This blog post was done on September 30, 2012.
Hello everyone,
This is your stressed out intern checking in.
One of the many things I have learned so far at Havas Worldwide Siren is how to make a perfect pitch to journalists or bloggers.
Now, as you know, journalists are probably the most difficult people to get in touch with, after the Prime Minister! They are hardly ever at their desks, they do not pick up their calls, they do not return calls despite your many voice messages and they certainly do not entertain PR practitioners, especially interns.
But they are the most important people a PR practitioner has to build a relationship or rapport with. So what to do?
At Siren, I learnt that there is still no better way to get a story in the media than reaching out to a journalist or blogger directly and pitching an idea by email or phone. However, using social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn are also becoming very effective tools to get in touch with them. (A word of caution: this should only be done when you have already established a relationship with the said journalist or blogger.)
Pitching to these skeptical people is very challenging – especially when you are working under impossible deadlines and extreme pressure from your boss and your clients.
Each pitch must be carefully crafted and tailored according to the target publications and most importantly, their readership. If the readers are not interested in the topic, most likely the editors will not be interested either. After all, they know their readers best. Therefore, when pitching, it is better to pitch to fewer select media than to just send the same information to all and sundry.
My first attempt at pitching to media via email received no response. No surprise here. However, I persisted and spent several hours each day making follow up phone calls to try and get in touch with these journalists.
I had to pitch a general story about the theme of this year’s code::XtremeApps:: 2012 Programming Competition - The Silver Generation. This was no easy feat. Firstly, I started with some background research on the ageing population and tried to link it with raising awareness amongst young people. This also had to fit in with the aim of the competition which was to challenge the teams and individuals to develop innovative applications that will impact the Silver Generation positively. Despite my efforts and relentless follow up phone calls and emails, we received no pre-event coverage.
In my second attempt, I decided to narrow down the list of target publications and leveraged on the fact that the second prize winners for the Junior Category were two Malay sisters. This created interest from the Malay newspaper, Berita Harian, and subsequently the two girls were interviewed and featured in a story in the newspaper. My first breakthrough!
Using the same strategy, I was also able to secure media coverage in Lianhe Wanbao on code::XtremeApps:: 2012 Open Category winners. My client (and more importantly, my boss) were quite pleased with my effort.
Lesson learnt: It is possible to get media coverage if you put in the right effort and never give up. I would love to hear from you if you have had similar experiences or tips on how to make the perfect pitch.
By the way, for all you budding PR practitioners, here are some useful links on the art of pitching:
Li Xian Seow
15135214
Curtin Singapore
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