Forbes writer dishes 3 terrific pitching tips
One hit in a top outlet can push your product or story over the top. Here are three ways to make sure your pitches survive the newsroom email gauntlet.
Some journalists consider PR emails and pitches nothing more than ” a bunch of fridge letters,” to quote a recent tweet by Ed Zitron, author of “This is How You Pitch.”
Search for “PR pitch” on Twitter, and you’ll see why. Most are untargeted, hyperbolic or both. Some even use gimmicks to stand out.
For example, RedEye Chicago‘s Matt Lindner recently called out an email pitch for using four text colors, bold, italics, underlines and highlighting. “My eyes, they burn,” he tweeted.
Here are three tips for ensuring your pitches impress—rather than distress—today’s demanding editors and reporters:
1. Push trend pitches further. Reporters can be skeptical of trend pitches unless they are forward-looking and are supported with data.
“My advice to PR is to pitch trends that are surprises,” says Forbes staff writer Alex Konrad. “Just saying a new item fits a product type that recently launched makes me think you’re a face in the crowd. That’s already too late.”
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