Earlier this month, the Belle team embarked on their second annual team trip to discuss 2016 goals and company values while enjoying some good old fashioned team bonding. During the trip, I led a session on media pitches and how to build relationships with reporters. We discussed what works, what doesn’t and what we can do to improve.
It was a really great open discussion with the Belle PR team, and (I hope) it led the team to reexamine how they are pitching. I’m a firm believer in researching every reporter before pitching them, which leads to less pitching time, but a greater percentage of targeted results for clients. Whether you start building the relationship beforehand in person or via social media, or keep in contact after an article is published, you’re showing very busy journalists that you are a resource, a professional and most importantly– not a robot.
I’ll be the first to admit, this can be really challenging for younger PR professionals who are pressured by their clients or supervisors to pitch large lists they grab in a PR tool or overworked PR pros who have different clients with no hope of overlap when pitching journalists. That’s a challenge, but it shouldn’t mean you don’t try. Which is why I love Cision’s #PitchPRomise.
Released just last week, Cision is trying to combat the abuse of PR tools which can make media pitches appear to be automated and unforturnately gives PR Pros a bad rap. The #PitchPRomise is a pledge to use technology to build relationships, to streamline conversations and to send relevant media pitches. Here is a partial list of the promise:
- Respect the inbox of influencers I engage by sending targeted, relevant pitches.
- Keep pitches short, simple and to the point.
- Personalize pitches so recipients can easily identify why an opportunity is the right fit for their audience.
- Respond promptly to an influencer’s questions, concerns or requests.
- Honor all agreed upon deadlines, or update influencers in advance if a deadline cannot be met.
Honestly–some of these should be common sense, but here we are fellow PR Pros. You can check out (and sign!) the #PitchPRomise here.
How do you build relationships with reporters and craft media pitches? Let us know by tweeting us at @thinkbellecom!
