O’Dwyer’s Features Resound’s Tips on Successful PR Pitching
O’Dwyer’s recently featured insights from Brandon Lewis, Account Coordinator in Resound’s NYC office, on how PR professionals can nail the “perfect pitch”.
Read the full article online at O’Dwyer’s PR News here:
Keep Calm and Carry On Pitching
Excerpt:
In PR, there’s nothing more exciting than landing that perfect pitch. All of the hard work that went into your strategy pays off in a secured placement for your client and a budding relationship with a media contact. More often not, however, the perfect pitch is more elusive than we’d like. We send emails that don’t receive replies and make phone calls that aren’t answered. And then there are those awful times when we break through the radio silence and are greeted with an unhappy reporter with no qualms in lashing out. Any of these scenarios can rattle someone’s confidence, especially if you’re just starting out. Being successful in PR means shaking off those tough experiences and learning from them. Here are some tips to get you started on the path to being a media relations master:
Research.The amount of preparation you put into your campaign will dictate the success of each step, the first being the creation of your media list. If you think building a quality media list using just a third-party media tool is too good to be true, that’s because it is. In the age of shrinking newsrooms, the best way to keep up with the changes in the media landscape is to stay on top of them yourself. Take the time to actively search for the right contact, starting first with the outlet you’re trying to target. Look for stories that closely relate to your pitch, and see who’s writing them. Once you’ve found that author, look into other stories they’ve written. Pop over to their Twitter profile and see what they’re talking about in real-time. The closer you can align your pitch to their interests, the better chance you have of starting a conversation with them. Also, take note of their preferred methods of contact and their pet peeves. If a reporter notes on Twitter or Cision that they don’t like to be contacted via phone or through Twitter, don’t do it. It’s a surefire way to ruin a relationship that hasn’t even started.
