The cornerstone of any PR campaign is gaining media coverage for your client’s story.  Yet pitching a story to a journalist is probably the single most daunting task in public relations practice.

Add to this the sheer volume of stories being sold in to the media every day and the task starts to look impossible.  What PR consultants require is a pitch strategy, coupled with an armoury of tactics to cut through the noise and score with a story that will interest a journalist. 

One of the most popular training courses in the PR Training calendar is the PRCA’s “Selling In To The Media” a one day intensive training course that plots the course of a successful media pitch. 

Secrets, tactics, strategies 

There are dozens of secrets, tactics and strategies to the successful sell in, among them:  

1. Know your target media. Who is the reader (or viewer or listener)? What is the rhythm of the publication, when do the specific pages “go to bed”?  What’s the editorial stance that the publication takes to particular topics?

2. Know your story.  What is the relevance of your story to that publication? Can it be “topped and tailed” and made relevant to the locale? 

3. Ride the news cycle. The media is governed by the news cycle and so it makes sense to be aware of that cycle and ensure that when your story or client converges with the news cycle then you are pushing on an open door when pitching in to the media

4. Provide evidence. Have you got statistics or an expert interviewee that can add to the value of what you are offering the journalist? 

5. Timing. Choosing the time of day, or week or month to sell your story in is vital. Remember that morning conference is a key watershed moment in the production of a publication or broadcast platform. Approaching just before is often the best strategy

A successful pitch

Talking of strategies, there are many. Use of exclusives and embargos have their advantages – and their drawbacks!  Then there is your script, your follow-up and your database. Also your ability to spot the angle, develop it and convert it.  And of course there is your telephone script and your sell-in technique! 

All this and more makes a successful pitch to the media – and it is these steps that the PRCA’s best selling course “Selling In To The Media” takes delegates through. It gets results – and maybe you should think of enrolling and improve that all important hit rate.