Perfecting Your Pitch
How to Craft Captivating Headlines
Don’t Waste Precious Real Estate
Eight out of 10 recipients will only read your press release headline, so make it count. The best performing press release headlines hover around 88 characters. Be sure to include the most important keywords (like the company name) within the first 70 characters, where most search engines and email subject lines get cut off.
Do Move the Needle with Action Words
Press releases with headlines that include action words see the most engagement, as evidenced by years of analysis from Cision PR Newswire. To the right are the action words that consistently appear among the highest performing press releases distributed by PR Newswire.
Don’t Be a Cliché: Avoid These Overused Terms:
Want to capture journalists’ attention with a groundbreaking headline? Don’t use the word “groundbreaking.”
Not only have journalists grown tired of hearing words like those on the right, but 1 in 2 will even block a PR pro whose pitches sound too much like straight marketing and not enough like actual news.
The bottom line: avoid jargon in your media outreach.
The Particulars of Pitching and Following Up
We wanted to dig deeper into how journalists feel about PR pitches in particular, given the sheer volume of communications writers and editors receive: nearly half of journalists (46%) receive more than 50 pitches per week – and they’re not just email. Phone calls and social media messages are also part of the deluge. More than 1 in 5 (22%) get more than 100 pitches per week.
Unfortunately, a healthy portion of those emails go directly to the trash folder: the vast majority of journalists (91%) say only about half the pitches they receive are relevant to their audience or sector.
This further underscores the need for PR pros to do the necessary legwork up front to ensure their pitches are reaching the right audiences.
How many pitches do you get a week (including emails, phone calls, social media messages)?
If there’s anything trickier than getting a pitch right, however, it’s deciding on the right follow-up approach. The good news is that the majority of journalists are receptive to hearing from you after an initial pitch has been sent – but only up to a point.
More than half of journalists (55%) say one follow-up is enough, and 14% say twice is okay; however, nearly a third of journalists (31%) say “thanks, but no thanks” to following up altogether.
PRO TIP - Read the Room
If you’ve followed up and haven’t received a response, there’s a good chance the journalist either didn’t find your pitch relevant or couldn’t work it into their schedule. Either way, it’s likely time to move on, because persistence doesn’t always pay off with journalists: nearly 1 in 2 (48%) will block those who follow up repeatedly. Use your time and energy to find another contact who may be more receptive to your message.
How many times should a PR professional follow up with you after sending a pitch?
Before You Pitch: A To-Do List for Earning Your Media Coverage
A little research on journalists before you reach out to them can save everyone a lot of time in the long term.
Google them
Most journalists have profiles online or in reputable media databases, which often include info on the outlets they work for, topics they cover, their social media handles and how they prefer to be pitched.
Know their work
Take time to review their past stories. This will be the single best indicator of the types of stories they are likely to cover and the audiences for which they create content.
Look at their editorial calendars
See if and how your pitch fits into what they’re already planning to cover.
Check out their feeds
Take a peek at their social media activity to see what they’re posting, sharing, liking and commenting on. This can tell you even more about the topics they’re most interested in and most likely to cover.
Location, location, location
Pay attention to where the journalist is located and which regions they cover. Pitching a journalist located in Southampton for an event that takes place in Edinburgh won’t win you any coverage (but it may earn you a place in their spam folder).
In Their Own Words
Over the years, we’ve spoken with tens of thousands of journalists on how they prefer to be pitched. Here’s what they had to say:
Make it personal
Show that you’ve done your homework.
“Collaborations are always most effective when PR professionals understand our format, editorial content style and audience prior to pitching.”
“It is so important to personalise your messaging. I like to see that the publicists pay attention to who I interview [and what I] feature, rather than copying and pasting a press release.”
“Take the time to research the journalist you are pitching. Every day I get dozens of PR pitches... When I get that rare pitch that shows me that the PR pro has actually viewed my work, they’ve got my attention.”
Keep it short and simple
Get to your point—and fast.
“I get hundreds of pitches per day, and it’s impossible to read every single one completely, so the first two lines are important.”
“Please be clear and concise about what you are pitching in the beginning of your email; we often receive emails that take a couple of paragraphs to introduce their item.”
“I won’t read a pitch if it’s too long. Just get the main idea out and let me know I can reach out to you if I have any questions.”
Be direct
Lose the gimmicks and faux familiarity.
“When [the pitch] feels more like a pyramid-scheme sales pitch, it’s a huge turnoff for me.”
“Don’t use [a] clickbait title. Just tell me why you’re writing. ‘The best fashions ever’ won’t tell me anything; however, ‘sundresses from [our client] for summer’ will.”
“Make the first pitch simple and to the point… Make sure the subject line says what you’re pitching – not ‘quick question’ or another clickbait title.”
How to Pitch a Product: What to Include
We asked journalists about the must-have elements for PR pros to include in their product pitches:
2022 State of the Media Report
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