The Call-First Pitch: Effective or Annoying?

We came across a piece online the other day (and we apologize for not linking, but we can’t seem to remember where we found it) that had a throwaway note about PR professionals passively connecting with their pitches by calling to follow up with “I sent you a note the other day…”  The problem with this approach is that journalists receive tons of pitches each day, so the chance that they did not notice your pitch is high.  The post recommended calling the reporter before sending the pitch and either leading or ending with “I’ll send you some more information in a few minutes.”

The benefit of the second approach is that the pitcher has just triggered a mental note in the mind of the reporter, who now has the storyline at the top of his (gender neutral) mind as he waits for the pitch or press release to come through.  In this situation, the PR person has actively caused the reporter to notice the story he’s trying to tell.

On the heels of this reading, we came across a tweet in which a reporter had received a phone call about a story before he got the email with the pitch/release.  Stephen had never been pitched that way before and wasn’t sure whether it was a common practice.

We responded to Stephen telling him that while the technique isn’t too common, it may actually be more effective.  We pointed out that the pitch got his attention in a way that the usual email pitches don’t, as evidenced by the fact that he tweeted about it. He also agreed that the PR pro did his job more effectively by triggering him to expect the full release where he might have otherwise ignored it.

In thinking about the discussion more throughout the day, we started to wonder in what situations the call-first approach is appropriate.  Sure, the approach is most effective at getting the reporter’s attention, but at what cost?  In our opinion, calling before sending the pitch is abrasive.

If you’ve sent your pitch first, the reporter at least has implied fair warning that you’ll be contacting him or her via phone to discuss it.  If you call the reporter first, then chances are you’ve totally caught them off guard.  Sure, you’ve got their attention, but your technique may not be best at endearing you to the reporter and your chances at building a relationship may be slimmer.  According to Stephen, if he consistently was pitched in that manner, he would eventually find it annoying.

So the question we pose is this: should PR pros embrace a tactic that while effective may be seen as abrasive and annoying?

Follow Up to Pitching TV

Seth Odell posted a follow-up to his video from the day before.  This video talks about some of the jargon used in a TV newsroom.  It’s certainly worth a watch.

Pitching Your Story To TV

For whatever reason, pitching TV stories has always been more difficult for us than pitching print media.  Much of the reason is that we have a looser grasp on the way that TV newsrooms operate.  Print media has always been clearer because we know the writer will be assigned to the story, that the editor may assign the story and we know where and when to see the story.

What causes the most fear of pitching a TV newsroom is the lack of any experience among PR people in one.  This sentiment is why we found Seth Odell’s video about how to pitch a TV story extremely enlightening.  Seth has spent time working for a newsroom, so his advice is based on experience.  His five points for pitching a TV newsroom are:

1. Know the assignment editor’s name. This harkens back to what we’ve been hammering home: relationships matter.  Maybe you don’t have a relationship with the assignment editor, but knowing his or her name at least shows that you’re willing to put some effort into building one with him or her.
2. Understand the production meeting schedules. This issue is one that we’ve struggled with.  We can’t recall the number of times we’ve tried to call with a pitch or follow up on a release (more on that later) and have been told the assignment editor isn’t in, or the reporter is out covering something.
3. Send your press release AFTER you call. We’ll admit that we’ve botched this one before.  As PR people, sometimes we lose perspective on our stories and assume that everyone wants to read our releases. However, keep in mind that reporters get tons of releases.  By triggering something in their mind to expect a forthcoming release, we have a better chance of them seeing it.
4. Know the lingo of the newsroom.  TV newsrooms speak a different language.  To be honest, we still don’t understand a lot of it.  As PR people, we often think the story just appears on TV; however, TV newsrooms have different terms for different types of stories. We need to learn them.
5. HARO.  Reporters need favors.  When they come calling on your for one, help them out and they’ll help you out in turn.  This tip isn’t necessarily unique to TV pitches, but it’s a good reminder in general.

The Pitch as an Usher

We spend a lot of time talking about pitches, mostly because we wanted to learn more about them.  But we don’t want to overstate the importance of pitches as part of the PR professional’s Swiss Army Knife.  Pitches are merely a tactic within the overall PR plan.  They are a way to get the messages that you want your audience to hear to those audiences.  To put pitches in perspective, consider them the usher at a sporting event.

At games, the usher helps the attendee into his seat.  The team wants the fans to see the game and the usher guides fans to their seats so they can watch the game.  Organizations want their target audiences to hear their messages.  How can you make sure they do?  The PR team guides the messages into the paper/blog/tweet/other forum through a pitch.

When ushers see fans’ tickets, they should know exactly where the right seats are.  Similarly, when PR teams hear the business and communications objectives, they should know the right places to guide their stories.

No fans go to a game to see an usher just as no PR pro should focus solely on pitching.  Rather, the practice is a conduit that helps achieve previously stated desired outcomes.

What would you compare pitches to?  How much importance do you put on them?

Dow Jones Tries to Help PR Pros’ Pitches

Though short on the details, Dow Jones recently released Dow Jones Media Relations Manager, which is intended to be a souped-up version of Cision (our guess/opinion).  The database will provide the standard names of writers on beats that any other database should provide, but what’s enticing is that the DJMRM also ties reporters to the companies, industries, people and keywords they cover.

This development will help PR people because any narrowing of the search for journalists covering your pitch is an improvement.  The database will seemingly cut down on some of the research that PR people do.  However, we’d strongly caution PR pros that they need to continue to research what their pitchees (does anyone use this term? is it a term?) write about.  A database, no matter how detailed, is no replacement for human understanding and research.

Our cynical speculation is that part of the impetus for the development of the database is to cut down on mistargeted pitches that Dow Jones’ writers receive from PR folks.

Either way, the DJMRM seems to be a step in the right direction as it moves closer to having a content analysis component of its database.

On a related note, we’d love to see the communications plan for the rollout of the product….

How to Pitch Part 3: Finding a Timely Hook

The third installment of our much-drawn out “series” How to Pitch focuses on when you show pitch your story.  So now that you’ve learned about the organization and developed a great storyline, when you should you deploy it?

Here are a few examples of timely hooks for your client:

Holidays: Everyone loves a holiday.  PR pros especially love holidays because it gives them a good opportunity to expose their client through holiday stories and guides.  Maybe you’re client has the new hot toy for the winter holiday season or maybe you’ve got a great gift for Mom on Mother’s Day.  These days provide a number of opportunities to introduce your product to your target audience.  Be mindful of giving the editor or reporter plenty of time before the actual holiday to write about your product as many of these holiday-centric publications are planned well in advance.

Product Launch: This hook she be a no-brainer.  If your product is launching, then of course you want to pitch your product.  The reason your pitch may be successful is your introducing a brand new product to an audience whose void your client is filing.

Anniversaries: So the 40^th anniversary of a major cultural anniversary is coming up, how can you tie your client’s product to that?  People seem to love anniversaries as much as they do lists, so you can bet the media coverage of these events will be full blown.  Make sure to get your client in on the conversation.

Of course there are a multitude of other timely hooks for pitches as well, but this is just a start.  What other calendar marks have you leveraged for some coverage of your client?

 

The next installment of our much-drawn out “series” How to Pitch focuses on when you show pitch your story.  So now that you’ve learned about the organization and developed a great storyline, when you should you deploy it?

Here are a few examples of timely hooks for your client:

Holidays: Everyone loves a holiday.  PR pros especially love holidays because it gives them a good opportunity to expose their client through holiday stories and guides.  Maybe you’re client has the new hot toy for the winter holiday season or maybe you’ve got a great gift for Mom on Mother’s Day.  These days provide a number of opportunities to introduce your product to your target audience.  Be mindful of giving the editor or reporter plenty of time before the actual holiday to write about your product as many of these holiday-centric publications are planned well in advance.

Product Launch: This hook she be a no-brainer.  If your product is launching, then of course you want to pitch your product.  The reason your pitch may be successful is your introducing a brand new product to an audience whose void your client is filing.

Anniversaries: So the 40^th anniversary of a major cultural anniversary is coming up, how can you tie your client’s product to that?  People seem to love anniversaries as much as they do lists, so you can bet the media coverage of these events will be full blown.  Make sure to get your client in on the conversation.

Of course there are a multitude of other timely hooks for pitches as well, but this is just a start.  What other calendar marks have you leveraged for some coverage of your client?

Barriers to Pitching

We’re back. No reason to detail our slackerness (we know, not a word). Onto more relevant things….

Pitching is difficult, for sure. We’ve all been at the point where we aren’t any good at it (and some of us, your faithful correspondent included, still aren’t very good). However, simply claiming that we’re not good at it and moving on does not serve anybody well. Instead, we’re going to examine some of the barriers to good pitching. These factors are the sole reasons that one may be a poor pitcher, but instead these are some common shortcomings of introductory pitchers. They also range from lack of public relations skill to more circumstantial issues.

Fear of the unknown: For all of our talk of relationship building, PR people sometimes need to cold call pitch, which is scary.  When you don’t know the journalist, you can’t predict how they might react.  Maybe they are surly and intolerant of PR people? Maybe they’re always in a rush? Sure, these can be eliminated with some research (and they’re based on caricature), but the simple fact is that some PR people have a sense of fear when calling a journalist.  The best way to overcome the fear is to practice, practice and practice.  The more you try pitching, the more comfortable and confident you will become.

Rejection: Who likes to be rejected? No one, of course, but everyone has a fear of rejection in the back of their mind. The same instinct that prevented you from asking the – cliché alert – head cheerleader or quarterback of the football team to the prom, also prevents many young PR pros from pitching effectively. We don’t want to be told that our story isn’t good, that the journalist doesn’t have time for us or that we contacted the wrong person (followed by swift hang-up).  Young PR people need to realize that they’re going to be rejected and that it happens to everyone.  Like fear, the only way to get over the dread of being rejected is to be rejected – many times.   If you look back at your pitch after each rejection, we’re sure that you’ll find something you could have improved.  Doing this review multiple times will inevitably lead to better pitches, and successful ones at that.

Privacy: This reason is a product of the previous two. We personally don’t like pitching where colleagues can hear us.  Yes, everyone pitches, but that doesn’t mean it’s not uncomfortable to be doing it with people around you eavesdropping.  If you’re already nervous and afraid of being rejection, why would you want people to see you in that state? One option for conquering this fear is to find an empty room.   Another is to discuss it with the people sitting around you.  By broaching the subject with the people who cause this issue, you’re taking control and conquering your fear.

What are some of your biggest obstacles to pitching? As always, leave us a note in the comments, email or via Twitter.

Coming Soon

You’ll have to excuse us.  We went away for work for 2 and a half weeks during which time we didn’t have enough time to sit and put together cohesive thoughts on pitching.  Once we got back, we ran into midterms at school so we’re just now getting our legs out from under us.  We’ll be back in a few days with some posts.  Come back soon.

We’ve Said It Before…

….and we’ll say it again: relationships are the key to public relations pitches.  Ask Lindsay Kaplan, publicity manager at Time Out New York.  From an interview with PRNewser, she was quoted saying, “most of my pitches are just casual emails,” which underscores one of the major tenets of this blog: that relationships are the key to pitches.

Sure, you can have the most perfectly crafted pitch targeted at the right journalists, but what if someone who’s built a relationship with that person (you’re pitching them cold) is pitching a similar story?  The writer will most likely go with the PR person with whome she has a relationship.

Telling Your Client’s Tragic Story

We’re terribly sorry that it took us so long to post.  We were on vacation, then whisked back into a busy week of work, the beginning of class, a new roommate moving in and a friend in town.  We also realize no one cares about that explanation.  On to some PR…

During our hiatus, the country remembered and mourned 9/11.  In reading some coverage and following the usual channels for content, we came across this story about the Michigan offensive lineman’s connection to 9/11 (his father is an NYPD officer).  The story got us thinking about how to go about telling your client’s relevant story some publicity on a somber, sensitive and delicate occasion (9/11 for our purposes).  The most important point in telling our story is to do so withtact, respect and empathy.

Further, you’ll need a strong relationship with the client to even discuss their connection to the tragedy.  This conversation won’t likely come up in the regular course of business.  You’ll need to develop a rapport with the client and most importantly, gain their trust.

You’ll also need to have a similarly close relationship with the journalist.  This story is not one where we find it appropriate to draft the standard pitch letter and say “Hey, I’ve got this great story that will fit perfectly for your coverage commemorating a national tragedy where hundreds of people lost loved ones! When can I set up the interview?”  Rather, like extracting the story from the client, you’ll have to be on a very comfortable level with the reporter.  You can casually mention that your client, so-and-so, has a very strong emotional connection to the tragedy but, again, be tactful.

PR pros shouldn’t actively seek coverage for their clients using a tragedy (or death) as the timely hook.  Leave that to the ambulance-chasing publicists.  Instead, if you’re in conversation with the reporter, you can mention that your client was closely affected.  We wouldn’t advise pushing the journalist or following up on your mention of the story.  Give the pitching a rest for those occasions, but remember that if you have a good story to tell (emotional, heartfelt, sincere and humanizing) the journalists on your beat may want to tell it so their readers can connect to the tragedy as well.