When I started out as a digital nomad in Hollywood I sat for hours in coffee shops painstakingly updating my media contact lists. As my work branched out from entertainment PR to startup marketing, my lists grew exponentially to include bloggers, influencers and businesses by industry and city.
I’ve sent thousands of pitch emails securing media placements and content partnerships over the last ten years. Here’s what you need to do to get started.
Research
I know it’s tempting after your three hundredth contact to throw in the towel and skip the details to send out a generic bulk email but if you do, all your previous hard work would be for nothing. Bulk emails rarely get picked up and more often than not, get blacklisted by the recipient.
Do your research. After you have found your contact and email address, spend a little time scanning their content to get an idea of tone and point of view then check out their Twitter feed and see what they are tweeting about, whether it’s Donald Trump’s view on immigration or Rihanna’s new make-up.
Use this information to craft your pitch but be timely and relevant.
Getting to know you
It doesn’t hurt to spark a Twitter conversation to your media prospect so they get an understanding of you. We both need each other so make it easy for them. When there is something to pitch your media prospect may be less inclined to ignore you. Relationships like these can last for years, so nurture them as they move around from one publication or venture to another.
Let’s get ready to email
After you’ve researched your prospect it’s time to write a killer headline and opening paragraph which shows you know your stuff. A headline should be crafted to spark interest to your recipient. It’s a waste of your time blasting an email about oranges when your prospect writes about apples. It will show that you are either desperate or lazy.
Write a short email – one or two paragraphs – in your first pitch and only send a press release with attachments on request.
I tend to send my pitches on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday because Monday is, well Monday, and people are busy with meetings or catching up on work. Friday is the opposite. The weekend is beckoning and your email might get pushed to Monday, which really means Tuesday and then it might be forgotten altogether.
Follow up
Your prospect has a million reasons why she didn’t respond to your email. She didn’t receive it, was too busy or forgotten it or she has zero interest. Always follow up your initial email to find out for sure. Just because she doesn’t reply to your current pitch doesn’t mean the relationship is dead so keep her in mind next time.
To sum up, the perfect pitch must be friendly and familiar, relevant and timely, and short and sweet.
These tools make life easier. Muck Rack builds targeted media lists for publicists and journalists and is indispensable in your media research. GMAIL has a handy email scheduler named Boomerang and a host of other tools to compose content or make lists.
If you want to read more on PR and digital marketing for startups, check out my blog post. For PR and content marketing queries, have a word with me at Ginger Media & Entertainment. And for consulting or anything else, I’m here at The Creative Entrepreneur.
