You've developed your story, and you've built your target MEDIA list. Now it's time to take that story to the media in what's known as pitching. pitching to the media is a key element of any PR role. And the most successful people in this industry are those that can place a good story. Getting quality media coverage takes a lot of hard work, you could just email your story out to all the journalists on your list, or you could use Newswire but these tactics only work if you're already famous and the media already knows about you. Unfortunately, the rest of us have to work a little harder to gain quality media coverage.

If it were that easy, everyone would be doing it. Here are the steps to getting your story covered by the media. Know your story. You simply cannot pitch a story unless you know what it's about. This may seem obvious, but it's surprising how often a PR person is given a media release and told to pitch it when they don't really understand what it's about. read up on the company, the product, the service or the issue to get a real overview of how it all comes together.

Ask your team what they know about it and get clarification on any issues. Don't be embarrassed to ask stupid questions. Journalists will probably ask the same questions of you and you need to be able to answer them. So brainstorm with your team to build up a list of potential questions that the journalist may ask and make sure you have answers. Identify the targets from your list. In the previous lesson, we covered how to build your media list.

Now that you have a story to pitch go through your list and have a look at each applet which sections might be relevant. Do they accept byline is from third party sources? Do they cover news? Do they publish case studies or do they do product reviews? This is really important. If a publication doesn't do reviews, contacting them and asking them to review your product will enjoy the journalists or editors involved.

If there's one outlet that's really valuable To business, then you might want to offer them an exclusive, which means you give them a story a few days before anyone else gets it. Plan your pitch. Write down exactly what your angle will be for pitching each market. What is the hook? Why would they want it? For example?

What does it offer their audience? How does it relate to the current news agenda? Why now? Why then read through it verbally with your team and use the opportunity to gather feedback and adjust your pitch accordingly, you're going to call the journalist in the first instance to make the pitch. draft a follow up email to send through after your initial pitch. I've posted a template follow up email in the resources section of this lesson.

If you have to pitch by email, remember that journalists receive on average 300 emails a day according to Houston PR. So yours needs to stand out. Here's a good way to structure your email. What are you offering for example, a byline and interview a meeting? What is the topic or story or angle? Why you pitching this now?

What's the hook? What's the summary of the argument, opinion article or subject for discussion, and finish with the question, then include a company boilerplate, I've included a template email pitch in the resources, broadcast pitching. Pitching broadcast outlets is very similar to print and online, you still require a story and you still require an argument and a good relevant spokesperson. However, in addition, you also need to think about how a piece might look or sound. So if they're filming on location, be sure to give details about what might be included in the feature, what cool images they use, or what sounds might add to the actuality of the piece. also include things such as location and a list of spokespeople available if your company's been featured before.

Be sure to mention this and share any examples you have to prove that they're competent at broadcast interviews. Call people on your list and talk them through your story. Remember to in Introduce yourself to find what you have to offer. And don't just read a script to them. Try not to make small talk people are busy and it'll annoy them. I usually say don't email them first.

If you email first and they don't respond, then you've kind of backed yourself into a corner. That's because a phone call thing did you get my email is a little annoying. A call in which you say, I have a great story for you is not get the most important point of the story down the phone. First, make a note of who you've spoken to when you spoke to them and what the follow up action is in your media spreadsheet. There's a task for yourself to do the follow up action. If you can't get hold of someone, it's frustrating, but keep trying until you do.

And if you still can't get them on the phone, then send a very carefully worded very brief pitch by email. Remember that journalists can be difficult and if someone is rude to you don't get upset. Think of it as character building. Also, keep in mind that they're just people and they need pios to help them find good stories. be helpful. Once a journalist has agreed to read your story, make it as easy as possible for them to do so.

Arrange an interview and make sure it happens. Make sure they have all the correct spellings of the names of people involved. They full titles and contact details, ask what they need and help them get it whether that's pictures, research, case studies, or brand assets, all of which should probably be in the press section on your website. Follow up quickly be really responsive to show them that this is going to be easy for them. Next up, thank them. Your story's been published well done.

Before you pop the champagne drop the journalist aligned to say thanks. They're just people and most people like to feel appreciated. Update your media list. It's really useful if you can keep notes in your media list of who you've spoken to and when, what the result was and anything else you learnt in the process. This will assist you in any future media pitching, reactive pitching. Reactive media pitching is one of the more fun elements of public relations.

It's about really understanding your messaging and value proposition and then thinking on your feet when a news story breaks to enable you to increase media coverage and exposure. For example, if you look at today's news, you'll see that Liam Gallagher the front man from Oasis has been talking to the media about knife crime. If you were a charity that specialized in preventing violent crime, you might take that as an opportunity to produce a canned comment and then that over to the media to get your position heard. While you don't always know what stories will break, you can still be ready to pitch reactively by having a clear handle on upcoming dates and hooks, having your messaging and comments pre packaged and ready to go. being organized so that when a story breaks, you're ready to take action. Sometimes journalists will ask the spokesman or comments to be featured in their stories.

They might do this through journalist requests services such as response source, or by asking on Twitter using the hashtag, journal request, or Haro, which stands for help a reporter out. So it's really worth following these tags and responding quickly for a maximum chance of success. And for broadcast, there's a tool called radio guest list that does the same thing. tools to help with pitching. There are a couple of tips that will make your pitching more effective. Use a CRM system or email marketing tool that allows you to see a few emails being opened.

Then you can tailor your follow up based on whether it's been open and how long for quick recap, have a great grasp of your story and why it would be relevant to that journalist at that particular time before you start pitching. Remember that you might need to make multiple approaches before your pitch is successful. But try not to be annoying. If a journalist is interested in your story, be responsive and helpful. Make it easy for them to run your story. Be methodical use technology to keep a record of who you've approached and what the outcome was, as well as to check in on whether your outreach has been opened.

Now that you know how to persuade a journalist to run your story, you'll probably find that they want to interview you or your spokesperson. You'll need to know how to handle immediate interview which is what we cover in the next lesson. Keep watching