Working in the media we all know there are the same stories that crop up every year without fail. Dry January, ‘New Year, New Me’, holiday style, to name a few examples.
But is it always a good idea to jump on the band wagon?
A tweet went viral earlier this month when PR Director, Sophie Rhone, posted a screenshot of an email exchange with a journalist she was selling in to.
It appeared she’d sent in a press release about Veganuary, to which she received the reply: “Stop sending me stuff about f*cking Veganuary. F*cking idiots.”
Clearly it is never OK for someone to be spoken to like this – especially for doing their job. But on the other hand, it must be frustrating to receive hundreds of emails on the same topic each day – and even worse if they aren’t actually of relevance to what you write*. (* speaking in a more general term rather than in specific relation to the tweet above.)
With topics like these, it’s always going to be a crowded market, so you need to make sure you or your brand has something really valuable to say. You need to make sure you’re adding to the conversation – and remember to have the customer (or the journalist’s readers) front of mind.
Ask yourself: How does this make a difference? Why are we talking about it now? Is this information new? Why should people care? And, why is this story better than all the others they will be receiving?
On top of this, you also need to think about how you can make a journalist take notice of your pitch when their inbox is probably flooded with dozens of others talking about the same topic.
And there are a few rules you should always follow to make your life easier:
Firstly, it needs to be a good fit for the publication. It may sound obvious, but make sure you’re regularly reading a title you’re selling in to, to know what works for them.
Of course, the best situation would be speaking to a journalist you know. If you have a good relationship with them, they are more inclined to answer their phone or read what you have sent them.
But when this isn’t possible, researching the journalist beforehand is so important – just because they may have ‘food’ as an interest in their Gorkana profile, doesn’t mean what you’re sending is of relevance to them.
Think about what they have written about recently, what are the regular pages they write for in their title? Will the info you’re sharing with them actually be of interest? This research will also ensure you’re not asking them to write something they have already covered too – a classic bugbear.
Next on the list is ensuring your subject line packs a punch to make it stand out in a journalist’s inbox. At-a-glance information is so important and is the difference of your email being read or deleted.
This also applies to the first few lines of your message too. Make sure you can easily summarise the information you are sharing as this is what will spark their interest and will most likely be what they will then pitch to their editor. Share the who, what, when, why and how as well as any key bits of quirky information that makes your story different. If it isn’t interesting, it isn’t going to land.
In short, make sure that what you’re saying is interesting, relevant and really adds something of worth. Yes, these types of stories come around each year for a reason, but there is no point in jumping on them if you’re not going to be heard.
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