As PR professionals, we love the adrenaline rush of landing that big interview for a client with the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg or the New York Times, and yet few outside of the industry actually understand the myriad of factors reporters consider when deciding whether or not to open up our emails, respond to our pitches or put pen to paper. As someone with experience both on the sending and receiving-end of story pitches, I can tell you that successful PR comes in keeping reporters informed about company news, providing the right sources and then knowing when to get out of the way to let writers do what they do best.
It’s not to say that journalists don’t appreciate all the hard work PR people do to keep them informed – they just have so many other demands on their time and are under tremendous pressure to constantly research ever-changing industries, meet deadlines, follow breaking news on Twitter and TechMeme, conduct interviews and of course, write!
Journalism is indeed an art form and reporters respect PR pros who share the same love and respect for the craft and the profession. The most successful public relations representatives have a knack for writing that can be communicated through email pitches, understand the industries reporters cover and have an innate desire to help writers do their job better and more efficiently. Demands on reporters’ time coupled with the erosion of traditional publishing channels have forced journalists to compete with global news cycles, weighing the speed and accuracy of the stories they publish with the timeliness of breaking world news events.
In order to help reporters get what they need to write their stories, PR practitioners should use the following basic principles to make an impact for clients and build trusted relationships with journalists:
Know Their News Beats – Nothing is more annoying to journalists than receiving a pitch that is completely off base from the industries they write about. As PR professionals, it’s our job to constantly read their articles to understand what angles will resonate with a particular reporter and then package up client information to help build a compelling narrative.
Know What is News, And What’s Not – While companies and marketing departments want to constantly shout their news from the rooftops, what a company considers to be news may not always be perceived as newsworthy to a reporter. Business press typically never cover product or funding news while the trades are often more than willing to write about these topics as long as there is a solid hook. Savvy PR executives should examine upcoming company news with a critical lens to provide recommendations to clients about the newsworthiness of announcements and a strategy for effective media relations.
Understand the Right Times/Ways to Pitch – With hefty demands on reporters’ times, make sure to adhere to any specification as to the format writers wish to receive unsolicited content. While the more established generation of reporters don’t mind the occasional phone call, younger writers who have grown up in a world of texting and email often prefer email pitches over calls that may disrupt their day. When you do make call-downs, always ask if they have a few minutes to chat before going into your pitch, since many are on deadlines throughout the week.
Demonstrate Knowledge of the Industry – The role of a PR person can extend beyond simply offering up a source and scheduling interviews. Since we work closely within the industries we represent, there are opportunities to both educate reporters about trends we are seeing, and where the technology landscape may be heading. As such, it’s important to thoroughly understand a client’s products and services to accurately field questions and communicate where product offerings fit into the competitive landscape and how they are differentiated from others.
Help Assemble the Story – While many reporters may already have a particular story angle in mind when agreeing to an interview, as PR pros it’s important to provide quick snippets of information in pitches, often through metric-driven bullet points, trends, additional customer sources, case studies and multimedia. If you are pitching television outlets, make sure you have compelling visuals that can help supplement the story. For radio segments, think about audio storytelling and how sound, music and background ambient noise can help drive a story forward.
The field of journalism is essential for our society to function properly, for without the freedom to write, report and express ourselves as individuals, we go about our daily lives without context. PR colleagues, don’t get discouraged by the occasional rejection, take pride in the services you provide for your clients and know you have a valuable role in helping provide the one thing that fosters a more educated society – knowledge and the free flow of information.