No one wants to hear a boring news story. Does anyone watch C-SPAN anymore? Doubtful. People want a story that will add value to their lives or teach them how to do something new. And reporters want to be the ones bringing those big stories to their audiences. But how do they find those stories?
This is where a public relations team comes in. We work with reporters and provide them with resources and client expertise that will help them write their stories. In a strange way, we are creating the news.
So, when you think of storytelling, what comes to mind? A story has three parts. A beginning. A middle. And an end. But, when you think of a press release, do you think of it having a beginning, a middle and an end? Not really. It’s mostly just facts laid out about an announcement, event, book, etc. I’ve found more success with writing personalized emails or what industry people call “pitches.”
Put yourself in the reporter’s shoes. Would you prefer to get a PDF of a 2 page press release, with very little context behind the release or a short email laying out the who, what, when, where, why and how, in a few short sentences? Personally, I’d pick the latter.
Press Releases.
Press releases include information about the who, what, when, where and why, as well as in-depth details many reporters aren’t interested in. They give up everything upfront, yet don’t always present the most compelling story. The reason this approach doesn’t work in most cases is because each reporter writes different types of stories, depending on their publication and style. While a press release is meant to be distributed widely, that’s not the point of our outreach. We use our unique strategy of personalization in order tailor to the individual reporter and their coverage area.
Personalized Pitches.
Personalized pitches give you the opportunity to make a connection with the reporter. They open the door for you to serve them the story on a silver platter, which is compelling for on-the-go reporters. Rather than all the details being sent in a lengthy press release, you send a specific story topic and ideas to support. You’ll see a better response from reporters with this strategy.
A personalized pitch might say,
“Hi [reporter], I saw your article on management and would love to connect you to Dr. Sebastian Bailey, president of global people performance company Mind Gym. Research points to five key ingredients that make up effective performance management. Dr. Bailey can discuss them, and he can also share how managers can:
- Set goals that stretch just enough and give feedback that gets acted on
- Use a light touch management to make a lasting difference
- Recognize biases that exist with rating performance and how to avoid them”
In just a few sentences, my pitch to a reporter was able to:
- Address them as an individual and relate the story to something they cover.
- Provide an expert for them to talk to.
- Provide background on what Mind Gym does.
- Highlight the research.
- Offer 3 points that the reporter can use in their story.
Fact: The most important question to ask yourself when you’re writing an email to a reporter is, why is this story important? That’s the question the reporter will need, so it’s imperative to answer this in your pitching email. Like my example above, provide context, a few snappy key points and the opportunity to build out the story with a thought leader.
Press releases take far longer than a few minutes to put together and are not nearly as personal. In the interest of being efficient and proactive in landing the story, a personalized email is the way to go. Sorry press releases, but we won’t miss you.
Have you had a better experience one way or the other?
Photo Credit: Life-Of-Pix
