5 red flags when pitching media 🚩 Here are five “no-nos” for those who want to keep their #media relations on the rise. ▪️ “Spamming” with irrelevant pitches. Year after year, most #journalists say that only a quarter (or less) of all emails they receive are relevant to them. So, if you don’t want to get blocked, do your homework and tailor your pitch to each media contact before you hit “send.” ▪️ Treating journalists as if they were your sales rep. Your clients and media readers are different audiences. The media aims to provide people with real news about what’s going on the market, and they are looking for data and information they can craft into newsworthy stories, not for a #marketing brochure. ▪️ Telling journalists how to do their job. Unless something is factually wrong in the article, nothing changes. Don’t even think to ask a journalist to edit phrasing or the title. ▪️ Using buzzwords. The pitch must be informative, so choose your verbiage wisely. Words like “leading,” “unprecedented,” “exciting,” “unique,” “cutting-edge,” “revolutionary,” “game-changer,” and/or “ground-breaking” don’t add value. ▪️ Following up repeatedly. Many journalists need two to three days to comprehend the material you sent them. Some of them don’t want to receive follow ups at all.
