Let’s face it, if you’ve sent a pitch to a journalist and haven’t gotten a response back, then chances are your pitch was either ignored or forgotten. Grammar issues, pitch length and choice of topic could be some of the reasons why your public relations pitch didn’t make the cut.
Below are 3 awesome tips our agency has chosen from Lindy Alexander’s feature writing, How to get an editor to read your pitch, for how you can improve your pitching skills in the public relations world.
Match your Subject Line with the Publication’s Style
Your subject line is your best friend! When sending a pitch to a journalist or editor, always make sure to put “Story Idea” or “Pitch” in the subject line. Otherwise, they may mistake your pitch for a sales pitch. You want to show the editor you know the publication’s style, tone and voice.
Keep It Short
There may be times where you’ll want to tell the author everything about the company you’re trying to pitch. However, if you don’t want your pitch deleted, you have to keep it short. The ideal amount of words to write in your pitch would be between 150 – 200.
Pitch after You Connect with the Writer on Social Media
Before pitching, connect with them on whatever platform they seem the most active on. Look through their feed for insight on what they are interested in. Whether that’s LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, you know as a public relations person that social media is your best friend, so take advantage of it!
Pitching in our line of work can get tricky and hard to navigate. Sometimes you get hits and sometimes you get total, complete and utter misses. To learn more about pitches and how you can improve them, click here.
