Close up and personal

Public Relations practitioners exist to be the mouthpiece of a company or brand to its stakeholders and visa versa. In a consultancy, especially entertainment and lifestyle, media relations is a vital element in a practioners job description.

During my internship I created several different email and phone pitches to media in a bid to encourage them to publish a diary mention, write up an article on behalf of their publication, attend an event or interview talent for broadcast. We are all well aware that journalists want the scoop on exclusive stories, events or interviews but in reality our job is to get as much coverage as possible to boost the reputation and awareness of the company. Throughout my internship I learnt a few little techniques on how to create a successful email pitch that is easy to read and personal.

1.     Never have the words ‘FW’ in the subject line of an email. This stands for ‘forward’ and is an indicator that the journalist is one of many that has been blasted with the same pitch. Instead make sure the subject line clearly illustrates the purpose of the email.

2.     Always use the journalist or editors name in the email. Although it can be more time consuming, greeting them by their name rather than a generic ‘hey!’ makes the email personal. It makes the receiver feel that they were individually thought of and not just another number on the list.

3.     Make sure the publication pitched to has the relevant target audience. There is nothing worse than a journalist receiving a pitch for a hospitality event when they are a mining publication. This also makes the PR firm look silly. It’s important to have a good understanding of the publications that target the desired audience.

4.     The email pitch needs to be short, sweet and straight to the point. Journalists don’t have time to look through long winded paragraphs. It’s important to make sure that all questions are answered in a clear and succinct way.

5.     Pictures are a necessity. We live in a digital age where a picture is really worth more than a thousand words. In fact it can actually be the picture that persuades the journalist or editor to publish the article/event or to move it to the front page.

I remember learning a few of these techniques in my Media Relations class last semester as well. It’s really cool to see how university and the ‘real world’ go hand in hand.

Roxy.