3 ways to deliver the perfect pitch
Agency PR pros shared their advice to honing media relations skills. Compare your recent pitches to their insights to make sure you’re not missing the mark.
Though you know a media relations misstep when you see it, good PR pitches are harder to define.
To get to the bottom of this, my team at Communications@Syracuse surveyed top PR agency pros for advice from those who work in the trenches.
Twenty-five public relations practitioners weighed in, each answering the question, “What is the most crucial element of a PR pitch?” Their answers contain several common themes, including the importance of personalization, relevance and timeliness.
1. Personalize it.
Jessica Klenk, a PR pro at Merritt Group, emphasizes the importance of personalization:
The secret weapon is the person sending it—their voice and their personality. The first thing reporters delete is a canned, generic pitch, so take the time to be authentic. Personalize your note and make sure it sounds like it came from an actual human.
Klenk’s co-worker, Julia McGavran, agreed. “It’s easy to become robotic and just copy and paste e-mails,” McGavran says, “but actually speaking to them like a human can really help break down the barriers.”
2. Ensure it’s relevant.
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