Last week saw a busy schedule of press briefings for clients of both Prompt Boston and Prompt London. I was very happy to accompany one client to a series of appointments which included a highly technical briefing, followed by a more general discussion with the Wall Street Journal. This made me think about several topics, which I’ll begin to discuss in this first of a new series of posts.
I’d like to start by talking about the importance of knowing how to pitch tech stories productively to the national press. Too often technology vendors and their technology PR partners are guilty of trying to say too much and making their pitches far too complex. Familiarity with the industry press makes them believe that they can simply contact editors, let them know a new product is being released, and then tell them all about each of their new product features. It might seem that the same strategy will work for the national press, but it’s vital to first think from the perspective of each publication.
Pick up a serious broadsheet on either side of the Atlantic – such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, the Financial Times or The Guardian. Even other styles of newspapers like the Daily Mail, the Daily Express, The Washington Post or USA Today. Read them objectively and try to picture whether or not you could honestly see your intended story running as you framed it through a technical press release. Remember that national newspapers have a wide circulation, and must appeal to a very broad range of people.
This requirement for a broad appeal means that national newspapers can’t afford to be too focused. Even if you’re talking to a section editor or an editor with a specialist beat, they still need to be aware of their entire readership. When pitching to the national press, a human interest angle is essential – I’ve written about this before, when I referred to each narrative behind a company as a ‘Pub Story’. This is what makes story hooks more compelling for national journalists. In a separate blog post, I will also deal with a connected issue: lazy pitching. This irritates me because I strongly believe that pitching is not about volume. Just like lazy sales – you can’t just buy a massive list, spam everybody and hope to succeed: instead you need hooks and honey.
But back to the nationals; if you’re going to pitch to national journalists, here are some considerations that I think are important:
- Think from a human angle, not from a technical angle. Why was the company started? How, by whom and what was their inspiration? Which team members have interesting stories that are pertinent to what is happening in the industry? What is the impact of those new products or services on a broader, cultural level, to the average human being?
- I’ve written before about ‘telling a pub story’, and the focus is the word ‘story’. This isn’t a marketing message or advertising spin, it’s a general interest story that hooks in to a company’s history, values, products or services
- Review key messaging that you want to get across, and work hard on fresh, relevant angles that link to those messages, and vice-versa
- Research and approach relevant journalists. Read their publication and recent stories that they have authored. Are there relevant angles you can contribute to? Steer? Disagree with? Do your homework and make your pitch as relevant as possible.
- Be honest and decide whether or not you could really see your story being published in your target publication. How would it look? What might the possible headline be? You cannot suggest content or headlines to the journalist, but it’s a valuable exercise in considering the link between your angles and the publication’s remit
- Keep your pitch short. It’s all about the story.
- Suggest convenient times and locations for any meetings. Offer specific times and locations from the outset and don’t make it a to-and-fro.
Remember that you are contacting a journalist under time pressure that needs to create relevant copy for their readers. Let them know that you have a relevant story opportunity, what precisely it is, who the person is that you’d like them to speak with, and why they will prove a valuable contact for the editor to meet. Next, make your client readily available at a time and location convenient to the editor.
I love what I do (but it’s not rocket science). Next up, how to be a spokesperson for the national press…
The post Tech PR perspective: Pitching to the national press appeared first on Prompt Communications Technology PR.
