[Editor’s Note: How many times has leadership asked you to get a mention or a feature about your brand in the NY Times or the Wall Street Journal? Frederik Bjørndal, who leads corporate press in North America and Europe for Novozymes, a Denmark-based bio solutions company, has delivered. Last year the NY Times mentioned Novozymes’ technology on page 1; later it was featured in the Sunday magazine. PRNEWS asked him how he’s helped get Novozymes’ narrative coverage in the Times, the Atlantic, Forbes, Fortune and National Geographic, among other major media.]
Have Something Relevant to Tell
When I talk to journalists and see the pitches they receive I am blown away by how often what they are sent is off, completely off, not even close to their beat.
Journalists need compelling ideas relevant to their beat to make their stories stronger and busy lives easier. If, for whatever reason, you don’t have that, then don’t pitch.
A pitch offering nothing to the journalist is noise; it will only make the hill you have to climb steeper. Your profile may get marked as spam and the journalist will never again see your messages. Ask: Is what I’m offering relevant? Is it newsworthy? Exclusive? Does it have angles? Can I offer good visuals and pointed messages? Do I have executives who can deliver those messages? Think in terms of headlines – and, crucially, does my pitch carry a good one?
Start Specialized, Achieve Spillover
Everyone wants to make it into the New York Times or Wall St Journal. Although such ambitions are great, they are a tall order, particularly if you are a small operation and just starting to build a profile.
The media landscape is changing. Specialized, digital-only publications are emerging and some of them are influential, particularly with major media reporters on specialized beats. So, consider aiming at specialized pubs. It might be easier to get through and could be more straightforward for you to craft ideas that resonate with specialized trade media.
Profiles in specialized media can help get you into bigger publications. Journalists may recognize your company’s name. They might even get story ideas from what they’ve read in these pubs. Remember, though, point 1 still applies.
Understand How Journalists Work
You are busy. So are journalists. We all know stories of journalists receiving perhaps 300 pitches a day. I’ve seen those bombarded inboxes.
And journalists need to deliver more with less. They also need to deliver almost continuously, while being responsible for providing photos, hosting podcasts and gathering video to support their stories.This is the landscape you’re facing.
If you want to have a shot against that backdrop, you must prioritize quality in your pitch and keep it concise. A tip: Once you have carefully crafted your compelling, newsworthy pitch cut it by half. If the pitch flies, you can add details later.
Believe in Your Pitch – or Kill it
If you have an idea and craft a pitch from it, but don’t really think it will fly, stop. If you are lukewarm while crafting it there is almost a 100% chance that your pitch will never resonate with a journalist.
Take product pitches, for example. If you are pitching a new product, but are unable to offer much else – numbers, quirky takes, consumer angles – then reconsider how you are pitching. Tell people at your company that you need more meat on the bone to succeed with this pitch.
Never Give Up if You Have the Golden Pitch
If you believe in your pitch, then by all means fire away.
Successful pitching often is about striking that very delicate balance between being on your front foot while also knowing when to hold back.
Some of my most successful pitches came from not giving up on what I believed were very strong pitches, despite a complete lack of response for a long time.
A section front page in The Wall Street Journal came from calling a journalist who I felt strongly was the right match for the pitch. Indeed, she had seen the pitch, but was so busy she hadn’t had a chance to react to it. She appreciated my persistence. Two weeks later, a substantial article published, including in print, online, and as the subject of a podcast.
Sometimes Even the Best Pitch Doesn’t Fly
Thousands of brilliant pitches never make it into coverage. The amount of incredible stories greatly outnumbers the means through which to tell them – even with an increase in specialized media. That is one of the reasons why some brands are creating news platforms.
Don’t over-speculate as to why your pitch never flew.
We’re in a fast-moving, sometimes momentary, business. Perhaps you hit the journalist with your idea while she was having coffee – and came back to 25 new messages. As she was already busy with stories, she decided to just delete those messages altogether.
Know that if you had a strong idea, even without response, your pitch almost certainly left a mental note with the journalist that here is a PR pro providing interesting perspectives on behalf of a newsworthy brand. Your journey going forward will become easier – and you will have slightly less of that mountain to climb.
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