Here are our top 10 tips when replying to journalists!
The clock is ticking! Journalist requests are time-sensitive so move quickly. If you see an opportunity that catches your eye, try to pitch as soon as possible, even if the deadline is days or even weeks away. Journalists are more likely to feature the first relevant pitches that land in their inbox. The further down you land in the journalist’s inbox, the lower your odds may be.
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Think quality over quantity. You don’t need to respond to every query! Pay close attention to whether you meet the journalists’ criteria & whether their publication meets yours.
A perfect pitch should be short, informative & to-the-point. No fluff or unnecessary jargon! Aim for under 300 words.
Make sure that you tailor your pitch to each individual request. When you pitch through Editorielle, the journalist’s name & subject line is already filled out, so that’s one less thing to think about! In terms of content, if you have a basic template that you use, that’s absolutely fine, but always remember to edit it accordingly. You’ll know where you need to get specific!
Having spoken to hundreds of journalists, their number one pet peeve is empty pitches! So what exactly is an empty pitch? An empty pitch is a reply with no content. An example would be an email that simply states: “Hi Harry, Are you still looking for someone?” And that’s it. It’s uninformative & the journalist may view it as time-wasting. This therefore moves us nicely on to the next tip.
Make sure you include all of the details that the journalist requested. Did they ask a question? Answer it! Did they request an image? Attach it!
Finally, remember to include important details, which dependent on you, may include:
They will probably be on a tight deadline and won’t have time for much back-and-forth communication, so make the journalist not need to reply!
A large chunk of text can be overwhelming for journalists. So break it up! Make it easily digestible by using bullet points, short sentences & keep paragraphs organised.
Journalists are looking for accurate information that they can use in their articles, so make your replies publication ready! Double check for typos as they’ll look unprofessional & ensure that the font, colour, size & spacing used within your pitch is consistent throughout.
Journalists may, or may not, inform you when the article is published. So if you don’t hear back, it doesn’t always mean you’ve been rejected! Make sure to set up Google Alerts for your name & business name. This will ensure that the next time a publication features you, you’ll get a notification.
If you get featured, do send the journalist a thank you email to show your gratitude. I promise they’ll really appreciate it & it will do wonders for your media-relations!
We hope you’ve found these top 10 tips useful & you can start implementing them for pitch perfection!
Published:
Wednesday, July 24, 2024
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