I am following up my post about the importance of narrative in press releases (Social Media Release: What’s the Story?) by imploring my fellow PR practitioners to pitch stories, not ideas.
Amidst all the changes that are rocking our profession, the pitch is still very much alive and well. True, there are more places than ever to launch your own content. But until you or your clients are A list bloggers, or you have your own MSM soapbox, your success will still to a large part depend on your ability to get others to write about your product, service or cause.
Whether you are pitching a blog or a traditional media outlet, it is important to be intensely aware of what makes a good story on the forum of choice. What are the topics and tone of their preferred stories? Do they have any special sourcing requirements? Favor small companies or powerhouses? Focus on tech, consumer, B2B, etc.? Run news, features, reviews, commentary, analysis, etc.?
PR when done right is all about creativity and ideas. And it is great to hear about all the nifty angles that can tie in with a product or service. It is truly exciting to be in a room full of eager professionals, brainstorming ways to transcend mere flogging of news releases with proactive story idea generation. But remember, at the end of the day our media customers are looking for stories, not just clever ideas. The top tier outlets have no interest in cute ideas that are thinly veiled product pitches.
So, when you are working on your pitches, go beyond all the interesting things that can tie in with your product or service. Think about what the outlets of interest look for in stories. Go beyond pitching ideas and angles to pitching stories.
This means, for example moving beyond a product-centric pitch to making sure you have users lined up and ready to deliver interesting anecdotes and talk not just about technology but about details of interesting applications of technology. It means having other third party sources, e.g. analysts, who can add color or validate your story.
True, there are more places than ever to launch your own content. But until you or your clients are A list bloggers, or you have your own MSM soapbox, your success will still to a large part depend on your ability to get others to write about your product, service or cause.