant gain in it for them.

Telephone approachThis is the most preferred method of approach as it combines time efficiency with the personal touch – vital to a successful pitch.

Email approachThis is the least favoured approach yet often the most tempting. Journalists will always say this is the best method of approach, but from a PR professional’s stance it is not, as the story being pitched in can be discarded quickly, not be read or not be understood. However, this approach is best for the ‘C’ list (discussed in Topic guide 8.2), as it does allow for mass pitching in to media.

Key termsNews cycle – every story goes through a cycle, from breaking and developing through to being examined in various ways to becoming yesterday’s news.

Exclusive – an article or element of a story (such as a picture/interview) that is submitted exclusively to one title only. The understanding is that the media outlet will give greater coverage, prominence or exposure to the story in exchange for it not being given to any other media outlet.

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Social mediaThe journalists you are targeting are likely to have an influential presence and following on social media platforms, such as Twitter. If you are able to research and contact journalists via social media and build relationships with them, perhaps by commenting on their blog or retweeting them, you may be able to use social media to direct a story to relevant journalists. In turn they may spread the story to others or may even give it a full write-up.

5 Following up after the pitchIf you have promised something to the journalist/producer or researcher, make sure that you deliver. You must follow up all calls. However, remember that one follow-up call is enough, as long as you manage to speak to your target – do not keep calling again and again.

Update your sell-in records; your team/client will want to know the outcome of various calls. Record any changes to your lists – new contacts, mobile numbers, pagers, email addresses, etc. You can build your contacts very quickly in this way.

Tracking pitchesIt is likely that you will be making lots of pitches over a short period of a time. You will need to keep track of the pitches you have made and pitches you plan to make.

A pitch tracking sheet will help you keep your activity focused and make sure you do not miss any crucial deadlines or fail to follow up and get feedback. Your organisation may have a preferred method for tracking pitches, but Figure 8.1.1 shows an example of a pitch tracking document, which could help you organise, record and track the outcome of the pitches you make.

Contact Contact Next Outlet name role Phone Email Address Notes Status steps Placement

Portfolio activity 1.1, 1.2

For your assessment for this unit, you will need to discuss at least three different pitches you have made to the media with your assessor. Use the following tasks to prepare for this part of your assessment.

1 Select the strategies and tactics that you have used to pitch three different stories to the media.

2 Justify your selection of these strategies and tactics and explain why you decided that these were appropriate for both the story and the media outlet that you were pitching to.

Figure 8.1.1: Example of a blank pitch tracking sheet

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Further readingPhillips, D. and Young, P. (2009) Online Public Relations: A Practical Guide to Developing an Online Strategy in the World of Social Media, London: Kogan Page.

Theaker, A. (2011) The Public Relations Handbook, London: Routledge.

CreditsProduced by Pearson on behalf of the Skills Funding Agency.

The publisher would like to thank the following for their kind permission to reproduce images: Chaoss/Shutterstock.com, Ellis Bronte/Veer/Corbis.

Unit 8: Pitching public relations stories to the media · Unit 8: Pitching public relations stories...

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