This is NOT the response you want from the media when you send an email pitch!
Just like press releases, ask ten PR pros about the best method for writing an excellent email pitch, and you're going to get ten different responses.
I don't think there's one perfect method. (Establishing some sort of relationship is your first priority, though.) You need to develop your own style before you go in for the kill.
Promise me you'll keep it clear and personable, and free of canned, corporate-speak.
I was going to include this information in the Week Four Lesson Module, but I think the topic deserves an open forum conversation. Even if you've never done media relations, this is where your gut instinct comes into play. Put yourself in the media person's shoes. Do you want to be bombarded with garbage?
Here are a couple of articles to jump-start the conversation:
How To Write the Perfect Email Pitch.
Example of a Great PR Pitch
(from ChrisBrogan.com, another name to remember in the New PR context)
And as up-and-coming PR pros, get familiar with the Bad Pitch Blog. And make sure that your name or one of your press releases ever appears here!
What does your gut say?
My gut is conflicted because I've worked in Corporate America for so long, I've been trained to think and speak a certain way. When I read, I prefer clean and clear. But when I start to write, my mind gets jumbled because old habits are ready to get spilled onto paper and I'm fighting that. It seems easy, and maybe it was easy back when it was second nature. But something in my body is still resisting the idea that simple is smart, even when I know that it is.
ReplyDeleteI like the brevity of the email pitch. It is very direct, but not intimidating and I am a HUGE fan of lists and bullets! It is comforting to know that this style of writing is embraced in the PR industry.
ReplyDeleteLike Melissa, at times I feel uneasy sending such simple messages to co-workers/supervisers in the corporate world because simplistic writing is not widely embraced.
I think corporate America is clinging to the notion that flowery speech and fancy wording are symbols of intelligence, while simple brief messages are considered lazy or ignorant. Let's point the finger at corporate America for once and tell them they're wrong (in a short bulleted list of course :-).
My gut about PR e-mail pitches says you must do your research beforehand. Make sure you have an idea that is truly singular, or solves some problem for the pitch target's audience.
ReplyDeleteTake your time to research the right publication or media venue and contact person. As a journalist, I wish I had a nickel for every ill-targetd e-mail pitch. Some of them even misspelled my newspaper's or editor's name.