3x The Success Rate of Your Media Pitches in 5 Steps

Sitting on a story or company news that you believe would garner media coverage? Not sure how to get it in the hands of worthwhile media contacts? We got you covered. Below are 5 steps to boost your media pitches and ensure they appeal to reporters and journalists. 

Let’s dive in!

1. Draft Several Subject Line Options

Subject lines are the most crucial aspect of a successful pitch. These quick snippets of text are the first words a reporter will read regarding your story. If you don’t catch their attention within 60 characters or less, you can almost guarantee your email won’t even be opened.

Here are some facts you should know about subject lines and associated recipient behavior:

• 64% of recipients decide to open or delete emails based on subject lines

• 69% of email recipients report email as spam based solely on the subject line

• A/B testing of email subject lines and content can drive up to 28% higher ROI

• The most effective subject lines are personalized, promotional, and engaging

What does all this tell you? When journalists are receiving more than 50 pitches a day, in some cases, your subject lines need to be eye-catching, personal, and well-thought out. Otherwise, your email might as well have been delivered to a spam folder.

We recommend drafting a handful of subject lines to dream up the most creative snippets that journalists can’t ignore. The more options you have, the more creativity will flow, and the more likely it will be that you can generate a killer subject line. 

Once you have about 5-10 subject lines, we recommend getting feedback from colleagues on which one captures their attention the most. Use this strategy to weed out the less engaging options.

2. Write Your Pitch, Shorten It, Remove Filler Words, and Then Shorten It Again

Today’s journalists are inundated with emails flooding their inbox. The last thing they want is to read each pitch that’s 3 pages long and full of business jargon. To make your pitch as concise and to the point as possible, draft it up, remove filler words, and shorten it again.

Pitches should be no more than 300 words in total. Rather, the shorter the better. Forget what your college professor told you—you don’t need to share 1,000 words to tell a story. Tell the story in 5 sentences instead. The reporter will be grateful, and the coverage you’ll generate will be your reward.

3. Enhance the Readability of Your Pitch

We’ve already established that journalists are busy and don’t have all day to read a long pitch. To make your pitch even more readable, make it skimmable. That means, bold certain keyphrases that are most important. What’s the “meat and potatoes” sentence of your pitch? The one that sums up what your pitch is all about. This is the one to bold.

Another great tip is to use bullet points to enhance the readability overall. If you have a list of talking points, topics, or facts, it’s best to put them into a bulleted list to make the content easier to scan and digest.

4. Hyperlink Sources to Add Credibility

If you’re making claims or referring to data, company websites, and/or social media profiles in your pitch, be sure to hyperlink to these sources. This will boost your pitch’s credibility. For instance, if you reference a report in your pitch, add the link to the report so that a journalist can refer to where you got your information from. 

Pro tip: Be sure to use high-quality sources (Forbes, McKinsey, etc.) that further illustrate the validity of your statements. 

5. Provide a Clear, Concise Call to Action

What good is a pitch if it doesn’t motivate the journalist to take action? Your pitch should offer up an opportunity for the journalist such as:

• Interviewing a stakeholder for an exclusive

• Finding out more information on a topic they cover from an industry expert

• Obtaining expert commentary on a story they’ve been covering

Let’s put it this way: the journalist shouldn’t be wondering what they should do with your pitch. They should know exactly how they want to share your story with their readers. 

If you’re looking to maximize the success rate of your media pitches, the 5 steps listed above are foundational. We can help you build on your media relations strategy from here. Get in touch with us to get started.