Cracking the code: media pitching tips to overcome the silence and get responses
If I had a dollar for every time a client asked me why their media pitch wasn’t getting any responses, I’d be a very wealthy agency owner.
If you’ve spent hours crafting the *perfect* media pitch only to find yourself hearing crickets after it’s sent, you’re not alone. I get approached by agency partners and clients every day with this same complaint:
“My media pitch isn’t getting any responses”
“I wrote a great media pitch, but no one is responding”
“If I could just get reporters to respond to my email, I know they’d be interested in my story”
The good news is that most of the common media pitching errors are easily correctable.
Here are four of the most common reasons your media pitch isn’t getting responses.
1) You’re sending your media pitch to the wrong people
Stop pitching general ‘news’ or ‘tips’ email addresses and pitch individual reporters and editors instead. Be very targeted in your approach, and don’t assume every journalist is the right journalist for your media list.
2) You’re pitching the media the wrong story
If you’re pitching your news announcement as the story, you might be missing the point. Most people don’t want to read stories about a product launch or a new service rollout. After all, are these the types of stories that make you want to click on them? Of course not. Take the time to research trends and news in your industry and tie your pitch to those things instead of assuming that your story is newsworthy on its own. Put some effort into determining what the target audience actually wants, and you can expect a more positive response from those you are pitching to.
3) Your expectations and timeframes for media pitching are unrealistic
Good publicity doesn’t happen overnight, and anyone who tells you otherwise is just wrong. Adjust your expectations and stay the course. The best media campaigns are done consistently and over time. A great pitch is not easy to prepare, even if you are a solid writer and know a lot about content marketing. Prepare to fortify yourself with patience.
4) Your product/service/brand has some fatal flaws that need to be addressed
Maybe your messaging, or your product or service in general, is just not of interest to the marketplace. The good news is that with a few adjustments, even these issues can often be resolved.
I would also add a very IMPORTANT #5 tip for pitching the media
You’re not spending enough time building media relationships! Media pitching works best when you look at it as a mutually beneficial endeavor. If you’re not taking the time to build relationships with media contacts and if you’re not providing them with something of value, it’s going to be a one-sided relationship, and you likely won’t get any responses. Who wants to be cold-pitched, anyway?