It’s hard to make your pitch stand out in a reporter’s inbox. Journalists receive hundreds of emails a week, so capturing their attention requires more than just a catchy subject line. When writing your next pitch, here are three tips to make it pop:
1. Pull Out the Numbers
Using numbers is one of the easiest ways to make your pitch stand out. Reporters love a fact or number they can put in a lead or headline.
Think outside of financial investments – your number could be the square footage of a new building or renovation, the number of sandwiches sold during a fundraiser, or how many people are impacted by your nonprofit’s services.
If you have more than one number to share, pull them out into a bulleted list to ensure they stand out to the reporters and producers reading your pitches.
2. Provide Photo and Video Assets
Providing photo and video assets is an essential part of pitching to the media. Strong visuals not only help tell your story but also make your pitch stand out to reporters.
You want to make sure your brand is well represented with current and high-resolution photos or B-roll footage. Don’t send reporters digging through their archives for something to use – most of the time, they’ll pass on the pitch.
If you’re pitching to TV reporters, supplying candid moments and B-roll should be the priority, as graphics tend to be less dynamic for TV. Digital reporters can also repurpose B-roll for social media, giving your news extra exposure to new audiences.
We recommend putting those files into a Google Drive folder to which you can link in your pitch note. This ensures that your email won’t be too large or flagged as spam due to file attachments.
3. Give Them a Source
One final thing that can make your pitch pop is to provide a source to the reporter. If you’ve already quoted someone in your press release, elevate them or another representative from your brand to help add additional details and context.
To make a reporter’s life even easier, provide them with availability for your source up front. This takes out some of the back and forth for scheduling.
Did you snag coverage with your pitch? Take the next steps with these other helpful posts on the Scooter Media blog:
- “How to Create a Media Placement Report”
- “How to Create a Booking Memo for a Media Opportunity”
- “Tips and Tricks for Navigating Media Interviews”
Be sure to follow Scooter Media on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, X, TikTok and Bluesky to stay up-to-date on all of our latest PR and social media tips and tricks.
