Press release is perhaps the most important tool for business organizations to create a buzz in the market. While this tool is widely used in every other industry, buying packages from a professional agency is still a daunting task for many as there are too many options available to choose from. Beginners in the industry like startups, emerging companies, and small-scale businesses need PR the most for exposure but they are also short on budget.
No need to worry, as there are plenty of options to submit free PR as well. Many agencies offer free PR services that offer minimal benefits of distribution. You can simply search for such agencies and avail of a free package to distribute your content. However, these packages will never offer you the magnitude of results that you can gain from a paid package with guaranteed placements. Many professional agencies also offer freemium services for first-time users and you can take complete advantage of it.
Is There Any Chance to Distribute the PR by Yourself?
You can definitely write your own PR content but when it comes to distribution, you need some experts for the task. Even if you avail of a free package, the company can offer you minimum benefits as it has an active and huge distribution network. On the other hand, you only have the content but no credible connection with the media platforms or new sites. Only one person helps in this case other than an agency and that is a journalist.
How to Pitch a Journalist?
Journalists and reporters are always in search of new information, news, and updates that they can post or republish. Being newsworthy content, press release has a high demand among journalists who can also help the companies gain more exposure from the market. So, if you are willing to pitch a journalist; here are the steps how to do it.
1. Identify the Right Journalists
First of all, you have to find out the journalists who work in your niche. Unless they are relevant and niche to your industry; they are not going to pick your story. Make sure to research and find a list of journalists who can help with the purpose. Shortlist them along with their email ID and media contacts to communicate and pitch your PR later. If you are sharing industry-specific news; it is better to find someone from the niche who can help create a buzz. In case you are looking for local exposure; look for journalists who work on the basis of a region and cover regional news updates.
2. Find Your Angle to Pitch
An angle is what helps to turn facts into a story and makes the content even more engaging to read. Journalists receive a ton of pitches daily and the right angle helps to understand which story they need to cover. The angle is the way to frame your PR into a story that can attract the readers.
3. Attention-Grabbing Subject Lines
As mentioned already, journalists receive a lot of emails every day and the only thing that they can see at a glance even without opening the mail, is the subject line. That is why crafting an attractive subject line is highly important which improves the open rate for your pitch email. Here are some tips to make it perfect,
- Keep it short and be direct with your approach.
- Beware of spam filters and avoid using all caps, exclamation, and other punctuation.
- Offer a reference to the story and what it is about.
- In case there are multimedia attachments; mention that in the subject line by starting with “Video shows…”, “See how…” or “Watch…”
4. Write the PR Email
Now, it is time to craft the main message or the body of the pitch email where you ask them to share your story or the press release through their network and media outlets. Here are the three portions of the pitch email format that come with the maximum success rate of getting featured.
- Greeting – It the initial portion where you greet the journalist by addressing with the full name and prestigious media outlet where you want your PR to be published.
- Introduction – Make sure to create a bond with the journalist by offering a personalized introduction of yourself and the company. It shows that you have done your research and not made a mass approach to distribute it.
- Email Body – It is like the meat of your email that elaborates the story in detail.
5. Include the Press Release
After the pitch, the journalists would want to read your PR content and that should come right after. You can either copy and paste the whole PR content into the email body or attach a PDF of the content to the email. While both ways are effective, it is recommended to proceed with the latter as it keeps email clean and allows journalists to read the content separately.
6. Send Your Pitch Email
Now it is time to send the email to the journalists you have shortlisted before. The best days to send a pitch would be the middle of the week, especially on Tuesdays and Wednesdays as Mondays and Fridays have way more rush.
Concluding Thoughts
Free PR is an alluring option itself and by pitching the journalists, you can gain even more benefits. But when you have a professional PR agency by your side; things can get even easier while you witness an exponential growth of your business. Make sure to save ample budget to hire an agency next time that offers you ample time to focus on business and other prospects.
