Why Aren’t Reporters Responding to My Pitch?

posted by Melanie Rembrandt on Dec 22, 2009 | Comments (0) | Permalink | Trackback URL

If you are contacting reporters and mailing media packets on a regular basis without getting responses, are you:

1. Sending information all about your company’s products and services rather than offering valuable information to each media member?

2. Focusing on features and not benefits?

3. Bothering reporters with repetitive phone calls, e-mails and mailings?

4. Sending hundreds of packets without targeting each media venue and reporter?

5. Spending a lot of time and money?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you need to stop and revise your strategy.

Before you contact any media members, it’s important for you to know what they focus on and how you can provide them with unique and interesting information. For example, you can:

- Prepare information that offers benefits specifically for their audience. – Offer yourself as an expert resource for future stories. – Give them an exclusive case study specific to their readers. – Write a press release that focuses on the benefits of your products and services and more!

These are just a few ideas, and there are many ways to capture media attention. It’s a matter of always asking “What’s in it for them?”

By targeting a unique pitch to a specific media member’s needs, you’ll establish yourself as a valuable resource and get more press mentions. But if you continue to focus on simply selling your products and services alone, you’ll be waiting a long time for your phone to ring!

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